Oat milk?

[ZombieBoob]

Ds is 7 months and has cow milk allergy. Hes BF. He loves his food which is great but I'm running out of ideas as everything so far has been fairy free.

I've been doing porridge with water and fruit as I cannot for the life of me express enough but I'm worried its basically no calories like you would with milk.

Google says no milk alternative until they are one but surely just breakfast would be OK? He still bf loads and he has a bit of everything food wise.

Wibu to do oatmilk anyways?

Any milk is fine in food after 6 months OP, just not as their main drink!

It’s fine. Though be careful with the brand you choose, some of them are pretty unhealthy with the amount of crap in them.

The no alternatives mean the same as cow milk, it’s not suitable for a drink but it’s fine in food. Alpro growing up milk or oatly barista are good. Rice milk shouldn’t be given before 5 yrs. Your GP should have referred you to a paediatric dietitian. There is also a really knowledgeable and helpful CMPA Facebook group.

If you're making porridge with water, that's essentially what oat milk is anyway, except for a bit of added rapeseed oil and some ultra processing. I don't see how it would add anything good.

Goat milk?

Our dieticians recommended Oatly for DS1's CMPA. There were fewer options back then, but it is fortified with some of the nutrients that are found in cows milk.

Porridge with Oatly is better nutritionally than water, or an allergic reaction.

It will have added calcium, vitamin D and iodine.

The protein in goats and cow milk are very similar so the baby is very probably allergic to both.

Put some peanut butter in the porridge for extra protein and calories. And it’s less processed than most oat milks

There is nothing good in oat drink. There are so many nut and seed drinks to try instead. I used to love hemp drink, but it can be difficult to find.

What about horse milk

https://maresmilk.co.uk/product/milk/organic-mares-milk-2/

Don’t overthink it - at 7 months - main nutrition is from breast milk - as long as they are getting a wide variety of food - like leafy green, meat etc, and developing a range of tastes you are doing fine. Think about enhancing the porridge rather than making it with milk - add peanut butter, a splodge of coconut milk (actual coconut milk, not the coconut milk drink thing which is mostly rice), ground flax seed, fruit etc

Allergy UK has a fact sheet that's really helpful in advice about replacement for cow's milk. My dd had cmpa and soy allergies. You can use oat milk in cereal, just not as a main drink. Look for ones that have added calcium. There are cmpa boards and groups where you can get lots of solidarity and advice

I've read some pretty bad things about oat milk. It's glycemic index is higher than pure glucose! And 2.3 times higher than lactose. Which will spike blood sugars and really isn't good for anyone, let alone a baby.
If it were me, I'd not bother. Ensure your LO is getting what he needs from other foods and ditch the idea of a milk replacement.

OP I’m a CMPA Mum too and in an ideal world my children would only have UPF food but you need some professional medical advice to ensure your child is getting the correct nutrients especially as they start feeding less. MN is notorious for it’s woeful nutritional advice.

What is this based on? There are many nutritionists who have written about oat milk being perfectly fine as part of balanced diet and as long as its not got added sugar. It's also one of the options given by dieticians when a baby has cmpa.

Sorry, meant to add. I struggled to express enough at the end, what with going back to work and not regularly BF, my supplies dwindled. We would have a super feed in the evenings, I'd put him on the boob and we would do story time and snuggles for ages just so I felt he was getting the benefit of my milk. One super feed might not really be enough but I do think it's possibly more nutritionally beneficial than a pseudo milk. Hope you get sorted, it's such a worry isn't it xx

There are quite a few people with dairy/ cow milk intolerance who can handle goat milk. It's worth a try.

Oat milk is a UPF, I wouldn't want to give it to a baby.

Soy milk is better than oat milk or any other plant milk.

I wouldn't give any plant milk to a baby if I could avoid it. They are all ultra-processed, including soy milk.

OP's son is 7 months old and also breastfeeding - he doesn't need extra milk if he's eating well.

Soy milk is plant based

Just a heads up, you can "no sugar" oatley, i make my porrige with it and its really nice and creamy.

Oats are nowhere near as nutritionally dense and nuts and seeds. A few grams of almonds in a drink will add up over say, a week. Whereas a few grams of oats in a drink will add up to basically no extra benefits, especially if it's already being used in porridge.

It's really easy to make oat milk and other nut milks if you have a blender and strainer. I make oat, and it's cheaper and has no preservatives.

I understand about nuts being better than oats. But to say there's nothing good in oat milk is not accurate if it has added calcium.

But just about any nut or seed drink will also be fortified with calcium and vitamins. There's no point in using oat drink for that benefit when there are so many better options available.