What do you do about calcium with a dairy free diet?

[Tartanmam]

My ds is allergic to dairy which i've been ok with while i was still bf, now hes a year and although i'm still bf morning and night i'm starting to worry about calcium. I'm aware that milk isn't the amazing wonder product its made out to be but after looking at what he's eaten over the past few days i am starting to worry hes not getting enough calcium in his diet.

What do others do, do you give supplements or just give other calcium rich foods? He eats really well and does eat food with calcium, but he can't eat the same things every day just to make sure he has enough.

I used to drink Rice Millk with added calcium. Some of the Soya yoghurts had calcuim in them as well. Also there are some veg with calcium in them- broccoli being one that springs immediately to mind- have a look here

Hi - my 20 month old has always been allergic to dairy and more recently soya, there is apparently quite a lot of calcium in sesame seeds, and she really likes hoummous, I find that's a good option for lunch with veggie batons and bread or bread sticks. I also make porridge with oat milk (Oatly with extra calcium) or Rice Milk with extra calcium. I stopped bf 2 months ago and it is also a real worry for me about the calcium, GP has just prescribed calcium supplements for her after we had an appointment with the dietician... best way forward I think!!

What supplements have you been prescribed angel and are thet tablets, drops or powder? ds does like humous and will eat it but he can't have it every day, and i'm struggling to have a varied diet that still provides enough calcium. I've got an apointment at the hospital but thats just been put back to the end of August so i'm thinking of going back to my GP to get prescribed supplements. I did buy some but they were really expensive and in a powder form that ds won't touch.

I'd been quite relaxed about it until i was speaking to an osteopath who really emphasised the importance of calcium to bones that are growing as much as small childrens do.

Not sure about supplements but my 20-month old ds gets all the calcium he needs in Ready Brek - it has loads added. I make it with Rice Dream. I had an appointment with a dietician at our local hospital who told me that at this age they need 350mg calcium a day. I weighed out the amount of Ready Brek I normally use and that actually has 400mg in it. I am dreading the day he starts getting fussy about his breakfasts though!

I never thought of Ready Brek, dh will be chuffed i made him stop buying it since we've always goto ats in the house.

Just to add to the confusion, my dietician said that although of course calcium is v important, their need for protein at this age is much higher, the time they are very much in need of calcium is around 10 years old, pre-puberty. She also said that doctors are reluctant to prescribe the calcium supplements as we can actually overdose on calcium as the body doesn't excrete it, so it ends up causing kidney stones, etc as they cause calcium deposits... She said if they ever need a blood test, ask for a calcium level to be done to check whether they are receiving enough or too much!
The syrup we were prescribed was called Calcium-Sandoz and to be honest I haven't given it to her yet as I am waiting for the blood test results from a couple of weeks ago.
It must be really frustrating for you having to wait till August to see the dietician...

DD is on soya formula (on prescription) and will continue to be so until she is two. This way she gets the calcium & nutrients she needs. I talked to DD's dietician about cutting her to two bottles a day and she said fine, as long as she has a soy yoghurt too. Does your DS have a dietician? If so, speak to them and get them to calculate calcium intake and advise.

I'm waiting to see the dietician as well, nobody seems to bothered about it to be honest.

I've tried him with Rice milk this week and he doesn't seem too keen, have been avoiding soya as paranoid he'll be allergic to it as well but might bite the bullet and get some yogurts for him to try.

Thanks everyone

My ds2 (26mo) has two soya yogs a day (Alpro with added calcium) and weetabix on a morning made with soya milk and the dietician said this would probably be enough but to try to supplement with soya milk at bedtime (but ds hates it even with added strawberry flavouring).

