New to Dairy free - help!

[rootsandwings89]

My poor DS is 12 months old and has had a really poorly tummy for a while (poo not sick). Finally got some advice from HV to stop his follow on milk and remove ALL dairy from his diet.

I feel very relieved to get some direction to help him, but also very nervous! He loves cheese and yoghurts - if anyone can recommend any dairy alternative products I'd really appreciate it!

The vegan version of Cathedral City is the best one imo.

Alpro yoghurt is nice. But even nicer is making your own with soya milk and a yoghurt machine.

I’m also dairy/soya free as I’m breastfeeding my 10 week old who has a cows milk allergy.
The grey oatly barista milk is the best alternative in my opinion and is fine for little ones as it contains all the extra iodine and vitamins they need.
The cheese is all vile. I’ve just gone without. If he’s allowed soya then the alpro soya yoghurts are nice but if not there are some sucky coconut milk yoghurts in the free from section in the supermarket which are nice. Or the oatly ‘oatgurt’ strawberry flavour is really nice and you can’t tell it’s not proper yoghurt.
Luckiky he’s too young for chocolate as the alternatives are also gross.

Good luck! Hope it works.

Did you not get any leaflets or referral to dietitian? If a 4 week trial of no diary works, then you really should speak to a dietitian.

Oat milk is lower protein than soya milk, so I would do a mixture of the two or stick with soya for now. Make sure you get unsweetened but fortified milk. Long life versions of these are cheaper and taste the same.

Coconut yoghurt is nice, oatly oat yogurt probably tastes more normal though. Haven't tried Alpro as I can't have much soya. Vitalife cheese slices are ok, you can make pizza with them.

Some things contain dairy that you wouldn't expect - you'll need to check when you buy everything, eg bread, ham, sausage rolls.

There are blogs online for dairy free toddler recipe ideas, maybe have a search.

A lot of people who can't tolerate dairy also struggle with soya, so worth watching that, especially if you find symptoms don't improve massively when you cut just dairy. DS has been dairy free for years and we've just had to cut soya too.

Get the alpro toddler oat milk! The one with the monkey on. I agree with those who said try and steer clear of soya too. Apparently the proteins are very similar. Oatly strawberry oatgurt is a pretty palatable yogurt replacement. The almond based ones are good too assuming no nut allergies.

Mine has had to be dairy and soya free since about 8 weeks old. It's hard going at first but you do get used to it. Good luck!

Our HV said she will refer us to a dietician after 3-4 weeks when we should see if the dairy-free diet has worked. I now have a GP appointment this evening, the HV said they may refer us to a dietician straight away so we will see.

Thanks very much for everyone's suggestions!

There's one vegan cheese worth getting but it's not cheap - check out Kinda Co. Cheese. They're cashew based not coconut, they're yummy.

For him you want fortified stuff. Cheese - Koko cheddar style is decent tasting and fortified to same level as normal cheese. I can only get it on Ocado. The applewood vegan is alright too but lower level of calcium.

Koko Greek style yoghurt is also nice (coconut based), I personally prefer coconut yogs to soy ones but you need to check as most of the adult ones, like coconut collab, don’t have calcium added.

The best cheese is cashew based, lots are genuinely delicious, but they’ll be wasted on a 12m old unless you’re rolling in it!