24/7 Parenting

Lactose is the protein contained in cows’ milk. It is not uncommon for some babies to be allergic or intolerant to cows’ milk. Since cows’ milk is the basis of most baby milk formulas, it’s not surprising that such babies fail to thrive, seem miserable and ‘gripey’ and suffer reflux and pain as well as diarrhoea and sometimes a rash.

These symptoms are often put down to ‘colic’, which is a word used to describe a period that many babies go through in their early weeks then they will scream and cry and seem to be in great pain, usually on an evening. Colic is not, by any means, always down to a lactose allergy, but it is sometimes. And often it is only diagnosed after a period of ‘colic’ lasts for more than a month or so.

If your baby is losing weight and is ‘colicky’ you might want to explore with your GP whether or not he or she has a lactose intolerance or allergy. If he/she does, then the solution is easy: change formulas to one that is not based on cows’ milk, or (if you’re breastfeeding) stop consuming any lactose yourself so that it won’t get passed on to your baby. Many mums are advised to stop breastfeeding and put their babies onto non-lactose formula because some GPs and Health Visitors don’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between human milk (which does not contain lactose) and cows’ milk (which does).

Let us be clear. If you are breastfeeding and it is found that your baby is allergic to lactose, all you need to do is stop consuming lactose and your baby won’t consume any either.

Most babies grow out of their allergy over time as their system matures. It is an allergic reaction like any other – the body’s immune system is fighting something (in this case, lactose) that it thinks shouldn’t be in there. Lactose intolerance is an inability to digest lactose.

If your baby has a milk allergy, their symptoms might appear gradually over time (with diarrhoea, sickness, refusing feeds, colic, rashes) and may not be immediately associated with a feed.

Other babies might have symptoms that appear rapidly after consuming lactose (which makes it easier to diagnose), such symptoms being things like sickness, wheeziness, hives, swelling of the face or body, and blood in their diarrhoea.

If you think your baby has a milk allergy or lactose intolerance, speak to your GP who will rule out other causes before diagnosing either of these conditions. He will then refer you to a dietician who
can advise on the best way of ensuring that your baby receives proper nutrition without lactose in their diet. If you’re breastfeeding, the dietician can advise on how to ensure that you still receive adequate calcium in your diet without cows’ milk.

Moving house is understandably a stressful event – indeed, it’s said to be one of the most stressful events that can happen in a person’s life, alongside things like experiencing a death in the family, divorcing or getting married. But not much is known about the effect that moving house may have on children, with the general feeling being that children are adaptable and although they might find it upsetting at first, leaving behind their home and possibly school and friends, they will cope in the long-term.

Recent research, though, has examined the long-term effect on children that moving house may have. At first instance, it would appear that moving house can increase the risk of using drugs, cigarettes and alcohol to excess in later life, being overweight as adults, developing high blood-pressure and long-term illnesses and psychological distress. Whilst poor health was slightly more likely to be experienced by adults who moved house a lot as children, this result was not ‘statistically significant’ so was not proven.

However, the researchers at the Medical Research Council, Queen’s University and the University of Sterling plus Scotland’s Chief Scientist Office looked for other factors that might explain the results.

They found that the adults who had moved house a lot as children were more likely to have come from impoverished or socially-deprived backgrounds. They also factored in things like housing status (whether their parents owned or rented the homes), class, whether the parents lived together, and how many siblings there were.

The basic results were that about one in five people did not move at all during childhood; thirty percent moved once or twice, and one in five moved at least three times. Of these, if a person had moved three times during childhood, they were significantly more likely to use illegal drugs; those who had moved at least once had a significantly higher risk of developing psychological distress as adults; that there were ‘elevated’ (though not significantly so) risks of developing long-term illness if there had been at least one house move, and of drinking and smoking heavily if there had been at least three moves.

However, once factors like social deprivation etc had been taken into account, the only significant increased risk was that if an adult had moved frequently as a child, they were more likely to take illegal drugs.

