What do you feed your dairy free babies?

[User5252727]

My son has to have a couple of dairy-free weeks for medical reasons. He is nearly one, and usually has a good range of cheese, yoghurt, butter, milk etc.

We have been advised to substitute cow's milk for a barista style oat milk. Can anyone with dairy free babies let me know what your preferred alternative is for things like yoghurt and butter?

Fruit purées or soy yoghurts, vitalite dairy free spread,

I agree with dementedpixie, there's lactose in breast milk so if the problem really is lactose and not cow's milk protein (unusual) then you'd need to give colief or similar.

Also agree that a probiotic would help, the one that's always recommended is BioGaia (available on Amazon).

I've had two children with CMPA and they couldn't have soya either. These are the best options:

• Alpro Growing Up Oat Milk (quite new so not the easiest to find but it's available in Sainsbury's... if soya is fine, there's a soya one which is sold more widely)

• Flora Original (careful because some Flora is vegan and some isn't. I like the taste of Flora Original better than the other vegan options)

• Yoghurts, there are loads of options especially if he can have soya. We like the Nush almond yoghurts, they're the nicest IMO. I wasn't such a fan of the Oatly (oat-based) or coconut-based ones, but if your DS likes coconut they're worth a try, there's Koko and Coconut Collaborative I think.

• Cheese... honestly? Don't bother. If he's used to proper cheese he won't like the vegan ones! They're expensive and it's a waste if they end up on the floor and in the bin. You can get decent vegan soft cheese for spreading (Nush and other brands) but for anything else I really wouldn't bother.