always suspected food intolerances in 3 year old...next step?

[clazzat]

You could try any of the alternative milks - they all work with cereal, it's just a question of finding one that he likes the taste of. We did soy milk for a long time with e which definitely helped us and you can get soy yoghurts too. If you do go for soy, just make sure that there isn't loads of sugar in it as a lot of them are sweetened.

[*Becky*]

thanks. Think I might try...how long do you think we should do it for - is 2 weeks enough?

[*Becky*]

you know what I think I might try something like Emma suggested. So cut out one milk cup a day and get some soy yoghurts and different cheese. That way we can get an idea as it should improve a bit if that is the issue.

[~Emma~]

Thats what I'd do, just cut back and see if it helps.

 So he has milk in his cereal, well keep that. Just a little mind and only one bowl. Then skip the AM milk if you can and just have the PM milk, just 2/3 oz. Thats next to nothing really. Keep all meals dairy free (which might fill you with dread but its actually ok!) and offer an alternative dessert to yohgurt. Personally I'd not offer soy because if he has a dairy and soy allergy you wont notice anything different kwim? 

[C&B&E]

Ben has had a cold this week and I try and avoid dairy when he's congested - so he just ahd a bit of my rice milk on his cereal and didn't even notice.  could you try some oat milk with H? (rice milk isn't recommended for lo's).  You can also do smoothies with cocunut milk and fruit for dessert/drink alternatives.  It is relatively easy to do dairy free for a short period of time - most supermarkets sell 'pure sunflower' spread which is dairy and soy free.  And things like hummous, avocado, peanut butter are good for using instead of cheese on sandwiches/snack time.  x

I could be wrong (it happens alot  ), but i thought that some lo's who are CMPO are also intolerant of goats milk  .  I wonder if it's worth checing it out otherwise you might do a cows milk/soy elimination and not see any improvement if he also struggles with goats milk 

just found this - a brief bit on the left hand side of the page
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/food-allergy/Pages/Causes.aspx

[Mom to M&M]

I can't use either cow's milk OR goat's milk - and even a tiny bit is too much for us. I'd totally eliminate for two weeks and see what happens!

[*Becky*]

ok will try oat milk.

claire - he is so fussy that is the problem. Will not eat peanut butter or avocado. He loves smoothies but actual fruit is hard work. I am not sure what to offer instead of yoghurt - he really loves it and will miss it loads. That is why I thought soy would be good as they do those alpro soy yoghurts/puddings. Umm, not sure. His diet seems quite limited these days as it is.

[Mom to M&M]

They make almond milk or coconut milk yogurt too! We are fine with soy yogurt here in limited amounts (I don't offer it more than twice a week).

[Buntybear]

Becky - you can buy Oatly cream - would he eat that over fruit as a pudding? Or you could try and make it into a rice pudding? Stirring it into mashed banana would be yoghurt like?

[C&B&E]

Yes, totally can relate  !  

I suppose if you end up finding out that milk/soy *is* an issue then you'll really have to get your head around how to get calcium into him - BUT it may well be that the trial shows that he is fine with them and then it will have only been two weeks of not eating yoghurts etc.  I've been giving Ben 2-3 smoothies a day this week - and I've snuck all sorts of fruits and veg in them that he wouldn't normally eat   - so maybe take advantage of that.  I also made him a thick 'yoghurt' with the creamy part from a can of coconut milk, some frozen rasberries and a but of honey.  He really enjoyed it.    

Things like fish with soft bones (tinned salmon, sardines etc), sesame seeds (so if you can make homemade hummus with more tahini to bulk up the sesame content), and the fortified oat milks will provide calcium in the meantime - but I doubt two weeks of not eating the normal amount of dairy would make any long term impact.  

x

[*Becky*]

thanks
Well we got rid of morning milk today and I just gave him choice of apple or orange juice watered down. I don't like giving juice really but he needs an alternative and it is just once a day. He had a bit of a moment about it but am sure after a few days he will be fine. Tried oat milk on his cereal and he noticed straight away and only ate a bit but had toast too so that was fine. I made salmon dip for lunch which he loves and of course it has cream cheese in but I think by cutting back as much as we are we should get an idea if it is dairy linked and then we can go from there.

[*Becky*]

well since he stopped yoghurt his nose has been much better.....seems weird though as if it was dairy surely just stopping yoghurt would not do much?

[Mom to M&M]

Not really weird TBH - even decreasing it at first can lead to a big difference. When we first stopped Matthew's bottles at around 17 months he stopped drinking milk. Even though he was still eating yogurt and things cooked with cheese daily his BM's got better and his sleep improved (some) as well. But we didn't see FULL improvement until he was totally off dairy - that's when his sleep got much better, his immune system got stronger and his mood vastly improved as well as his sleep.

[*Becky*]

that makes sense. I have stopped cheese as a snack but if it is in food I am leaving it. Milk is tricky as I tried oat milk and he was not having any of it. He does not have morning milk but he does have a couple of ounces at bedtime - not sure what I could replace it with.

[Mom to M&M]

Did you try coconut milk? I think it's yummier than oat milk myself. It's also really good mixed with unsweetened vanilla almond milk!