I'm lactose intolerant, as are Little easy child and the Tot Monster Twins. Symptoms are: intolerably smelly gas, severe cramping, diarrhea, vomiting. In that order, depending on how much dairy has been consumed. It's a bit like having a lower GI virus without the fever.
I have noticed with myself and with Little easy child that we have both become more tolerant of dairy with age. I have also observed that if I cut dairy out of my diet entirely then I am MUCH more sensitive the next time I have something with dairy in it. Same for Little easy child. For the Tot-Monsters, I have not yet started experimenting as they're still just getting used to real food and I don't want to mess around too much. Baby Tyrantina is also sensitive to soy, so that's not a good substitute, especially as Tyrantina and Tyrannosaur often share and feed each other bits from their plates. Can't give it to one without the other also eating some.
We also have trouble digesting fats, both dairy and non-dairy. Makes for a funny balancing act as far as diet. We have found some workable solutions, as follows:
Milk: Lactose-free skim milk for me, Lactose-free 2% milk for the Tots and Little easy child. Milk is the most difficult type of dairy to digest, so avoiding the lactose in milk helps. And trying to get my Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) children to swallow pills, or even to eat the powder that comes out of the lactaid capsules, is a non-starter. I can use regular milk in tea, but not for breakfast cereal or hot chocolate (drinking a glass of cold milk gives me the heebie jeebies, so it's not an issue).
Margarine: Olive-oil based margarine. No butter, no regular margarine. For some reason, this type of fat is easier to digest.
Cheeses: light cream cheese (but not regular). I think this is related to the lower fat content as well. Mild cheddar, but not medium or old. Mozzarella, Gouda, Havarti. In small quantities only. About 1 cubic inch per day seems to be the limit. Or 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese
Yogurt: Yoplait Source 0% fat yogurt. Lots of delicious flavours, and low fat. Astro makes a lactose-free yogurt, if you need to eliminate it entirely.
Ice cream: There is a brand (can't remember the name off-hand) of lactose free ice cream. I tend to just limit the amount of ice cream, rather than going to the expense of getting the LF stuff. Sherbet and Sorbet are also good options, as they are low-dairy and no-dairy, respectively.
Hope this helps,
Trinity