Lactose insufficiency in the baby: symptoms and treatment

It's no secret that the best meal for a newborn is breast milk. After all, it is a unique product containing all the vitamins and trace elements necessary for a small organism. But sometimes the baby's body is not able to digest in full the mother's milk. In this case, they say that there is lactose deficiency. At the infants , every mother should know the symptoms of this ailment, since this is a rather serious pathological deviation.

Lactose is milk sugar, which is not absorbed by itself in the intestines. Before the body should split it into galactose and glucose with a special enzyme - lactase. If this enzyme is produced in insufficient quantities, the absorption of lactose is impaired.

Lactose insufficiency in infants: symptoms

Determine the disease can be on such key features:

• Foamy liquid stools of green color with a pungent odor. In the stool there may be lumps of white color. The number of emptying of the intestine can reach 10-12 times a day.

• Due to increased fermentation and gas formation in the stomach, an increase in the intensity of intestinal colic occurs.

• Increase in the frequency and amount of regurgitation, the appearance of vomiting.

• In especially severe cases, poor weight gain and developmental lag are diagnosed.

If there are signs of lactose insufficiency in the baby, it is necessary in the near future to see a doctor. With the help of special tests, the doctor will confirm or deny the diagnosis, if necessary, prescribe the appropriate treatment. The necessary tests include: examination of feces for the detection of carbohydrates, as well as determination of the concentration of gases, pH of feces, activity of lactase.

Lactose insufficiency varieties

Depending on the origin, the primary and secondary forms of the disease are isolated. Primary lactose insufficiency can be congenital, transistoric, genetically conditioned. Secondary form of failure appears due to intestinal infections, allergies and other diseases of the gastrointestinal system.

There is also a phenomenon such as lactose overload. This problem occurs if the mother is milking a large number of milk, as a result, the baby eats more "front" milk, saturated with lactose.

Lactose insufficiency in the baby: treatment

It should be understood that the treatment of this pathology is individual in each case. Treat the baby should only when the final diagnosis is made. If only one or two signs of the disease are identified, then, naturally, it is necessary to pass the tests. Treatment of a pathology such as lactose insufficiency in the infant, the symptoms of which are clinically confirmed, must begin with the replacement of the mixture, if the baby is on artificial feeding. If the baby eats breast milk, the mother will be assigned to take special medicines that help to break down lactose. The recommended dose of the drug is dissolved in previously expressed milk and fed to the child. In addition, before feeding your mother, it is recommended to express lactose-rich "front" milk.

If the lactose deficiency of the primary form, then, unfortunately, the body can never absorb lactose. In the future, this will lead to a complete rejection of dairy products. If the symptoms of the secondary form of lactose insufficiency are confirmed, lactose digestion will be adjusted for the baby upon reaching the age of one and a half years.

If there is a suspicion that lactose insufficiency is present in the baby, the symptoms must be confirmed by a specialist, and only then can actions be taken to eliminate this condition.