Alternatives to Neocate

[Sheilsie]

My 11 month old DD has been happily guzzling three 7oz bottles of Neocate for the last three months, but has recently been losing interest in all but her morning milk. I'm thinking of dropping the lunchtime milk in the hope that this revives her interest in her bedtime milk, but Ibelieve that 14oz is below the recommended amount for 11 months.

So my question is - what can I give instead to make up for what she gets from the milk (calcium?), if that makes sense. I guess that most non-allergic babies can drop to two bottles at a similar age because they get loads of cheese etc. My DD gets calcium enriched oat milk with her breakfast cereal and I've recently tried her on soya yogurts (which she seems OK with), if that counts. Any additional suggestions much appreciated. Thanks

[simpson]

do you cook with the neocate?

My DD now 19mths is on three 5oz bottles of neocate and rarely finishes them all now as she would rather eat iyswim.

I puree fruit usually blueberries/strawberries/raspberries then add a few scoops of neocate and it thickens like a yogurt which she likes.

Broccoli and tinned sardines are also high in calcium.

She also has one low sugar rusk a day as they have added calcium. I think white bread had added vcalcium in too....

My DD has a problem with soya too so that is a no no which makes things very hard

If you are worried re calcium intake you can always get a supplement from GP in a syrup form (can't remember name)

[Sheilsie]

Thanks, that's really helpful! I haven't tried cooking with Neocate before, partly because the dietician recommended not to as she thought it tasted so bad. But my DD doesn't seem to mind the taste of Neocate so I'll give it a go.

I tried DD on rasperries and Neocate tonight - 8 rasperries to 4 scoops of Neocate. I thought it tasted lovely (you couldn't taste the Neocate at all) but it seems that DD does not like unsweetened rasperries! But I might try stirring some Neocate into her fruit pots. If it mixes in OK and DD still takes it then that would be brilliant, as she drinks less and less milk each day - less than 14oz today.

[MonkeyPuzzle2]

My daughter is 22 months and isn't really interested in drinking "milk". Her dietician said 1 soy yoghurt, ( make sure its one with added calcium) and 200mls per day gives her adequate calcium. She just about makes this daily with her morning porridge made with Neocate and weetabix again made with neocate before bed. On days she doesn't I give here Calcium Sandoz the supplement Sheilsie refers to.

You could bump up the Neocate consumption by swapping the morning oat milk for Neocate. I also add 1 Neocate scoop to any fruit puree desert, soy yoghurt or non dairy ice cream. It mixes well and my daughter doesn't seem to mind. My cooking with Neocate has been a disaster so it has been abandoned

I realise that your baby is younger so required milk quantity will be different but I hope this gives you some sort of gauge. Next time you see your GP or dietician ask them about swapping to Neocate Active. It is for over 1's & isn't nutrionally complete but has far higher calcium & iron levels per ml so you only need, ( from memory) 300mls per day to get your quota.

Good luck

[bloomingnora]

Ready brek has tons of calcium in it if your DD is ok with oats. I'm pretty sure it is just oats and vitamins/minerals (have just thrown the box away so can't check!). There's definitely no added sugar or anything like that. Tastes lovely with oat milk.

[Sheilsie]

Thanks bloomingnora and MonkeyPuzzle2. By chance, my DD gets Ready Brek for breakfast at nursery so that's good to know. Do you know where I can get added calcium soya yogurts? I'm using the Alpro ones from the supermarket (the only type I've seen) but don't remember seeing anything about it being calcium enriched?

[GreenMonkies]

My DD2 is allergic/intolerant to cows milk protein, she's three now, and has never had any of the "special" hypoallergenic milks. Once I stopped expressing for her she began to drink rice milk at nursery etc (but continues to nurse at home) and most rice milks are vitamin and mineral enriched. But it's actually very easy to get non-dairy calcium, lots of foods contain fairly high levels of very bioavailable calcium. People often forget that whilst cows milk has lots of calcium in it it's on a not very bioavailable form which means we don't actually absorb much of it. It's a bit of a myth that we get lots of calcium from cows milk!

[MonkeyPuzzle2]

I think Alpro yoghurts have added calcium, it normally says on the package. The only Alpro yoghurt from memory that doesn't is the organic one.

[TheWicketKeeperIsDown]

Have other people whose wee ones have CMP allergy found Ready Brek ok? I was about to buy it last week in an attempt to get her onto something other than fruit/toast for breakfast, but I was put off by the fact that the label said "may contain milk". Everything else seems to have sugar or salt added - even Weetabix! I was so surprised at that! I thought I might as well just stick to good old Scottish porridge instead.

[Sheilsie]

My DD has been having Ready Brek for months with no problem (and she's reacted strongly to tiny amounts of cows milk before). I went to check the box after reading your message and, right enough, it says "may contain traces of milk". Can't believe I don't remember seeing that before!

The good thing about Ready Brek is, as bloomingnora says, it's really high in calcium. Also, it tastes OK made with water if you're feeling lazy.