is coconut milk ok for a 12mth old?

[WeeLors]

I'm still bfing my 12mth DS but have been gearing up to stop so last week started giving him a cup of whole milk in the afternoon (to get him used to it before I gradually wean him off the breast). Anyway, coinciding exactly with him getting this cup of milk daily DS was plagued with painful trapped wind that was waking him hourly at night and just wouldn't shift. To give a bit of background, he's been a pretty crap sleeper for months, often seeming uncomfortable on waking and could only be settled with a bf (usually resulting in him passing a little bit of wind before falling back asleep). This was very mild at first but seems to have gotten progressively worse since weaning so I've been suspecting some kind of intolerance recently. Anyway, last week it was awful so put two and two together and cut out dairy over the weekend. Saturday night he was slightly better but last night he was like a changed baby. Settled himself to sleep by 7pm and slept soundly until 2am when he when he woke happy and wind-free (he woke every couple of hours after that until 6.30am unfortunately but didn't seem uncomfortable as usual, just happily awake - suppose I can't expect miracles ). Anyway, its only been a few days but thinking milk is def a problem for him. So far I've been substituting milk in his morning porridge with Kara coconut milk and he'll happily drink it in a cup too. I've just stopped giving him his lunchtime yoghurt and have substituted butter with vitalite (we don't eat a lot of cheese to start with cos only dp likes it in our house) . The coconut milk is fortified so not too worried about calcium intake, main thing I'm worried about is him getting enough fat cos I know milk alternatives tend to be lower fat. Once I stop bfing am I OK to give him this as a main drink as long as I up the fat in the rest of his diet? Tbh, I think he may be OK with butter, and yoghurt etc cos his problems were only mild before I gave him it to drink and it didn't seem to affect him coming through my bm before he had solids but would like to cut dairy out completely for the moment. Any other alternatives that have as much fat as cows milk?

Hi I'd suggest goats milk as the best alternative to cows, almond and soya are good too x

My little girl has CMPI and I stopped breastfeeding at 14 months and we used kara, it is great but we were under the guidance of an NHS dietician, I think official guidance that they need formula until 2 if unable to have cows milk.

The main issue is fat, all the alternative milks are very low in fat and calories.

My girl at 23 months is now having goats milk and it's much better.

Yes, kara milk is fine. My DS had CMPI and it's what we use- like the previous poster we have dietary advice from an NHS dietician. I give him lots of nut butters and add creamed coconut, nuts, seeds, etc to meals to make sure he gets enough fat and protein. It seems to be working!

Our dietician was very clear that goats milk, sheep milk etc should not be used as it is almost certain that a child with CMPI will react to them. Soya products also elicit the same reaction in about 60% of cases if I remember correctly- we have not used soya anything.

I also swear by using beef dripping in cooking and baking- it is a fab butter substitute, cheap as anything and delicious! It makes lovely cakes! ( I loathe the taste and smell of marg and refuse to let it sully my kitchen ) You find it in the butter/marg section of all supermarkets, a huge block double the size of a packet of butter costs about 60p.

Thanks for your replies. We've actually given him goats milk before (on his morning porridge for a while) and it didn't agree with him either

I did wonder about almond milk as an option too but have never been keen on the thought of using soya since intolerance to soya is quite common too (and think all those scare stories about the phytoestrogens in it have put me off, even though I don't know if there's any truth in them).

Maybe should take him to the docs and try and get advice from a dietician then, make sure he's getting the fat he needs. Worse comes to worse I just carry on bfing him until 2yr, although was starting to look forward to getting my boobs back.

Posted before I read your post kernow. I feel much the same about marg, made him some toast earlier today, thought hmmm maybe I'll try vitalite too but it tasted so bogging I reached for the real butter for my toast. Will start adding a lot more fat to his meals then. When you say creamed coconut, do you add that to the milk to fatten it up abit or do you use it separately? Will keep an eye out for beef dripping (sounds very 1950's housewives larder )

In case it helps, we currently have both kara milk and almond (alpro almond) in the cupboard and I have just checked the nutritional info: kara has 2g of fat per 100g, 1.6g of sugar and 0.2g protein. Alpro almond has 1.1g of fat, 3g of sugar and 0.5g protein per 100g. All the fortified milks have identical amount of calcium etc.

So, kara (or koko as it's now branded) has a bit more fat and half the amount of sugar. But a little less protein.

We were actually referred to the dietician by the health visitor rather than the GP- might be worth chatting to your HV about it if you have a 1 year review coming up?

Sorry- entirely failed to notice your most recent post! With the creamed coconut I just add it to food, usually stuff like stir fry noodles or thick soups. And nut butter on toast for snacks.

Yes, I am the very model of a 1950s housewife with my beef dripping! It truly is the only bearable alternative to butter tho!

Thanks kernow, will speak to HV then (and get me some beef dripping )

Pure spread is completely dairy free (unlike lots of other non butter spreads) and it tastes pretty good, can be used in cooking too.