2 Year Old Allergic to Milk, Need Help with the Right Nutrition

Hi D.,
my daughter is allergic to dairy products too but she is 15 months and still breastfeeding, we are using soya milk sometimes. Costco has organic Soya Milk. I suggest to try it.

We're big fans of rice and almond milk. You can buy vanilla flavored which has the same amount of sugars as regular milk too. You can cook with it the same way you would cow's milk too. I use it in many of the recipes on the website. It's delicious! My son drinks it everyday.-www.weelicious.com

My daughter is allergic to milk, too. I would advise against trying goat's milk. The amino acid chains in goat's milk protein are nearly identical to those in cow's milk protein. 95% of kids who are allergic to cow's milk react to goat's milk as well. Since you were able to breastfeed, your daughter isn't reacting to lactose, since breastmilk is filled with lactose. So switching to lactaid won't help, and may actually make her sicker. We use almond milk, because it is delicious and almonds are very high in calcium, the key ingredient you drink milk for. We also use almond butter instead of peanut butter for the same reasons. For cooking, when a neutral flavor is needed, we use unflavored soymilk. Rice milk is the mildest tasting. Just make sure you buy a kind that is fortified, or you won't get the same nutrition that you would get from almond milk or soymilk or cow's milk. There are several brands of dairy-free, non-hydrogenated margarines on the market for cooking and buttering. I prefer Earth Balance because I think it tastes the best. There are a few soy substitutes for things like cheese slices and ice cream. Tofutti makes a lot of them. They are okay. My kids love them, but then, they've never had the real stuff. SoyDream and Soylicious make some okay ice creams. Lil Critters Calcium gummi bears are a good supplement. They taste good and are the equivalent of an 8 oz glass of milk. My kids love them, and I take them as well. Offer your daughter plenty of beans and green leafy vegetables, all of which are very high in calcium. Dried figs are high in calcium, as are chickpeas and sesame seeds (hummus, anyone?) There are fortified orange juices and other juices, and a lot of breads are fortified as well. Really, if she is eating a balanced diet, she will get enough of what she needs. Good luck!

Can she have yogurt and/or kiefer? My daughter does not drink milk at all but drinks kiefer and eats yogurt.

Calcium is also found in dark leafy greens.
You can get calcium supplements if you can't get enough greens in her.

For protien, you can do nuts and nut milk - but if you do nut (or rice) milk please make it yourself. There is so much added junk in those boxes you get at the store.
Check the ingredients!
Soy milk, same thing. The only one I have found that is only organic soybeans and water is Trader Joes organic soy milk.

Also, many people who are "allergic" to dairy are simply unable to process it properly because all of the beneficial bacteria is removed - you may want to try switching to raw dairy products.

is she no tollerating milk all together or is it the lactose in the milk. you can try lactose free milk (lactaid) or soy milk (silk) there are also almond and rice milk i believe. but if your baby cant digest any of those then make sure they drink calcium fortified juices. also you can look up online for great milk free recipies. good luck!

Hi:

My grand daughter was cured of her allergy to milk (and to a lot of other things). Our doctor, Dr. David Karaba at the East West Medical Group in Fullerton, is a certified NAET practitioner (Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Techniques).

Best wishes,

M.

D.,

I was having pretty much the same issue. My 2 year old is allergic to both dairy and soy and he self weaned right around 18 months. I started giving him Similac Alimentum (a hypoallergenic formula) to round out his diet because I was concerned he wasn't getting enough fat, calories, protein and calcium without a milk source. If you don't want to do that, you should ask your pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric nutritionist. It is very tough to get a balanced diet into a toddler without a milk source.

:-)T.

I would give goat's milk a try. My son is allergic to cow's milk and loves, loves, loves the goat's milk.

A regular OTC children's vitamin should help with the other missing nutrients until you can find a good milk substitute.

Good luck!

