Cons On Using Lactose Free Milk?
Friday, February 5th, 2010 at
5:02 am
My baby has gas and spit up. Pedriatician recomended trying the lactose free milk. I’m afraid that the formula is missing nutrients in regular milk. Has anyone given their baby lactose free and if so did your baby continue to gain as much weight as before?
Tagged with: Cons • Free • Lactose • Milk • Using
Filed under: Free Baby Stuff
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Lactose free formulas are sweetened with corn syrup which is very bad for anyone, but babies in particular.
Your baby would have failure to thrive from birth if they are lactose intolerant.http://askdrsears.com/html/0/T000100.asp…
The main difference in lactose-free formula is that the lactose sugar has been replaced by other sugars, usually corn syrup and sucrose (table sugar). The protein and fat blend is the same as in cow’s milk-based formulas. The biochemist who dreams up the formula believes that sugar is sugar, and substituting corn syrup and sucrose for lactose is no big deal. Lactose is eventually broken down into glucose, as are corn syrup and sucrose, so it shouldn’t matter. Actually, the intestines break the lactose down into two sugars – galactose and glucose. Both of these sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream. No one really knows what galactose does or why it’s beneficial, just as no one knows the whole story about how the body reacts to sugars from corn syrup and sucrose. So, we’re back to the non-science of common sense. If the human baby (like all mammals) didn’t do better with galactose, it wouldn’t be there in the first place. The milk sugar would have been pure glucose. Like so many other nutrients in formula, there is one big WE DON’T KNOW about lactose-free formulas.
We also know that lactose does more than just supply energy. The lactose that doesn’t get digested in the upper intestine contributes to what is called the friendly ecology of the gut. Lactose helps healthful bacteria thrive. Lactose- free formulas not only deprive baby of lactose, they also deprive those trillions of friendly bugs that live in the intestines and do good things for the body. Lactose also facilitates calcium absorption in the gut, so that babies on lactose-free formulas may run the risk of not getting enough calcium.
Lactose-free formulas (including soy formulas) are often tried when a baby has symptoms of lactose intolerance, such as excessive bloating, gas, diarrhea, a red burn-like rash around the anus, and abdominal cramping. They are useful in babies who have rare metabolic diseases in which they are missing the enzyme that metabolize lactose. (This only occurs in around one of 65,000 babies.) Lactose-free formulas can also be tried in babies recovering from a diarrhea- producing illness and who suffer from a temporary lactase-deficiency while the intestinal lining is healing.
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Sweetened with corn syrup. The rationale for replacing lactose in the milk with corn syrup is to get it to taste sweeter. In our opinion, using corn syrup as the prime milk-carbohydrate source in an infant under a year is nutritionally unwise. Besides insuring proper nutrition, one of the main goals in feeding an infant over six months is to shape young tastes toward the normal taste of fresh foods. Corn syrup is a sweetener and certainly shouldn’t be part of a food babies eat several times each day. Our conclusion: we do not recommend follow-up formulas that contain corn syrup. They are nutritionally unwise and unnecessary. Better to give your baby a higher volume of standard formula (growing babies need more fluid anyway), plus calcium and iron-containing solid foods.
[...]
Carbohydrate sources in soy formulas are even more of a concern. Just as there is a whey war going on between formula companies, there now seems to be a sugar war, too. Enfamil now advertises “no table sugar” in their soy formula, Prosobee, so they use corn syrup instead of sucrose. Does this make a big difference? Some nutritionists might prefer plain old table sugar to corn syrup. Corn itself is an allergen, and corn syrup is very sweet.
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Lactose Intolerant?http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/lac…
If your baby is sensitive to dairy products it is highly unlikely that the problem is lactose intolerance, although many people may tell you so.
There are three types of lactose intolerance:
1. Primary lactose intolerance
2. Congenital lactose intolerance
3. Secondary lactose intolerance
Primary lactose intolerance (also called developmental, late-onset or adult lactose intolerance) is relatively common in adults (and more common in some nationalities than others), and is caused by a slow decrease in the body’s production of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar). This occurs gradually, over a period of years, and never appears before 2-5 years old and often not until young adulthood. Almost all adults who are lactose intolerant have this type of lactose intolerance, which is not related to lactose intolerance in babies.http://www.cryingoverspiltmilk.co.nz/Foo…
Functional Lactase Deficiency describes a thriving breastfed baby who has multiple loose watery stools. The baby may be irritable and may pass flatus frequently. Low fat feeds result in rapid gastric emptying leading to large quantities of lactose being presented for digestion. Thus the ability of lactase to digest the lactose may be overwhelmed. The amount of fat being consumed at any feed should therefore be maximised to delay gastric emptying. This can best be achieved by optimising hind milk intake by:
• Encouraging the infant to finish the first breast before offering the second breast.
