What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance in breast milk?

Mother’s breast milk is the best source for babies, so breast milk can improve the baby’s resistance function and keep the baby healthy. However, many children will have frequent diarrhea, bloating and constipation after drinking breast milk. This is a symptom of breast milk lactose intolerance, which is mainly because the child cannot come into contact with the sugar in breast milk and the ingredients in milk, so they will have such a reaction.

What is lactose intolerance?

When the human body lacks sufficient lactase, the lactose in the ingested milk or dairy products cannot be completely broken down into glucose and galactose in the small intestine. The incompletely broken down lactose directly enters the large intestine, is fermented by the large intestine flora, and produces a large amount of acid and gas, resulting in a series of symptoms such as abdominal distension, diarrhea, and intestinal flatulence. These symptoms are called lactose intolerance.

The reason why babies aged 0-6 months are particularly prone to lactose intolerance is because their intestines are not yet fully developed, especially the villi on the small intestinal wall are not fully developed. The villi on the small intestinal wall are lacking and cannot secrete enough lactase to break down and absorb the lactose in breast milk and dairy products, resulting in symptoms of lactose intolerance such as vomiting, aversion to milk, sour and smelly stools, bloating, and frequent and smelly farts.

How to deal with lactose intolerance

As explained before, the lack of sufficient lactase is the real cause of the baby's lactose intolerance, so in principle the problem can be solved by simply supplementing lactase.

Lactose-free formula milk removes the lactose in formula milk or replaces it with other sugars. By avoiding lactose, babies who are lactose intolerant will no longer experience symptoms of lactose intolerance. However, lactose is the main source of energy for the growth and development of infants and young children. It can promote the development of the brain and nervous system, promote calcium absorption, and maintain water and electricity balance in the body. Avoiding lactose (or even giving up breast milk) is a completely helpless move that is not worth the cost.

Correct approach :

When the baby is drinking milk, add lactase to the milk to make up for the lack of lactase in the baby's body and help pre-break down lactose that cannot be digested and absorbed in the small intestine. This will prevent the baby from experiencing symptoms of lactose intolerance without losing the nutritional components of dairy products.

Kind tips :

Breast milk is the most natural, purest and most suitable food for babies. It is the first nectar given by God to mankind. Although some babies are lactose intolerant, which has caused many mothers to regretfully give up breastfeeding, fortunately, modern science has solved this problem very well. A mother who loves her baby will not let her baby miss out on the most delicious milk in his life, nor will she miss out on the beautiful time closely connected with her baby in his life, because of small problems that have been solved scientifically.