The results could be explained by the fact that people who move house frequently tend to do so because of deprivation and family break-up, and quite often in such circumstances the child is forced to move schools as well as homes. This can impact on a child’s educational development and social development as they struggle to make and keep friends.

As childhood obesity continues to rise unabated, more and more research is being put into the causes of obesity and the ways of preventing or reversing it.

The latest of these has found that children should be encouraged to cook, if parents want them to eat more healthily. Teaching children to cook properly, rather than letting them think that ordering takeaways or putting a ready-meal into the microwave, will teach them the skills they need to eat and live healthier as adults.

And whilst watching people cooking on TV (like on CBeebies) is fine but is no substitute for actually getting the children into the kitchen and getting them to learn to cook for themselves.

The research, by City University, London, found that teaching school pupils and adults to cook had a positive effect on their diet – more pupils reported eating more fruit and vegetables following the cooking classes.

Further research, undertaken by the School Food Trust, looked at the effect of school-based cookery clubs (trialled throughout the country) for children aged four to eight years. That study found that the classes increased the children’s ability to recognise healthy food and made them more likely to want to eat it.

At the moment, though, government plans to introduce cooking skills within the National Curriculum for children age 12 to 16 years is on hold. The new National Curriculum is due to come into effect in 2014, and it is hoped that cookery will form part of it at that point.

Until then, you can do a lot for your children’s future and present health by getting them involved in preparing food. Primary school children have cooking as part of the curriculum, but the quality of those lessons is different from school-to-school and many focus on the lesson as a way of teaching science or even literacy.

The School Food Trust commented, via chairman Rob Rees, that, “Fundamentally, being able to cook is a life skill which helps children grow into healthier adults, and that’s why our evidence to the national curriculum review calls for practical cooking to be compulsory for all children.”

Do your bit at home – get younger children baking and helping to prepare fruit and vegetables, and get older children to help with a greater level of preparation of your meals.

Congratulations! You made it through the first six months! But what can you expect over the next six months until your baby reaches their first birthday?

As we said last week, it is important to remember that all children are different and all develop at different rates. But as a rule of thumb, to give you an idea of what your child should be able to do at particular ages, we are setting out the main milestones your child will reach between the age of seven months and one year.

Don’t worry if your child’s development doesn’t match these exactly – it is perfectly normal for children to develop in different areas at different times. For example, a child may focus on developing their gross motor skills at the expense of their language or fine motor skills. If you are concerned that your child is not developing as you expect, or if you have a feeling that there is something not quite right then trust your instincts and speak to your health visitor.

So, on average, your child at:

Seven Months: can sit unaided and pull things towards himself. He may start crawling, and may turn babbling noises into sounds akin to speech. He can wave goodbye. He starts to get the idea of ‘object permanence’ – which means that if you hide behind your hands, he will know that you haven’t simply ceased to exist! This can help with anxiety caused when you leave the room – if he knows that you still exist even if he can’t see you then you may be able to pop to pick up the post from the doormat without him thinking you have gone forever.

Eight Months: can say ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ sounds, starts to direct them to the right people. He may be able to stand and move along whilst holding onto furniture (known as ‘cruising’) and begin to crawl. He can pick up small objects with thumb and forefinger and can use his forefinger to point.

Nine Months: He will continue to cruise and make attempts at speaking, though words will probably not be clear yet. He may be able to say ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ to the right person. He should be able to drink from a cup rather than bottle and be able to finger-feed himself.

Ten Months: Can crawl confidently, getting faster! Points or gestures for things he wants, and can stand unsupported for a very short time.

Eleven Months: Can play pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo, stands unsupported for a little longer. Understands the concept of ‘no’. Can say one or two words that can be understood by others. Can bend down to pick things up from standing.

One Year: Can take a few steps, and can say two or three words. Can hold and control a pencil sufficiently to do marks on a page.