Does anyone have any tips for my first dairy free shopping?

[oodlesofpoodles]

I am going dairy free for a few weeks due to bf my ds2 (recomended by his pead- long story)

Can anyone tell me the pros/cons of various milk alternatives (soy/rice/oat milk etc.)

Is milk in things that I wouldn't suspect?

Can I have any ordinary biscuits/cakes/chocolate or will I have to get 'free from' stuff?

I dairy free cheese as bad as I think its going to be? I would really like some parmasan.

TIA

[mathanxiety]

Milk is in tons of things, even some products that have "milk free" on the label. My advice to you when shopping is to give yourself about three hours, bring your reading glasses and a dictionary. Do not bring along any small DCs or anyone else with a low tolerance for just standing there reading labels. Do not assume that milk free on the front of the package means that there are no milk derived ingredients in the food. Do not assume that all soy products have no milk based ingredients in them. Even if you plan on doing a lot of your own baking, don't assume that margarine is milk free. And next time you go, don't assume that the ingredient list will be the same.
You could try goat's cheese or sheep cheeses if it's only cow milk you're trying to avoid. Romano is nice for grating (check the ingredients). There's a food allergy network in the US (it's online) where I learned a lot of terms used for different milk proteins, sugars, etc., that are hidden in other foods.