Anyone on a dairy free diet?

[ButteryJam]

Hi

My baby (3 month old) has been very very fussy for the past few week, crying a lot and almost becoming colicky. I decided to eliminate cows milk from my diet (I love milk!) and thought might as well go dairy free!

It's just been 5 days and I think I can see a difference but I'm not too sure. It's been difficult as I love milk and my lunches normally involve cheese and eggs. I'm also missing cakes and biscuits!

Is anyone else on a dairy free or cows milk free diet? I could do with some handholding please

I'm dairy free. Ds is intolerant( we think) and I've been off dairy since he was 12 weeks (now 23).
Watch out for it in things you don't expect ( bread/mayo are my worst things )

Pure sunflower marg is v good ( butter fan!) and is good for baking. We are currently experimenting with rice milk too

Yup - me too. Ds3 is 5 weeks old (6 on Sunday) but been sleeping terribly, grunting, kicking legs and arms, crying lots etc for past 3 weeks so cut out dairy 2 weeks ago. It was painful - I had a fridge and freezer full of dairy and really miss being able to have a latte out and about (avoiding soya too as too much exposure can cause intolerance for baby when older). Still find its really restricting my diet - but on plus side have lost nearly half a stone since cutting out the dairy.

Thanks all! How did you all figure out that dairy or milk was the problem? Did you introduce it again once eliminating it to see if it was the issue? How do I ensure that really is the issue?

Also, are there any decent ready made snacks that are dairy free and don't cost a bomb? I ordered some dairy free special products and they weren't pleasant at all in taste.

Also got some coconut milk (don't like it) and will try almond milk tonight. Just hope it tastes decent. I'm so fussy when it comes to milk!

Ds only had problems following antibiotics so was a guess (& still is really) as its a common reaction. His pain seems to have gone away but the dodgy poo remains. The pain has returned if I've eaten dairy.

It may be that he's lactose intolerant in which case my milk will still not help but I'm trying to get him to weaning before we think of switching.

He has had a lot of improvement with coilef drops.

Boojabooja chocolate ice cream is lovely but expensive. I'd still buy it even if I could eat dairy as its yum!

Proper homemade Mayo should be OK but shop bought generally has stealth dairy in it - I have got some dairy free Mayo which is OK.

What made you think dairy was the problem? Have your family got a history of allergies? It is very unusual for a baby to be so sensitive to milk that the tiny amounts in breastmilk affect them, have there been other symptoms such as lots of vomiting, eczema, pain on feeding, to lead you to suspect a milk intolerance?

Have you considered overtiredness, growth spurt (needing more milk), teething as other possible suspects?

jammy dodgers and hobnobs are dairy free. I like 9 bars for a burst of energy but bars with seeds and carob aren't to everyone's taste. I'm also informed tesco donuts are dairy free.

You dont have to buy freefrom snacks if you can learn which normal treats are ok. Generally the cheaper the brand the less dairy. So Asda and Tesco cheapy bourbons are fine Asda onion ring crisps, Tesco prawn cocktail shells are good. Um gingernuts and some rich tea biccies. Birds custard is nice w coconut milk! noblegiraffe I'd say three weeks with colicky behaviour was much much more likely to be cmpi (now called delayed milk allergy as it takes 2-4 weeks to manifest) than a tooth. Poss due to environmental factors poss due to improved diagnosis cmpi rates are skyrocketing. Both mine had it, dd so badly she'd go blue and limp from the refluxing acid. Never mind reacting to trace amounts via my milk, if I ate even a trace after going dairy free and she then bfed she'd sob for up to 12 hours. Teeth, growth spurts and overtiredness wouldnt make her or me bat an eyelid cmpi brought us to our knees. For much of the world eating dairy is taboo prob because of its effects on many people's digestion.

A sleep fighter (for example) can lead to a crying distressed baby that is enough to bring you to your knees too. It can be other things than a milk intolerance, which is why it is worth asking the OP what other symptoms there are.

Thanks ladies! I'm definitely stocking up on Jammie dodgers and other things suggested!

That's a good question re how do I know it's dairy that is causing the problem? The answer is I don't sadly.

She has been extremely fussy, crying after feeds, possibly 10 min or 30 min after it, and vomiting quite a lot. I suspect she is teething but Dr doesn't think so, so tbh I was left with no choice but to try this. She was only happy in the morning and I suspected that was the only time when I probably didn't have milk in my system. But then again a lot of babies are morning babies.

Is there anyway it can be tested? Even privately?

noble, I have to say she is definitely a sleep fighter (I like that word!). She hates sleeping and will fight it even though she is knackered!

Happy in the morning could be because she has had a reasonable amount of sleep (I don't think milk leaves your system that quickly).

Colicky screaming could be chronic overtiredness, if you're not already, I would implement a system of total ruthlessness about naps. 90 minutes of awake time (tops, maybe sooner depending on baby) and you need to be trying to get her to sleep. Screw self settling, feeding, rocking, pram, sling, car, whatever it takes. My DS's mood improved significantly when we realised he needed to be regularly forced to sleep.

If you are eliminating dairy from your diet, please do be careful and monitor your calcium intake. As far as I am aware, they don't test babies for intolerances and diagnoses would be via elimination and careful reintroduction.

Noble, thanks! I'm not sure when I should re-introduce it? It's been a week since I've been off dairy.

I'm definitely taking your advice and going to introduce the 90 min awake time. She does get very very cranky at sleep times and she really fights off sleep. Now that you mention it, I think that may be the problem. She also doesn't sleep for long at all (sometimes just 20 min)!

I am sure that eggs are not classed as dairy as they come from hens rather than cows, so really, you could still include them in your diet and have them for lunch or whenever, as you mention in your OP.

Thanks Shimmering! I'm tempted to make an oil cake now!! :-)

20 minute naps are a sure sign of an overtired baby, funnily enough the more overtired they are, the worse they sleep. My DD (6 months) has had a couple of days that have gone wrong and her naps have been 20 minutes and she has been whiny and really hard work, so if you've got that all the time it's no wonder you're struggling.

Tbh if you've not seen any improvement with a week off dairy, I'd concentrate on the sleep, which definitely sounds like a problem.

There's a thread in the allergies section called surprise egg and dairy free finds. My favourite from there is coop doughnuts.

I was dairy free for a few weeks when my dd had green diorreah (lasted a month, in the end the nurse thought it was a rare reaction to immunisations).

I found the oat milk quite nice, I also found a hemp one, I think I got it from waitrose. The coconut one was not bad but I found it a bit sickly after a while.

As for snacks, I was also a fan of the 9 bars. Not bad tasting and super good for you

Ds2 is anaphylactic to dairy so, even though I am vegetarian, I am dairy free too (mostly).

Try tofutti soya cheese, cream cheese and sour cream. You can make mushroom strogonoff with the sour cream, which is very nice. The soya cheddar substitute is good for pizza, cheese on toast or cheese sauce, but not for eating as is.

Try Oatly cream for anything you'd use single cream for.

Use coconut cream to make vegetable korma.

Use pureed mango with coconut cream and sugar to make homemade ice-cream (basic ice-cream maker required).

Tesco value margarine is dairy free and cheaper than Pure. Otherwise, try vitalite, which is also cheaper.

Homemade flapjack makes a good snack (for you) and google vegan cakes for some yummy, easy to make ideas.

There is very little I can't make dairy free these days, after 5 years of dairy free diet. This includes dairy free cheese cake and pancakes. Dairy free lasagne, pizza etc is easy. Also, if you are going out, watch the hidden dairy. We find fish and chips is the safest option for ds2 since dairy can even be found in stock cubes and ketchup!