Going dairy free?

Our sweet little E, has not been so sweet the last few weeks to months now. It's been so long since I had a full night of sleep I can't even remember!! Which she is 19 months old, she should be sleeping through the night!!!!! Right?!? Of course she has always been an "off and on" sleeper. She would go weeks or months sleeping through and then suddenly something would cause and upset. Along with not sleeping she would have HORRIBLE gas, some loose stools, with acid burn rashes,  poor appetite and all around increased crabbiness.  I typically blamed it on teething, as E started teething around 3 months, and hasn't stopped since.

 This last bout has been the worst, not as much rash as she is using the potty during waking hours, and only in diapers during nap and over night. However, she would be up by 1:30 or 2 and not sleep again until 4 or 5, I could do nothing to help her. We tried Tylenol, with no success, and gas drops that help some, but over all the poor girl has been miserable. 

I decided that there had to be something causing this, something is obviously bothering her, but WHAT?!? I have/had this feeling that it wasn't "just a bug." On one call to home, I mentioned to my mother E's symptoms and she stated "sounds like lactose intolerance", to which I scoffed until she mentioned that My grandfather was lactose intolerant, as well as my mother, my niece and my brother ( he outgrew it). So after a call to the nurse to see if she and Doc concurred with this line of thought (which they did) we are now trying to keep E away from as much regular dairy products as possible. THIS is NOT easy!

We have switched her to Lactaid milk only, as we feel this is just lactose intolerance and NOT a milk allergy or sensitivity. Other than that (which was the only suggestion the Doc gave) we are just trying to eliminate dairy intake for a couple of weeks to see if this causes the symptoms to go away. If it does we can try to introduce a little dairy at a time to see how she tolerates it. I'm praying in one way that this is what has been bothering her so that she will feel better, and in another that it isn't, it isn't fair that a little one should have to be so careful on what they eat.

If anyone has tips, or suggestions for recipes, or snack alternatives for yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese in general (all of which E LOVES) please share! I am ready for any advice!