Toddler dairy free (on medical advice for eczema) but worried about ultra processed alternatives

[Ed1n]

My two year old has had troublesome eczema and it has drastically improved on a dairy free diet, as suggested by our GP. I think it's good for all the family to cut back on dairy but I'm horrified looking at ingredient lists and production methods in the vegan alternatives to milk and yoghurt. They seem highly processed. We are using oat milk but even the simplest ones still seem to count as ultra processed. Having seen "What are we feeding our kids" (BBC doc) I really worry about his developing brain.

Can anyone give me some good suggestions for alternatives to dairy that are palatable for a two year old or just chat from parents in similar boat.

You could make your own oat milk: www.loveandlemons.com/oat-milk/

I have a 5 year old and 3 year old which both have cmpa so dairy free. I don't worry about oat milk because they need an alternative and they can't have cows milk so it is what it is.

We uses generally
Co-op gro oat milk
Vitolife grated/sliced cheese
Asda or sainsbrys garlic and herb spread

I will add that my children have never had food made from cows milk as they were both diagnosed before weaning so they like the alternatives as they don't know what the cow version tastes like.

We're a non dairy household for ethical reasons. Oat milk is great, my 4 year old has been drinking it since he was one, and some brands literally only contain oat and water. Cows milk from the supermarket is also very heavily processed and resembles nothing like what actually comes out of a cows udder...

Kids need the highly processed vegan alternatives because they’re the ones that are fortified appropriately. The ‘natural ones’ are basically no better than water - they are not dairy alternatives and may even be dangerous to children.

So the dairy alternatives that have the same or more calcium/vitamins d:

1. Tofu (processed but one packet of fortified tofu a day has more calcium than milk). I puree it straight from the packet with fruit.

1. Ezcema can often respond to low dairy too. So instead of milk offer yoghurts / cheeses / keffir / buttermilk.

1. Fish with edible bones. This is probably the best non-dairy source in my opinion.

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions, but I just wanted to sympathise. DS is 2.5 and has completed most of the milk ladder but still can't tolerate any amount of real milk. To make matters worse he's also allergic to oat. I hate giving him almond milk which is, as you say highly processed. I find it really frustrating that more of the alternatives aren't fortified too.

@bewilderedwinner

We're a non dairy household for ethical reasons. Oat milk is great, my 4 year old has been drinking it since he was one, and some brands literally only contain oat and water. Cows milk from the supermarket is also very heavily processed and resembles nothing like what actually comes out of a cows udder...

Do you mean pasteurisation? Heating then cooling?

Plenish is a great milk brand that don’t add any nasties. We use their oat and almond milk, as they’re literally oats, water, sea salt, and almonds, water, sea salt. They’re also organic and GF.

If it's cows milk, can you try goat milk?

Buffalo mozzarella is lovely as is the hard goats cheese you can get. Feta also goes down well here especially on pizza or savoury tarts.

We grate goats cheese onto stuff like spag hol and you wouldn't know it wasn't white cheddar.

My son has CMPA so we're a dairy free house.

He has alpro soya growing up milk and they do an oat version as well. It's fortified which they do need as they will be missing some things by not having any dairy.

We use flora for butter and he likes alpro yoghurts. We don't use a cheese alternative often as they are pretty yuk. He likes it on pizza though and knows no difference.

He doesn't eat much else that's processed though as due to his allergy I have to cook from scratch most of the time.

I wouldn't worry about it too much tbh.

My 16 year old has CMPA and we use relatively few dairy alternatives. I just cook meals that don't contain dairy and include plenty of non dairy calcium sources.
We are kind of conditioned in the West to see dairy as an essential food, so if we can't have it then we need to replace it with "mock dairy". We don't. It is perfectly possible to have a healthy diet without it. My DS does have a few processed alternatives as treats - chocolate for instance - but I don't see them as intrinsically any better or worse than the equivalents his dairy eating peers have.
It does however take a fair amount of effort til you get used to it and it can be quite a challenge to meet the calcium needs of a growing child, so you probably can't easily cut out all dairy alternatives at this age. I breastfed til self weaning and never really introduced "milk" as a drink but obviously that's useless advice if you are not currently breastfeeding. I think I would look at boosting the calcium and healthy fats in his diet in other ways and reducing but not stopping the dairy alternatives. Life is full of compromises. We all want to be perfect as parents but it is impossible so don't be too hard on yourself.

Why do they need milk? My DC don't drink milk. They do like fruit juices and smoothies which is the same sugar hit as milk I suppose. I don't drink these myself, but do alllow them to have them a bit.

My Dc were breastfed until 2, then never took to cows milk, so I never pushed it. We just try as best a possible to balance their diets with other sources of calcium. Tonight we will broccoli with Salmon.

@navigatingcrumbs

Why do they need milk? My DC don't drink milk. They do like fruit juices and smoothies which is the same sugar hit as milk I suppose. I don't drink these myself, but do alllow them to have them a bit.

My Dc were breastfed until 2, then never took to cows milk, so I never pushed it. We just try as best a possible to balance their diets with other sources of calcium. Tonight we will broccoli with Salmon.

Fruit juices and smoothies are definitely not the same ‘sugar hit’ as milk.

We were advised Goats milk for our son, it took a few weeks for his skin to settle, but it really worked. He’s 16 now and when he has “ cows”, ice cream/ creamy sauces his eczema pops back up immediately.
Worth a try? It obviously has all the benefits and absolutely no processing
Good luck OP, it’s hard I’ve been there

I think there are a lot of posters who clearly haven’t noticed the age of the child in question. Visit the NHS guide OP. www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/calcium/

You want your son to have decent amounts of vitamins ACD, Calcium and Iron as a minimum to support growth at this age. You could, as suggested by the NHS, just give your son a supplement and if you’re white that could work. If you aren’t white you will need a decent diet + supplement to prevent things like rickets / osteomalacia etc so you will probably need to push for a dietician referral.