Both of my boys have been allergic to milk (amongst other things)since they were babies. We use soy products to replace the dairy. Soy Milk - make sure you get the one that is fortified with calcium and Vit. D - it has the same amount as dairy milk. There is also soy yogurt, soy cheese, soy cream cheese, soy pudding, etc. Earth Balance "butter" spread is great. (Most of these products are available at Trader Joe's.) I know there are some questions about soy but I have done my research and I am not concerned about it. Both of my boys eat multiple soy products each day and they are never sick, they don't have any strange symptoms of soy consumption whatsoever! BTW - usually if someone is allergic to milk it is the PROTEIN in the milk (casseine and whey)that makes them react. Nothing to do with lactose. You might consider seeing an allergist, just to rule out other possible allergies. Also there are several "dairy free" cookbooks available out there. If you want to contact me directly - feel free. I might be able to answer questions or give you tips on dairy free life. (From a mom who LOVES cheese!):-)

what about rice milk?? I have a few friends that thier kids have milk allergies and they have their kids on rice milk and they have for a few years now. The kids love it and its cheap cheap cheap!! there are a few different flavors or just regular. It tastes fine! i have even drank it before. My son was on it while transitioning from breastmilk to regular milk. He didn't like milk for a while so we did the rice milk!
its worth a try!
I used goats milk for my daugther while transitioning to milk, and she really like that!
good luck!

My daughter has the same issue. We first had her on soy milk, but she wasn't able to tolerate that after a year or so. Now she is on Rice Milk and loves it. Almond Milk is also quite tasty. I don't worry so much about the milk products side as I do about her getting enough calcium, so I make sure her vitamin has calcium and we eat things like broccoli regularly to help her get her calcium. Good luck.

Both of my kids do not drink milk on a daily basis. My 6yo daughter not at all excpet for the rare chocolate milk in a box from Starbucks (hey, I have my needs - LOL) my son will drink milk on cereal. They get what they need from many other sources.. almond milk, rice milk, fortified OJ, almonds, salmon, walnuts, etc.. you could google vegan alternatives to milk or dairy and you should get a lot of options here. The great news!?? The alternatives are so much more healthier for your daughter than cows milk. Now, I am assuming she can't have cheese or yogurt, etc..? If that is the case than dairy alternatives is what you want to look in to. She'll do great!

M.

We went through the same dilemma except that my son is also allergic to soy and nuts. Our doc sent us to a dietician. She was mostly concerned with calcium. Our solution was rice milk. I think the goal she set for us was 16 oz a day. We also found a yogurt made by So Delicious that's made with coconut milk and that has a good deal of calcium. Spinach and broccoli are good calcium-rich veggies. If your daughter isn't allergic to soy, I know there are a lot of calcium fortified soy products. Hope that helps!

Some Moms use almond milk... or goats milk.
BUT, I would hesitate about soy milk/soy products because there are TONS of contraindications about it. Just look online. It contains naturally occurring estrogen hormones.. which wreaks havoc on children, boys or girls, and produces "damage" even in some cases, upon their developing reproductive organs too.

I would first ask your Pediatrician, or have them refer you to a Nutritionist. Instead of "guessing." It has to be specific for your child and her own requirements.

The milk requirement is multi-fold. It is for: (1) the milk fat which is essential for brain development and growth, (2) the calcium and (3) the vitamin D.

I'm sure your Pediatrician can either suggest a prescription vitamin, or a vitamin supplement that your daughter can take... there are kids calcium, kids multi vitamins, and kids Omega-3 vitamins which has the essential "oils" in it for brain/neurological growth.

All the best,
Susan

I may be able to help - www.AllergiCare-OC.com

My 25 month old son has milk issues too. We do soy dairy. We actually just switched him in August. Soy yogurt, soy milk, soy icecream, vegan "butter", there is even cheese called vegi slices and vegi shreds. (The vegi cheese can contain a trace amount of lactose, we give him a 1/2 of a chewable lactaid pill just before eating vegi cheese) He loves it! He totally refuses to eat cow dairy. There is also a chewable childrens daily supplement by Digestive Advantage(I get it online) that he has been taking since he was 2 months old. I used to crush it, dissolve it in water and give it to him in a medicine dropper. It does say for 3 and up on the box, but we have never experienced any problems, only good returns! We get all of our gluten/dairy free stuff from Sprouts in Temecula. Trader Joes and Henry's Marketplace also have a large selection of that kind of stuff.

I can send you a nutritional seminar dvd if you are looking for an alternative. God bless you for looking.

J.
____@____.com

The only reason why people say that whole milk and dairy are the way to go is protein and fat. There are many ways to get protein like tofu, meat and peanut/almond butter (if your child can eat peanuts... my son doesn't have a problem with it and LOVES PB&J sandwiches) Almond Milk has a good amount of nutrition and isn't as hard on the stomach to digest as soy milk is. Fat comes in many forms and is easy to give since you can cook with butter and olive oil or give your baby bread to dip in oil... dipping is such fun!

you know you probably can still breast feed..i've quit bfing like 3 times for over a month and then started up again..my son is 2.5..i want to stop but he doesn't..ugh! anyway..there's calcium in all kinds of foods..like broccoli for one..just google foods that have calcium..also i give my son Blue Diamond almond vanilla and chocolate milk.