• Spacing feeds. Aim for three hours between feeds. If the baby demands again in less than this time offer the “empty” breast again.
As lactose is the main form of carbohydrate in all mammalian milks (including human milk), lactose production at the breast occurs independently of dietary changes. Reducing the amount of lactose in the diet of a breastfeeding mother does not alter lactose production at the breast. It is present at a constant level throughout a feed and throughout a day.
Please note this article seems to state that spacing feds 3 hours apart is optimal. Scheduled feeds are not optimal -ever. Frequent feeds are actually higher in fat, in addition some nursing pairs will not thrive on a 3 hour schedule -the baby won’t get enough milk. Feeding from one side exclusively for 3 hours and then switching can be helpful in cases of oversupply, but should never be done in cases of poor infant growth or milk supply problems.
Breast compression is probably more effective than block feeding at increasing fat intake.http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/c…
What affects the amount of fat and calories in a mother’s milk?
* Mom’s diet? The research tells us that mom’s diet does not affect the average amount of fat or calories in her milk. However, mom can change the types of fat in her milk by altering the types of fats that she eats (Lawrence 1999, p. 106-113, 300-305; Hamosh 1996, Hamosh 1991, p. 123-124). An increase of one fatty acid could generally be expected to occur concurrently with a decrease in another. For example, one study has shown that black mothers in South Africa who eat a traditional maize diet have less monunsaturated fatty acid in their milk than urban mothers who consumed more animal proteins and fats (van der Westhuyzen 1988).
* The degree of emptiness of the breast is what research has shown to drive breastmilk fat content, and thus calorie content. The fuller the breast, the lower the fat content of the milk; The emptier the breast, the higher the fat content of the milk (Daly 1993). For more information see I’m confused about foremilk and hindmilk – how does this work? and How does milk production work?
* Breast compression has been shown to increase fat content of milk (Stutte 1988). See Breast compression for more information.
The above information tells us that milk fat may be more effectively increased through ‘mechanical’ means (i.e. longer & more frequent feeding, massage, breast compression, expressing foremilk before nursing) than by changing mom’s diet.
Lactose free formula? Or Lactose free Milk? Either way, there really aren’t many cons to using it….Lactose is milk sugar……..My daughter drinks lactose free milk and had to have lactose free formula (and breastmilk, had to cut out all dairy)…..and gained just like any baby……..It really isn’t lacking in nutrients.
My son was born 6 weeks early, and weighed 5lbs and 9oz. He used Enfamil w/Iron for the first month, but he had the hardest time digesting it. He would get terrible gas, and ball up in pain.
I switched him to Similac Sensitive (In orange can, lactose-free) I compared the nutritional info on the back of both of the cans. They’re almost exactly the same.
My son weighed 8lbs and 13 oz at 2 month, and now weighs almost 13 pounds at 3 months. Dr says he’s gaining weigh at a normal rate. Even though he was a preemie, she doesn’t have to use the “corrected age” when measuring him againt othe babies. So. I’d say Lactose-free won’t slow your baby’s weight gain, and s/he will have less gas.
Good Luck
My baby is on Similac Sensitive and is gaining weight just fine. The only difference in lactose free and regular formula is the milk protein is already broken down for your baby making it easier to digest. I was told this is something my baby should outgrow and will still be able to start whole milk at one year.
As far as cons go…I don’t have any. Less tummy problems means a happier baby.
We put my daughter on Soy Formula, mixed with breast milk, because all she did was vomit with any other formula. And shes healthy. We had no problems with her . They put nutrients into the formula that the baby needs weather its regular formula or soy
Lactose IS an essential sugar for the baby, but if your little one is lactose intolerant switching may be necessary. My oldest thrived on soy formula because of her milk allergy, and soy formula doesn’t have lactose either, of course.