it looks like i need to eliminate dairy from DD2 (13 months) diet, what do i give her instead??
not keen on soy unless its non genetically modified (i assume they exist?)
or do i try rice milk??
what safe and ok for a baby?
shes breastfed so i can express
You can get organic soy milk, so that's non-GM. But I wouldn't recommend soy milk as it's a) easy to over do the amount of soy when drinking it (esp for little ones) and b) is a common allergen anyway.
Personally I'd switch to rice milk. Or else goat's milk as it's easier for human's to digest- but it depends if she has to be totally non-dairy.
If it is a lactose issue - you can buy lactose free milk and yogurts and cheeses etc.... The milk is in the UHT long life milke section and it is actually really nice (my niece cant have lactose so we have it here for when she is over)
Hi Olive, if your DD2 is lactose intollerant then you might be able to use the lactose free milks, they are available in the fresh as well as longlife.
After trying heaps of formulas for DD1 who was refluxy and eventually lactose intollerant we used a formula that was lactose free, goats milk and soy milks just didn't do it for her. She was able to eat mature cheeses and yogurts as the amount of lactose is less in them.
If she is dairy intollerant, then you would probably have to go to goats milk or soy milk. I know in Adelaide at the markets I could get goats cheese that was actually tasty and didn't taste like goat
Just comparing nutrition labels, we found oat milk seemed better over rice milk as rice milk had more carbs, less protein - but brands vary so read the labels. Both are fortified with extra calcium.
Also in regards to food, we replaced cheese with hommous, on sandwhiches etc. Both boys love hommous now even though they are back on dairy.
If she's breastfeeding OK then she's not lactose intolerant, because there is oodles of lactose in BM.
As far as other dairy is concerned you may need to try a few things - goat's milk is worth a shot, but sometimes people will be allergic to both.
Probably the best thing to do is use a few different milks at different times - avoiding overloading on one type of protein will reduce the changes of further allergies. And look into other non-dairy calcium sources too - almonds (ground in baking or almond butter), edible salmon bones when she's a bit older, broccoli/kale, oats.
The good news is - all your daughter needs is a healthy diet - and dairy need not be part of it. In our culture we are abnormally fixated with dairy in the diet. Most of the world's population doesn't have milk after the time they wean from mother's milk.
Have you ever been to the supermarket in China? The dairy case that occupies a whole wall in Australian supermarkets.....just doesn't exist!
Generally, we react to the protein part of food. Dairy is a common allergin in our society. Around 50-70% of people allergic to dairy will also be allergic to soy - and probably more to dairy. Lactose is another issue entirely. In some ethnic groups people lose the ability to make lactase (the enzyme that digests lactose) after the normal age of weaning (about 5-7 years) Of course your little one is a little young for this!
So, continue to breastfeed your child until you/she/both of you wean and then continue with a healthy and varied diet - no dairy required
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so if i remove dairy what do i give her??
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