Some babies are allergic to cow's milk. This means that they cannot have any milk or products containing milk. The more common problem is for babies to be intolerant of milk. If merely intolerant, rather than allergic, then baby may still be able to have some cow's milk.

How To Tell if Baby is Intolerant or Allergic

Two percent of babies will have a cow's milk intolerance or allergy.

See your baby's doctor to establish whether your baby is allergic or intolerant to milk. Allergies can be diagnosed quite easily with a skin prick or blood test. Intolerances are less certain but will usually be diagnosed via investigations and observation. The majority of children will outgrow an intolerance to cow's milk by the age of years so keep trying to introduce or increase their intake every few months to see if baby is still intolerant.

Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance

The possible symptoms to look out for are:

• Weight loss
• Stomach pains
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Burping or flatulence
• Bloating
• Eczema

How To Keep a Lactose Intolerant Baby Healthy

The main goodness that babies get from full fat cow's milk are the high but healthy fat content, Vitamins A and D and calcium.

Calcium is important for bones, teeth, muscles and nerves. Vitamin D helps your body to absorb calcium. Vitamin D and calcium rich foods include calcium rich juice, soy drinks, margarine, fish and broccoli.

Vitamin A is less essential to growth but still very important for good health. It helps to maintain healthy skin and mucus linings, strengthens immunity to infections and helps vision in dim light. As it is a fat soluble vitamin it is stored in the body's fat cells so is not needed every day or in excess. To much vitamin A can be dangerous, especially if not enough vitamin D is being absorbed. Vitamin A rich foods include carrots, mangoes, spinach, dried apricots and sweet potato.