Food Allergies - Lenore,ID

ETA: DO NOT get lactose free milk, as another poster suggested. Children with milk allergies are not allergic to lactose. They are allergic to the proteins in the milk, whey and casein.

My son drinks soy milk. It takes a little getting used to, but it's better than rice milk, which is really watery. You could make it chocolate milk, too. Silk has a chocolate variety you can buy, or Hershey's syrup is non-dairy.

A lot of people also say Almond Milk is good, but my son is allergic to nuts too, so we have to stick with soy. Soy also has more of the nutrients that you get from cow's milk - protein, fat, vitamins A and D. Most of the other milks lack at least one of these key ingredients.

Other good foods - lots of meat, vegetables, and fruit. Pretty much anything fresh like that should be safe.

Daiya brand soy cheese is a good one if you're looking for something that melts to make homemade pizzas.

If she has that many allergies, I would not give her soy or almond milk. Soy and tree nuts are very common allergens, and if she is already predisposed to having food allergies, I wouldn't give these to her until you know she is not allergic to these substances (meaning she has been tested and showed no reaction).

Go to the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) website at
www.foodallergy.org for great information and resources for people with allergies and parents of kids with allergies.

I know how hard this can be. My son had all of those food allergies, but he has since outgrown many of them with the exception of tree nuts and sesame.
He started drinking rice milk and still does to this day.

Try a little of the rice milk in non-wheat based cereal to get her used to it. Mix the rice milk with fruits that she's not allergic to and some ice and make her smoothies. Introduce it to her in these forms, and this may help her to get used to it over time.

With patience and information, you can do this!!

J. F.

My kids really like the coconut-almond milk blend by Blue Diamond. Personally, I think it tastes too rich, but I can see why a kid would like it.
My kids have drunk soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, plain coconut milk, but also hate rice milk which they say is too thin.

My son hates milk, but has a glass of calcium fortified OJ at breakfast every morning. There's actually more calcium in the OJ than in regular milk, so you might see if she likes it. It's the only juice my son gets, so it's a morning treat for him. It's just another way to get some additional calcium!

My daughter is allergic to dairy as well. She does rice milk whenever she has milk. One time we found oat milk and she loved that even more, but we haven't found it since. Of course she has never drunk a glass of cow's milk so she has no point of comparison.

I, on the otherhand, had to cut out milk for a while. I tried coconut, almond, and rice milk. Nothing compared to cow's milk for me so I went without.

Do a Google search for the GAPS diet. You will find many recipes that do not include the foods you mentioned above. There's a good-sized community of people who follow it, so there are many blogs that have recipe sections devoted to specialized recipes.

soy milk
almond milk
lactose free milk

Try almond milk. It tastes better, I think.

Talk to the nutritionist for ideas. There are lots of recipes on the internet as well.

Sounds like she should try being vegetarian or vegan or maybe pescatarian.

My SD drinks chocolate almond milk, FYI. Not for an allergy but because she likes it. Kid I babysat drank a lot of calcium fortified orange juice.

What about almond milk? I don't like it either, but maybe she would? Of course, ask the doctor first...

Go to http://cybelepascal.com/ She has lots of kid-friendly recipes that are free of the top 8 allergens. She also has 3 cookbooks available at Amazon.com. Her recipes are so yummy that my non-allergic friends and family love them, too.
I am also allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy, seafood, and soy. Focus on what she can eat, like fruit, veggies, meat. There are also lots of convenience foods (granola bars, cereal and such) available, you just have to read every label until you learn what is safe. Best of luck as you navigate this new world of food. You will find many new favorites you never knew existed and your child will feel so much better!

There are a lot of milk alternatives - coconut, almond, etc. You can also make her some smoothies by adding fruit, if she'll go for that. You can add plain cocoa powder to anything to make it chocolate flavored without adding sugar or additives, and it only has about 10 calories. A good friend of mine has a son who had 60 food allergies - all the stuff you listed, plus melon, deli meat, all kinds of things you'd think would be okay. She gave him a special supplement and he's actually now allergy free - the supplement gave him nutrition in the short run, and in the long run gave him all the trace elements he needed to be able to process all the trigger foods. I think it took a few months but it was absolutely worth it. If you want to do elimination diet with the nutritionist, you can, but it's so difficult. This other way is much easier. You can also do both of them together if you want.