Help! DS3 (16 months) has been advised to go dairy-free. What can I feed him?

[StuntNun]

DS3 was diagnosed as egg-intolerant at six months so I am well used to reading labels and being vigilant with what he eats. However dairy-free is a new one for me so I would really appreciate any tips on suitable dairy-free foods for a 16-month-old. I've noticed the dairy-free range in supermarkets quite often contain egg products.

My ds is allergic to egg and dairy. (Diagnosed via a skin prick test, I'm not sure if it's an allergy or an intolerance). We were advised by the paediatrician that egg if baked is normally ok I.e he can have a home baked muffin but scrambled egg brings him out in a red blotchy itchy rash for hours. It's something to do with the proteins being broken down more. He can also drink goats milk and goats cheese no prob.

The reason I say this all (and I appreciate your ds's allergies will be different) is that he had really bad diarrhoea for ages and I spent so long reading labels etc cutting out the tiniest bit of milk and it had no effect on his diarrhoea. I cut out weetabix and reduce bread and pasta significantly and we now have solid poos!!!!!

Skin prick test = allergy. Intolerance will not be detected in a skin test.

Lily does that indicate a problem with gluten if bread etc were causing issues?

not read the whole thread, but Pom Bears have milk in! (or they did last time I checked)

Green and Blacks did for a while too ... when Cadburys took over. It upset me greatly. Is it ok again now??

Trinity I think they have soya in as my boy had them for a while. The cheese ones have milk in.

woo! just checked. Pom Bears are back on the menu

watch out for hidden milk in tomato sauce, ham and medicines. A weekend of hell following an incident with teething powders sticks in my mind

There is dairy free milk chocolate in sainsbos! It's a saviour

(Dark chocolate makes my kids stay up half the night)

Stunt - I use coconut oil as my main fat - you can use it like butter too. Would that be an option? (I'm a bit wary of those dairy free spreads tbh as I think processed fats aren't great for you but I might be overreacting :) )

The coconut oil I buy is £6 for a small jar in Tesco. Do you have a cheaper source DaddyPig?

We have had some improvements in sleep since dropping the Pepti although DS3 has been getting canines which is confounding the issue. He has been on probiotics for a week but still has diarrhoea. My current plan is to continue with his dairy/lactose/egg/soya-free diet. I am only breastfeeding him once a day to keep my supply going. I give him colief drops before the feed to minimise the lactose impact. As far as my diet goes I have cut dairy down drastically apart from butter. Hopefully after a few more days I'll be able to start challenging him to find out exactly what he is reacting to.

My current cheapest source is off dolphinfitness.co.uk - £12 for a big tub. Agree it's v expensive!

I hope you figure it out soon - it's a nightmare tinkering with diet x

DS1 has been milk/ egg/ soya free. Most of the brands we use have been mentioned. It's ok when you know what you can buy and it's routine. The hardest bit for usess when the ssoya intolerance flared up and we had to cut it out after having just adjusted to dairy free.

I'm sorry to be so blunt but if you're still eating butter and feeding him, albeit one feed per day. He isn't dairy free. He clearly reacts to small amounts and challenging him after anything less than about 8 weeks completely dairy free is going to give you inconclusive results. You both have to be completely dairy free if you're going to breastfeed him. Otherwise it's pointless.

Don't be sorry for being blunt Flouncy, your thoughts are always welcome. I know you have had a similar path with silent reflux and multiple intolerances/allergies although you have had a much tougher time of it I think. My problem is we just don't know what DS3 is reacting to. The egg problem is clear and last time he had an egg challenge there was an unequivocal reaction. But all we know is that cows milk seemed to give him a problem, it could be the dairy or it could be the lactose and either way it could well be a temporary intolerance. It just seems like a backwards step to give up breastfeeding and switch to Koko when we aren't really certain what his problem is. I know he can tolerate small amounts of well-cooked egg in my diet so it seems likely to me that the small amount of cows milk protein in butter in my diet will also be tolerated. He has shown an improvement over the last few days and the teething seems to be on hold at the moment so I'm hoping this week I will be able to determine whether the current approach is working. At least now we know that he will drink the Koko so we have a good alternative if I do have to stop bfing him again.

Stunt I'm fairly certain BM contains lactose, so if its that he's reacting to, BM is going to be aggravating problems.
So if he reacts to cows milk, and not BM, its the proteins thats the problem. Can you investigate the ghee further, incase that keeps up your dietary needs, and reduces the impact on your DS?

BM is chock full of lactose (as it is the sugar in all milks) so if he was ok with BM then it is unlikely to be lactose intolerance and more likely to be a reaction to cows milk protein.

I have been using Colief lactase drops before each breastfeed to help if it is a lactose intolerance. I think something is working as we're not seeing the night pains anymore and he seems much happier in the day time - more likely to laugh, more content and less clingy. He's still having dodgy nappies but the stool sample came back clear so it's not an infection, just have to hope the probiotics help him there.

J is a new boy since dropping the Nutrimigen. Considering the amounts of dairy or soya in it are minute, I am amazed.

Stunt, I honestly feel, like Flouncy, that it is pretty pointless to continue to BF when you are eating any dairy whatsoever, and giving colief also seems daft to me. He is nearly 18 months old, you are feeding him once a day, I think it is time to let it go. Stop BF and put him on a strict egg, dairy and soya free diet for 2 months to let his wee tum recover, then consider doing trials. If after all that there is still a problem, you can go to the medics with clear evidence.

Lactose intolerance is far more rare (especially in small children) than cows milk protein intolerance.

Colief is designed to help with transient lactase deficiency which is usually outgrown by 3 or 4 months old, so it seems unlikely that would be what's helping your DS - plus it costs a fortune!

I agree with Valium, logically it would seem to make more sense to stop the Colief and instead ensure he is completely dairy free (either by stopping BF or by cutting out butter - I adore butter but Pure is a pretty good substitute!).

Aldi moser Roth dark choc is dairy free & nicer than green and black or Lindt.

Soups made with pulses & lentils are my saviour, very filling and very cheap to make.

Popadoms are dairy free for when he's able to have them.

Minipie he had a bad tummy bug back in mid-February and the GP thought it was possibly a temporary lactose intolerance from that. All we know for sure is that he has had diarrhoea for six weeks (since the tummy bug) and when he started having a bottle of 'doorstep' milk at bedtime his wake ups went from three or four times a night to fifteen times a night. I'm hoping for a bit more information and some concrete advice when we see the paediatrician.

Ah ok. Yes could be temp lact intolerance if the symptoms have only been since that. I don't know whether colief helps with that, I guess it should do if it's essentially extra lactase. Poor little chap, I hope the paed can help.

Aptamil Pepti isn't completely dairy free, you should ask for Neocate if he is still showing a reaction to it. Just an idea!
Ds is dairy/soya/nut free. He eats alot of New York bagels/fruit/organix snacks.

I have switched DS3 to Koko coconut milk and he has improved so much since going dairy-free. I wonder if the Koko is too low calorie though as he's waking up at 5:30 every morning and screaming and screaming until he gets a bottle.

Stunt, how old is your DS3?

He's 17 months ArtFine. How are you getting on, are you getting any answers?