Possibly dairy and/or egg intolerant 16 mth old - ideas for packed lunches for childminder?

[Starshinetiger]

Ok, so I'm not going to give full history, but after a traumatic 1st 11 weeks of his life (entirely bf), my son was put on nutramigen hypoallergenic formula by the paed, but denied allergy/intolerance testing. Was a fantastic help and he put weight on, throwing up reduced, more normal nappies, etc. and he was much happier. When we weaned him, I did it very carefully and then tried introducing various foods. Dr has always said he can't be allergy/intolderance tested until he's at least 5 and just to "keep doing what you're doing".

So, all of his food is homemade and he's a good eater - eats fruit, veg, porridge, casseroles and cottage pies, fish, etc., but since Ocotober has had exczema (sp.?), which started before our hols, but got worse while we were away and I had lots less control over what he ate (weren't self-catering for all of it and basically he wouldn't eat, so I let him eat whatever he would eat). The exczema seems better when no dairy or egg, but I'm struggling for variety and particularly for lunches. He loves cheese, but I know from experience that sometimes when you have an intolerance your body craves it all the more!

But our childminder really wants him to have lunchy foods, as that's what the other children eat and he just wants whatever they've got if he has cooked. I don't mind this in principle as he has cooked in the evening. So, my question is, can anyone recommend dairy & egg free packed lunches for a LO who doesn't like chicken - is ham ok (I'm worried about salt content), what suggestions do you have?

Also, for those of you who've successfully had your LOs allergy tested, how did you manage it?

Sorry long post!

[MetalMummy]

Ham should be OK but check the labels because I know some wafer thin hams have milk added to them (Bernard Matthews Turkey ham definitely does). We give DS carrot and cucumber sticks with dairy free soft cheese which he really likes, haven't tried the dairy free cheddar slices but I did make pizzas using the dairy free mozarella and it was actually really nice.
Alpro do really nice chocolate desserts and yogurts which he could have for a pudding. I also make up jelly into individual pots which DS takes in his packed lunch.

I honestly don't know why your GP told you he couldn't be allergy tested until he was 5 because that's rubbish. My DS had blood tests (rast tests) last March when he was 4 which showed that he was allergic to wheat and milk and on Tuesday he went to the allergy cinic for skin prick testing and there were toddlers being tested. Is there a different GP you can see at your surgery or is he the only one there?

[Starshinetiger]

Thanks MetalMummy. Hadn't thought of looking for dairy free cheeses, but will give that a go. Unfortunately, our GP's practice is husband and wife and they're both on the same page on this.

We're off to the homeopath a week on Mon, and she's also studying nutrition, so she might be able to give us some pointers too. Shall try to get some dairy free cheese and see how we go. Thanks again for the tips.

[sagitta]

DD had skin prick testing at six months and then annually. It was really helpful to know what the problem was - can you push for this? Maybe try to bypass GP and go to a walk-in clinic for referral to hospital or something? Or try to get referred to dietician.
In the meantime, my dd loves carrot/ cucumber sticks in hummus, homemade pizza, prawn sandwiches, pasta salad, alpro yoghurts, fruit juice jelly, and the organix range do loads of little lunchbox things (cereal bars, fruit bars, not-too-bad for you crisp things). I've started to cook ham myself (very, very easy) and then you know what's in it.

[sagitta]

by the way, we went to a homeopath and it wasn't successful at all, although some people here have found it to be. But I wouldn't get your hopes up...

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

Little pots of pasta, rice or quinoa salads are nice. Can add cooked veg or raw salad. Pasta is easiest for very small children because they can eat it with their fingers.

Chunky green salad with ham, salami or prawns with different sorts of bread ie. breadsticks, pitta etc.

There are still lots of things you can put in his sandwiches. We used marmite, jam, honey, ham, banana, sausage, tuna or sardines (never got 'em to like the fish ones though!). Lemon curd usually contains egg. And of course there is the plastic cheese but DD wouldn't eat it.

As long as his diet doesn't contain a lot of salt elsewhere then I wouldn't worry about the salt content. But shop around and get the least salty available.

As ever, check the labels. Dairy and egg turn up in the strangest foods. I thank my lucky stars DD doesn't have a wheat allergy - IMO that's much harder!

[needmorecoffee]

jam sanwhiches, peanut butter sandwhiches. Doesn't have to be cordon bleu. piece of fruit, soya yogurt, pckt of crisps.

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

Allergy testing - wasn't required. DD collapsed with anaphalytic shock at 6months so it was rather obvious! It was so severe that the consultant said she would never tolerate milk products. Due to accidents and childrens parties (it happens) we discovered that she had grown out of milk/dairy allergy by the age of 4. So hurrah to that!

[Starshinetiger]

Thanks all for your posts - been a busy weekend (aren't they always?) and haven't had time to post. Shall give the pasta salads a go - also, hadn't thought of hummous at all, what a great idea. Shall shop on way home from work tomorrow and see if he likes it. As always - where would I be without Mumsnet?!
P.S. TDONB - anaphalytic shock ! I know our case isn't anywhere as bad, but it is all frustrating when you don't know where to start, so glad your DD outgrew her allergy.

[alibubbles]

I have a minded children with dairy and egg, one with egg and the other with nut, dairy and egg intolerences.

I cook for all of them at lunchtime, I use soya milk and vegetable spreads to mash potatoes etc.

Will you childminder not provide lunch, it's so much easier for them all to have the same.

Watch the pasta, make sure it is egg free - none of the freshs ones are, and some of the dried ones have egg.

M&S sausages have milk in them, so does Olivio spread, I'm used to doing it now, but we are hoping that they will all grow out of it, ( soon!)

[Bilbomum]

I'm very lucky, our childminder cooks dairy/egg/sesame/nut free(!) for my DS and all the kids have what he's having most of the time.

It takes time to get used to shopping, I discovered that Tesco organic maltloaf has no dairy/egg but other brands do. Similarly M&S organic sos have no egg but their other sausages do. Also M&S breaded lemon sole goujons are ok but not the other fishfinger type things. Could you buy things like that for the childminder to cook separately? My son just throws sandwiches around so he generally has to have a hot lunch to try keep his calories up.

Keep checking the labels though even if you buy the same things often, Trufree custard creams have suddenly changed and are no longer dairy free.

I wouldn't do peanut butter if you suspect allergies and I would push for testing, ask your GP to refer you for 2nd opinion. My son was blood & skin prick tested at about 8 months on the NHS at hospital (via eczema clinic).

[Cher19]

My daughter was diagnosed with dairy allergy at 6 months and my son with a nut allergy at 18 months. I think the query is in the testing methods - blood tests measure how the body has reacted when it has come into contact with an allergen, skin prick test tests the immediate reaction. Depending on their exposure history the results can be quite different.

Thanksfully age 4 we were able to move onto soya products....

We bought a bread machine and made breads ourselves. Rolls can be frozen and brought out as needed. Cakes are also really easy to made - literally chuck the ingredients in and out the cake comes! If the recipe says milk, miss it out and see how it turns out!

For packed lunch foods we use pitta a lot. Pretzels are also a good nibble - but can be quite salty.

Redwood do a Cheesily soya cheese with a few flavours. Benecol have just brought out dairyfree drinking yoghurts - quite hard to find though. Try Waitrose and Sainsburys.

There are also dark chocolate rice cake biscuits which Sainsburys stock, aswell as Holland and Barratt.

M&S cockatil sausages are also dairy free!