milk alternatives?

[chandni3]

I'd try goat's milk first. There is also Oat milk which when I compare labels has great nutrition. Like others said, if she's getting enough protein and calcium in other ways then what you give her would just be because she likes to drink it. Can she have yogurt and cheese?

[TrennaII]

Originally Posted by MarchMama2010 We mostly just give water and occasionally unsweetened almond milk. But I'm not worried about my kids getting enough nutrition, they eat anything I put in front of them. They're like goats.

I want a goat too!

The reason she reacts to whole milk and not milk based formula could suggest the specific component she is sensitive to. For instance, often the formula is whey based, and some people are sensitive to casein.

These things also build over time. My son started out colicky when I had too much milk or egg, and his dad has whey, casein, and chicken yolk and white sensitivites ... So I drank soy milk while nursing, and gave him soy milk after 1 year old.

Then all of a sudden, at 2, he had a huge allergic reaction and it turns out he's off the charts allergic to soy. His readings for cow millk are quite low, mostly because he's had very little exposure (because when he has a little exposure, he gets an upset stomach).

It's true that almond and other milks have very little nutritional value. Giving only 35-50 calories per cup in many instances, I don't find them to be worth the money unless we really "need" some kind of milk (for cereal, for instance).

Unsweetened, un-messed-with soy milk can be very nutritious, as it has protein, fat, and fiber. It doesn't have the carbohydrates cow milk does. But you get a good number of calories per glass, like cow milk.

We have always been over goat milk, try as we may. Sometimes I can get it by him or me by doing half unsweetened almond and half goat.

But mostly we give him goat cheese (chevre) to get him the protein and saturated fat that babies need. For some reason he LOVES goat cheese (Trader Joes and Costco have the best prices on Chevre ... I nuke it for 8 seconds to make it spreadable, more makes it grainy).

Trying to navigate food sensitivites can be a real because there are positives and negatives to every food. We went the controversial route and had a naturopath do food sensitivity testing. I was told that A) "Alternative" testing isn't safe enough because it'll miss things and B) "alternative" testing will give you false positives so you'll eliminate too many things to give a good diet.

We came up with a list of 25 foods to avoid for 3 months. It was tough at first but after just a few weeks it was easy to find a ton of dishes that my son and I both liked. After 6 months, he no longer has eczema from a little bit of dairy or hives from soy. The doctor says there's a good chance he'll grow out of everything by the time he's 5, though we do still have 15 things to keep avoiding till he's 5.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is, you might want to consult the specialist of your choice (an immunologist, or a board certified naturopath who has an ND degree) to have them help you choose how to substitute, to avoid problems in the future. And to make sure there aren't other sensitivities that are causing inflammation below the surface.

[ohgirlohboyohno]

Thank you for the help....We have a lot (reasonable) choices locally...some are "in town" so about 30 min drive....

The trouble I have is if I do something for the baby how will effect the other kids...they are HUGE milk drinkers, which is why she keeps getting rashes cause she keeps getting into their cups....but I don't want to limit them cause they do really like it, and I don't want to do something that will trigger a problem with the them...PArker drank some LActaid milk (at my parent's house - my mom is LI)...and he broke out in hives...I just get so confused about what they can have/should have/need/want /afford etc...

I think I might fib a little and tell the dr. we are still having issues, and see if he will try some testing and maybe get us a referral. He said to try stuff and if we couldn't find something that works he would test her, I would rather have a better "list" then just blindly throwing stuff out there to her. Or accidentally cuting something out that has nothing to do with the issue

[Spunkify]

I have the same concern about Soy but it can depend on different things like if the brand you're buying is GMO free, etc. Almond milk is supposedly packed with sugar or something so...seems you just can't win!

I've heard Coconut milk is a great alternative for those with milk allergies/sensitivities but it is supposedly very expensive compared to cow's milk. It doesn't have the milk protein in it, like Soy (double check me on that) and animal milks, that causes the protein allergy reaction.

Coconut milk is what I'd like to try next.