CMPI baby dairy challenges

[Niknak1980]

My DD is 7 and 1/2 months old and as she's EBF I'm on a dairy free diet. My referral to a paediatrician is taking forever and (4 months so far) so I was wondering when other people started trying to introduce dairy back into their baby's diet.
I know there's a milk ladder and as she's well into weaning I'd like to try her on more custard, yogurt, rice pudding etc. I've been given conflicting advice re soya milk so I'm expressing milk to mix with porridge at the moment. I'm happy to carry on like this if for as long as she needs, I'm just curious about when others tried to bring dairy back into their baby's diet. Thanks X

My baby now one year old still cannot go anywhere near milk or any milk products. Me being dairy free when feeding her really made such a change. Soya is not recommended after a year. If you are making foods then you can use oat milk. It has no really nutritional value so just be aware of that - I use to make sauces and pancakes etc where it is only used as a wetterner really.

I can't give much advice on when to introduce the milk items as like I say we still are no way near that stage with the allergic reaction so strong. Happy to help if you need any milk free food ideas if its more long term.

Thank you so much for your reply, I'm having real problems getting any weaning advice in general as both referrals to dietician / paediatrician have now been rejected so it's really frustrating and the gp isn't sure. It's good to know that it might take a while longer to introduce milk again so I'll try to just focus on weaning and use my oatly milk for any cooking. Luckily she doesn't react to soya milk but I don't want to use too much of it as I know it's high in sugar/glucose. Such fun! The irony is that I love milk and drank 3 pints a day at the end of my pregnancy like you say though, dairy free is worth it, she's such a happy and content little thing now and was miserable before. Thanks again you're a star xx

Hi OP, my DD is nearly 3, & even just a whiff of cows milk over Xmas made her rash come back, nose run, bad tummy & wheeze/cough.

She is still on Soya milk, which luckily she is ok with.

Thanks, both posts are helpful as its made me realise it might be quite a while yet and I don't need to rush. Have you tried to reintroduce dairy at specific ages or milestones? I'm getting quite good now at finding alternatives but I'm not sure if I'm ok to give her soya yogurts etc and as I'm going back to work full time in a few months I need a formula that she's ok with. She reacted to pepti 1 and nutramigen so soya might be the only way to go X

I think they say that they may grow out of it by roughly age 5, so Im not rushing, as its easier as shes older.

But I feel for you, with such a young baby, Will the health visitor be able to help?

Niknak - I went through this and I think I have the guidebook from the paediatric dietician somewhere.

I'll PM you if I find it today.

Food wise we have started her off aiming at the more eastern diets as their dishes rarely contain milk. We are limited in ours can't have the big foods like dairy, wheat, fish, soya and yesterday we also discovered coconut is a massive nono as well so we are joyfully adding to our list and need to book a new allergy test that goes beyond the most common foods.

For out and about we found a handful of Ella pouches without any dairy or wheat in. They start really smooth so we found them very good in the first few months. When weaning we made loads of fruit purees which went down a storm and can be added to porridge when you get more confident. Really soft carrot sticks.

So yeah I can really suggest aiming ay the eaast when you look to introduce more foods. When you start looking it's amazing how easy it is to find foods that don't rely on milk products. Check all baby snacks as it can be snuck in in some unexpected places!

Thank you so much for all your posts everyone, it's really helping me understand the way forward and how it works and it's so lovely to get some support.
My HV has been great and had a cmpi baby herself so she's really keen that we see someone to get the right advice. The GP has also been supportive but both the referral to community dietetics and the hospital paediatrician have been rejected with the excuse that another service will be more appropriate. The GP said he'd call today to see what will happen next. It's so frustrating as all I want is 10 minutes to get some advice and then I'll happily crack on by myself. It feels like they all think it's something I'm making up! I'm going to ring my HV today to see what they suggest. Thanks again - you're all brilliant xxx

Oops - think my booklet went to the charity shop stuck between the pages of a weaning cook book! Had a quick nose on the net and this one is virtually identical...

http://www.ruh.nhs.uk/patients/patientsleaflets/paediatrics/PAE0288Milkreintroduction.pdf

Flingingmelon that's perfect! Thank you so much, at least if I don't get anywhere I can use that as a guide.

Hi, my LO is 1 and has several allergies including CMPA and soya, the paediatrician generally only recommends the milk ladder after 1 year old, you can buy lots of free from rice pudding yoghurt etc from tesco and holland and Barratt. As for soya milk it's not really recommend until 1 years too but as others have said oat milk is good! You can get calcium enriched oat milk to mix into foods but obviously it's not suitable as baby's main drink. We have been on a dairy free diet since before weaning so I know just how hard it is! Birds custard powder is dairy and soy free if mixed with a different milk! Also we make sauces out of butternut squash and parsnips etc! If you're thinking about finger food try cooked free from pastas etc. hope I've help?

Hi! Yes that does help, thank you! I'm being told so many conflicting things from the GP / HV / dr Google that I'm doing my own head in. I think I'll happily wait until she's had a good stretch dairy free and then try the milk ladder. Hopefully by the time I'm back at work she's on 3 meals a day and I can just bf in the morning and when I've picked her up from nursery. Lots of good ideas for food there, I need to go shopping xx

I would ask GP to refer you to a specialist as to be honest GPs are clueless with allergies these days! My LO sees a paediatrician at hospital and they have given me recipes etc but Google is great for recipes and tesco has some great products. Also if you're on Twitter there's a lot of allergy mums on there!

That's really helpful thank you. We've had a referral to a dietician and pediatrician but both have been rejected saying it's not their department that deals with it. It's been really frustrating, my gp and HV have been great but as you say they don't know as much and can't give much guidance. Advice from lovely people like you has been the most helpful though nobody else seems to get it X