She gave me a sheet so here's the main stuff
Recommended daily intakes of calcium are
0-1yr 525mg
1-3yrs 350mg
4-6 450mg
7-10 550mg

Just as a quick guide for the calcium content of common dairy-free calcium rich foods:
The common ones
125mg of calcium in a 125ml soya yog,
500mg in 100g of sardines (if bones eaten) 125mg in 30g of soya cheese,
275mg in 200ml calcium enriched soya milk

860mg in 100g fried whitebait!
600mg in 100g cooked spinach
510mg in 100g tofu
600mg in 100g treacle
280mg in 100g dried figs
250mg in 100g almonds
220mg in 100g watercress
200mg in 100g museli
180 mg in 100g brazil nuts
178mg in 25g sunflower seeds
160g in 25g sesame seeds
140mg in 100g red kidney beans
120in 100g marzipan!
100mg in 100g white bread
90mg in 60g shelled prawns
75mg in 1 med orange
50mg in 100g baked beans

Basically the calcium sontent in most of the foods is such that you have to eat a LOT if you were relyin on them solely. But, if you're giving soya yogs and soya milk on brekkie then you can see you're getting near the mark.
I also give Hummous lots for lunch and make fishy pasta with tinned sardines (with bones).
HTHs

Thanks for your ideas,

Smoggie, what do you do with your sardines and pasta? I bought some at the weekend then realised i have no idea what to do with them, they're not something i've ever eaten before.

I usually soften an onion in olive oil (sometimes add courgette or peppers)then just tip in a tin of chopped toms and tin of sardines in tom sauce, chop them up and heat through, stir into cooked pasta.
If making a big batch for whole family I add a bit of tabasco for me and dh after I've dished out for the ds's.

Sounds like my standard pasta sauce, never thought of throwing the sardines in there, will do that next time - and hope dh doesn't notice, he's fussy about fish.

Even just made with nothing but mashed-up sardines in pasta it's nice, and tastes different from sardines with bread.

smoggie, I'm confused about those calcium levels of food, though. I mean, I'd also always heard that green leafy veg, sardines, almonds etc had good amounts of calcium, but then somewhere online I found a list saying there was only like 50mg here and 50mg there, maybe about 250mg for a tin of sardines.

But now I'm worried that if there's as much as your dietician's list says (and it's probably more reliable than my random internet source!),I may be getting too much calcium, since I've been advised to take 1,000mg of Calcium Sandoz (I'm BFing a milk protein-intolerant 3-month DD).

hm...maybe I should only take a 500mg tablet a day, especially since there's also some calcium in my prenatal vitamin.

my ds has rice milk with added calcium

Well, my ds is one of those children with mutiple food allergies and other food that are high in calcium he can't have either.

Ds is on a calcium suppliment, calcium sandoz and I do worry about it, especially the calcification deposits bit as it would not be good for ds (or anyone else for that matter, but especially ds) if any of the calcium deposits settled in or around his heart valves. He had his bloods done in March and although the results came back fine (I think!), we have an appt to see the paed in 2 1/2 weeks, so I will ask about it again then.

I do give him as much as I can to boost his calcium levels naturally. He has readybrek for breakfast made up with calcium fortified ricemilk. But aside from that, there isn't much I can do as he won't drink the ricemilk and has recently stopped having a breastfeed before bed (it's nice to have my body back after 3 years!). He is intolerant to soya, can't eat any kind of nut, hates all veg and most fruit. Actually, he's a nightmare, roflmao!

I have always worried about this, as dd2, now aged 4, has severe reactions to dairy. I give her tons of green leafy veg with every meal and hummous nearly every day. She will sometimes eat brazil nuts, and I put spoonfuls of sesame seeds in home-made biscuits & flapjacks. Have had no luck getting her to eat sardines though, even when they are cunningly disguised in something else.

I also give her a glass of Tropicana Calcium with her toast every morning. It is squeezed smooth-style orange juice with added calcium. It says on the side 'glass for glass, Tropicana Essentials Calcium contains the same level of calcium as milk'. It has 122mg calcium in every 100ml.
I buy it from Waitrose but am sure it must be available in most big supermarkets.
Hope that helps.

heartmum - what's the problem with calcium sandoz? I've just put a prescription this afternoon for my dd2 that the hospital said she needs to have