My 5YO is allergic to milk. We buy soy based products. We like the Silk Soy milk and most grocery stores now have a vegan section with soy based cheeses.

It's a tough one. When we had our 1st 2, we had lasagna often, now we don't.

Anyway, she seems very healthy and strong and has always been on the high end of the growth curve so I think she's still getting her calcium from the soy based products, it's usually added in.

Hi D.,

Just to add briefly to the discussion and summarize:

Protein can be derived from a wide variety of sources including soy, meat, chicken, fish, brown rice and lentils (combined), many types of legumes (beans), nuts and processed vegetable proteins.

Fats can be derived from oils, nuts, animal products, seeds and beans

Calcium can be gotten from green leafy vegetables, calcium fortified foods and multivitamins

Vitamin D can be gotten from cereals, vitamin D fortified foods and multivitamins.

If your daughter is truly allergic to milk (i.e., to the protein component, not to lactose), you should carefully read ingredients on all packaged food and not serve her anything that contains milk, casein, or whey. If you find that she has a reaction after eating foods processed on equipment shared with dairy products, you'll have to monitor that information as well.

Some children who cannot tolerate cow's milk can tolerate goat and sheep's milk products, although many children will have a cross reaction (their are several allergenic components to milk, some of which are similar, but not identical, to those found in other mammalian milks). If your daughter's response to cow's milk is not life-threatening (i.e., no swelling of the throat, anaphylaxis), you might try giving her a very small amount of these to see if she can tolerate them. Check with her allergist or pediatrician first, though. They should be able to supply you with more information about your daughter's particular allergy.

BTW, as a biologist and medical writer with one of my areas of specialty being in allergy diagnosis and therapy, my personal opinion is that NAET is snake oil and mirrors, even after reading the material another reader sent to me. Although clinical trials have been registered with the FDA, I could find no results from those trials published in peer-reviewd journals, that is, none of them have been evaluated by other scientists in the field. Instead, the researcher has chosen to self publish. This is often an indication that the material would not stand up to rigorous scientific evaluation.

I would try Rice Milk. I have been drinking it now for over 3 years and my son who is 3.5 years old has been drinking it since he was a year old. There are actually more nutrients per serving of Rice MIlk than in a serving of Organic Whole Milk, which is what we were giving my son before we switched him to Rice Milk. Now my 18 month old daughter is a Milk GIrl and will have nothing to do with Rice Milk. THankfully she can drink milk just fine...whereas both my son and I are intolerant to milk.

I would find out from a pediatric allergist what your daughter is allergic to. A lot of kids who are allergic to milk are also allergic to the other high allergen items like nuts, soy, eggs, citrus, etc.

Try yogurt. It doesn't have the lactose in it like milk does so usually people who can't tolerate milk are still alright when they eat yogurt. Same thing goes with goats milk. There are some really yummy cheeses made with goat's milk that you may want to try. Rice milk also is a great substitution. You can cook with it or use it in cereal. Good Luck!

Have you tested to see if she can handle goat milk products or 'raw milk ' or even lactose free milk? Raw milk is great for most people who are lactost intollerant.

If she can handle other animal milks like goat then she has a sensitivity rather than allergy. But if she is allergic then 'whey' and' casein ' must be avoided but you probably know this. Anyway my kids have Organic Calcium enriched Rice Milk and they love it.

Your Daughter will really benefit anyway from some probiotics as they will attack the root cause of her problem; her immune system has been compromised by not having enough positive 'gut flora' . If a health food store near you sells a baby dophilus type product that is lactose free then it will probably really help.

And two great books for you " Perscription for Nutritional Healling ' is an amazing reference guide for all maladies and how to solve through Nutrition . An updated version of this is "perscription for Natural healing' which i found at wholefoods which includes all alternative remedies to go with each condition as well as the Nutritional info.

The other interesting one is 'Gut and Psychology Syndrome' by Dr natasha Campbell-McBride MD. In it she explains why certain bodies cannot deal with milk and gluten etc. And it all comes down to 'the gut'

hope this helps. cx