subject: All About Lactose Intolerant Babies [print this page] Lactose intolerance is a condition, in which the body becomes unable to produce adequate amounts of an enzyme that is required to break down lactose. Lactose is the sugar present in milk and all other dairy products, and this is the only sort of food that is consumed by an infant in his or her first few years of life. In case the digestion of lactose does not take place, it leads to gastrointestinal problems later.
Premature babies have a higher likelihood of having this condition. If your baby seems to have diarrhea too often, it is likely that he or she has lactose intolerance. This usually leads to the baby crying a lot due to pain, along with vomiting. In some situations, the baby may end up having eczema. Around 30-60 minutes after the baby has had milk, these signs may start showing up. Cow's milk or that fed from the mother's breast; both can cause problems.
Abdominal cramps are very common, along with gas that stays till two hours after the baby has drank milk. Not only milk may cause such reactions, but any solid food that is made up of a dairy product. Thus, if the child has started consuming solid food, even yogurt may cause such symptoms.
Among babies who show intolerance towards lactose, some may be suffering from a severe case of having symptoms even after a little amount has been consumed, while the rest may not get harmed with small amounts.
The pain is usually quite severe for babies, which leads to whining, groaning and crying, you may also make out from their facial expressions that they are in pain. At times, one may think that they are crying out of hunger, but when they do not stop, it is obvious that there is something else bothering them.
Such a baby may not easily go to sleep, and while sleeping may wake up a number of times due to the pain being experienced. While they are sound asleep, they may wake up immediately as the pain shoots up.
