How much calcium from bf - 15 mo dairy free

[daisydalrymple]

Dc3 still bfs, mainly at night, he's 15 mo, and dairy intolerant, not diagnosed till he started weaning as he was dismissed with colic, wind etc until then. So, it's just been easier to carry on bf, also soya free, so some of the alternatives are out. He has oat milk on cereal and in custard, but drinks only water.

Has probably 4 bfs through 24 hrs. Am just worried about his calcium intake, and wondering how much calcium he will be getting from breast milk at this stage?

I do give as much fortified stuff as I can, so he has ready brek, rusks, white bread for the added calcium, and the oat milk is fortified too. Would just be happier knowing he's still getting a decent amount from bf, but can't find anything on kellymom for this age group. Anybody know? Tia.

Calcium is poorly absorbed without adequate vitamin d. Does he have vitamin d as drops or from other sources?

Kellymom says 36% of calcium requirement. RDA for 1-2 yr old is 700mg.
kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/ebf-benefits/

Oh brill thanks, couldn't find that. Yes, to the vit d drops, thanks. Abidec or similar, whichever is on offer with adequate vit d. Thanks for taking time to reply!

You'll be fine with four breastfeed a day. From a year old 300 mms per day of milk is recommended, even two feeds a day is fine.

BM is actually really high in calcium, more so than cows milk/formula and absorbed more easily, so no need to worry.

DS has CMPA and soy allergies too. Dried apricots are high in calcium and he loved those as a snack or on cereal but breast milk will meet his needs.

Abidec has vitamin d2 which is less bio available to us than Vitamin D3 AFAIK. D3 is the version in D drops or Wellbaby etc. knows sadly too much about vitamin owing to serious deficiency issues

I had a similar situation with my DS2 and ended up giving him a prescribed calcium supplement. You should be able to see a dietician if he has a medically restricted diet - we saw one every 6 months until ds2 outgrew his dairy intolerance.

I'm in the same boat OP. DD2 is allergic to dairy, eggs, soya, legumes, nuts and bananas.

She is still feeding about 20 times in 24 hours. We are using the NHS Healthy Start drops.

Yes we do see a dietician and paed every 6 months now, thankfully they work closely together, so no mixed messages.

He's not reacted well whenever I've had nuts, so that's almond sources out too, and hit and miss with the oily fish sources. Threw some chopped apricots off table in delight a few times, but I keep trying and I will look into the vit d content thanks, I always compare when I buy to make sure it's the recommended, but wasn't aware of a difference, or at least had never noticed, as we had the well baby stuff last time. Thanks all.

I'm not sure there are liquid calcium supplements available? Sandoz used to make a syrup but it was discontinued a while ago. This was part of the reason I breastfed DS until he could manage the calci chews as there was no supplement available.

Oh I will try the dried apricots mixed with cereal, just reread that one. I've been giving with his fruit so he might be more likely to take to it in cereal.

stargirl how old is dd 2? Ds is only just able to tolerate bananas and egg. He loved them from the start, but would have horrendous tummy, wind, cramps (I guessed from his actions!) etc so I took them out when I worked out what it was. Re offered little bits slowly, so just a tiny amount of my scrambled egg (but he truly loves it, so would have to offer after he finished his own lunch or he would try and swipe the lot!)

Same with beans, and grapes was another. Interesting to see the same things on your list. We keep failing the milk ladder with the malted milk, but the fact he's now tolerating a few more things gives me hope!

Hope your dd starts to tolerate more too.

She is 17 months. I try to calcium where I can. I make a fish paste with sardines (inc bones) for example. No idea if she is getting enough. The dietician did say we only had to worry about calcium and Vit D when she looked at her food diary.

Meal planning is hard. I feel quite exhausted trying to think up lunches, dinners, snacks we can all eat. Breakfast has become just cereal (she has oat milk) which is such a shame.

Oh I'm with you on the meal planning, trying to come up with something tasty, nutritious, non-dairy, reheat able (DH has long commute so not home till late!) has become such a chore!

Just spent 3 hours tonight looking for snack ideas. Found nothing new. I could weep. Everything contains something she can't have.

Must be a different rda in the uk as the nhs suggest 350mg of calcium from age 1-3 years which translates to around 300mls of milk

Will that be cow's milk though?

IBFAN Canada say 36% of RDA of calcium from breastfeeding too.

What I mean is that the rda of calcium seems to differ between countries so it could be that bf would give a larger percentage of the rda if you go by the UK recommended amounts

E.g. Kellymom says rda of 700mg but in the UK it is 350mg (don't know why it is only half here)