Am I the only one who seems uninformed?

OK, so here is the sickness update.

Matt took Ella to the doctor on Saturday. It turns out that she likely has some form of flu that is going around that is close to a strain that is in this years vaccine. So, she has the virus, but she isn't getting it as bad as she would have if she hadn't gotten the flu shot.

It also turns out that some forms of the flu can cause you to become lactose intolerant. So, we stop giving her milk until the vomiting and diarrhea go away. I must say that it seems to be working. She hasn't vomited since Saturday and she is less snotty (I have known for sometime that dairy products make the body's mucus membranes produce more...well...mucus). She is still coughing quite a bit, however. We are giving her lots of yogurt because the lactose in that is already broken down by the natural bacteria in it. And we have her on the BRATY diet: Banannas Rice Applesauce Toast Yogurt.

Matt was a little taken aback by this lactose intolerance explination at first, but then decided that it made sense, and explained why he was always told to stop drinking milk when he had the flu. I was taken aback as well. When I thought about it, I decided it did make sense. However, I was still amazed that I had never heard of this phenomon before now. Maybe it is because I never drank much milk as a child and never had to worry about quitting it because I was sick. I was baffled to realize that it wasn't something that was in our baby book.

I think this information needs to be added to the minds of parents everywhere, especially because it is so counterintuitive to stop giving milk to a small and growing child. So, if you suspect your kid has the flu and is vomiting, try going without the milk for a day or so and see if it helps. Or call you doctor since I am not qualified to much more than lick a postage stamp.