Dairy allergy - alternatives to cows milk

[MrsM]

My daughter is 11 months and allergic to dairy. We are under the hospital and I am introducing it to her in cooked form which she is tolerating in small amounts. As she is nearly one I will be unable to move her onto cows milk and have been advised that soya milk is equivalent to semi-skimmed so she cannot have that. Is there anything full fat that she can have or should I keep her on soya formula?

Thanks, Mrs M

[Liz Main]

I can sympathise with you. Both my boys (now aged 11 and 7) have been allergic to dairy, along with other food allergies from birth. I was lucky enough to breast feed them both up to two years of age, but what I found a godsend was Alpro Soya's smooth yogurts and their longlife Alpro Soya vanilla desserts - the boys still eating them now. They make a great substitute to milk for their cereals, plus are handy for lunch boxes. I also buy the Alpro Soya unsweetened soya milk or Tesco's own. Also, thank goodness for Pure spread (we prefer the soya one) and Swedish Glace's ice cream alternatives. Hope this is useful, Liz.

[Hasita Prinja]

I would recommend that if you do not wanty your child to use an infant soya formula then I would suggest you try your child with Alpro soya 1+.
This milk is fortified with iron and vitamins aswell as calcium.

[Lissie64]

Hi All, My daughter has had multiple allergies since birth. She was put onto a formula called Elecare when she had the most shocking case of hives that the specialist had ever seen. When she last had a blood test for her allergies, all of her levels of iron, zinc etc were v good and she was growing consistently - a new thing for her! But I recently discovered a really smelly, big yellow-y buildup of plaque on her teeth and I'm wondering if it's from the formula. The main ingredient is corn syrup, which makes naturopaths gasp in horror. Does anyone know if this is likely to be causing problems? I've asked various health pros about whether to take her off it - some say 'yes', but the immunologist and others say 'no'. Booked into dentist to discuss. Reluctant to take her off the one thing that we know has a good nutritional content. Lissie64

[AnnaB]

Good plan - get dental advice as to teeth. Then you know your facts about the damage. What are the alternative milks? How old is baby? My daughter was breast fed for 2 years as the formula offered was terrible for dairy allergy. I then moved onto soya products, but general shop ones not baby products. Age 3 she went onto dairy after testing clear - great relief - but yesterday after a year on dairy they have taken bloods to see if her IEg results to milk are up?? Which may explain her increased severity to eczema. I don't want to pull her back off dairy but is the alternative of her worsened discomfort and sleepless nights needing medication to sleep at all worth my ease of feeding her???? There are so few answers to allergies it really has to be based on the individual.

[jacko1892]

Hi! My friends son suffers with CMA. I know she has gone through quite a few formulas to try and find the right balance for him. I will double check but I think he is on Neocate at the moment which is meant to be doing the trick.

She has recommended this site http://www.cowsmilkallergy.co.uk for more information on Cows Milk Allergy. I know its something that is not particularly well diagnosed at the moment, GP's can sometimes overlook it. How did it go with yours?

[talkhealth]

You may want to talk to your GP about Nutramigen or Neocate - you can Google them - both specially reconstituted cow's milk which is used in people who have dairy allergy.

Hope this helps.

[Rejuvem.Juan]

FYI, it's not a good idea to give kids Soy Milk based products. Soy causes your body to increase production of Estrogen, causing early onset of Puberty for girls, and a whole host of problems for boys. As it is, USA Today wrote an article about how some girls are growing breasts at age 6! It's insane.

Me and my 9 year old son are allergic to milk, we use Coconut Almond Milk by Blue Diamond. Additionally I buy Coconut or Almond based Yogurts, that are absolutely delicious, all soy free. Finally, Earth Balance makes an excellent Vegan Soy Free butter (margarine actually) it comes in a Red tub. Here in South Florida, all of it is available at both Whole Foods and Winn Dixie.

[RosyHannah]

Great to see this thread still being added to - it really is important as products are frequently changing.

I wonder if there are UK alternatives or equivalents to these products? Might be worth having a google and a look about.

Take care,

Rosy.

[alexandra29]

My son (21 months) is allergic to cow's milk protein and we were advised by our dietician (which I didn't like at all) to give him soya milk or oat milk. Refused soya for various reasons and I have given him (since he was one - as dietician said) only oat milk.
Later on, got a bit of courage and gave him some soya yoghurt - which he seemed fine with.
He has eczema since he was 2 moths old (I've only managed to breastfed for about 2 months unfortunately) - been to 5 different GP that told me that most babies have eczema. Sorry but I do not believe that babies that do not have allergies have eczema. Never seen one. Anyway, his eczema seems to spread now - so need to find the cause.
From what I found out (from other forums and mums) about 50% of kids with dairy allergy developed an allergy to soya too.
But there are other options there: oat milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, almond milk...etc (I haven't tried the last two as I was afraid).
Until 1 year he was on Nutramigen Lipil (and he was thriving) after the age of 1...hmmm, he seemed ok, but he still wears the same clothes as he was wearing when he was one. Not very much weight gain either.
Before you do anything, talk to your Gp or dietician. They should (I said should) be able to advice you. Good luck x