Stopping breastfeeding a dairy free toddler?

[Teeterhop]

Hi all, just after some advice really (the dietitian has not really been super helpful).

When we started weaning my little girl at around 6 months we noticed she got a rash around her mouth whenever she had dairy. It took months to get seen by a dietitian who basically just said "avoid dairy!". She also has some allergy testing next week which I had to push for but honestly the results won't make much difference to any action we take!

She's breastfed and has never reacted to breastmilk regardless of how much dairy I have, luckily. But now that she's 13 months I'm aware that we won't be breastfeeding forever. There's no MASSIVE rush to stop, but now that she's at nursery we're down to 2 or 3 feeds a day and it just feels like we're nearing the end.

However, I'm massively worried about her calcium intake. She can't drink cow's milk, she refuses to drink Soya milk. She will drink Oat milk, but she won't have very much over the course of the day (probably less than 50ml). I've also read that it shouldn't be used as a main milk drink (possibly because there isn't enough calories in it?). She pretty much only wants to drink water.

I'm trying to make sure there's enough calcium in her diet - she will eat Soya yoghurts but isn't a fan of a lot of dairy free substitutes I've tried like dairy free cheese.

So can anyone offer any suggestions on what to do about stopping breastfeeding when your toddler can't have cow's milk? Even now i'm worried she's not going to be getting enough calcium just from my breastmilk. Getting another appointment with the dietitian to ask these questions will be a bit of a struggle so I'm hoping for some good suggestions here! Thanks.

We saw a dietitian who gave us a list of common products that were dairy free with enhanced calcium. I gave ds a multivitamin and used the list to make sure he was getting the calcium right. I can't remember specifics but I do remember best of both having loads in.

My wifi is playing silly beggars but if you google 'calcium rich foods' there's a lot of advice about other sources e.g. broccoli and some nuts.

Plus of course, you could always add a vitamin/ mineral supplement

FWIW even though DS dropped day feeds by 18 months, he would have keep going at night forever if I hadn't nightweaned him. And that was extremely gradual and gentle and when we did stop, it was 3 nights and minimal upset so I must have done something right!

Oatly barista is usually recommended as it's one of the fattiest oat milks and is calcium fortified. You can get 50:50 bread which provides almost all calcium required in one slice (but does have soya flour in), and there are cereals (e.g. alphabites, ready brek) that are fortified. I ended up feeding my cmpa child until 2 with evening feeds mainly because of my worries. Now at age 5 she eats very little calcium rich foods and barely has a splash of oat milk on cereal so I now supplement with a multivit that has calcium in it too

Thanks all! Some great advice already.

I forgot to mention that she does have the wellbaby multivitamin every day too, but I was under the impression she needed a lot more calcium in addition to that.

Following! My ds has just turned one and also has cmpa. Luckily he will drink the soya 1-3 milk but I try not to let him. It’s so so full of sugar so I’m trying to keep breastfeeding as long as possible. Problem is he’s trying to wean I think, he messes about when bf now 8 times out of 10, on and off not really bothered and I know if I gave him a bottle of milk he’d down it. I don’t know what to do either. We are starting the milk ladder in January so I’m trying to hold on until then.

Hi op, we have a 16 month old who is down to 1 breastfeed a day now and also dairy-free (apart from my milk).

Did you know that green leafy veg and oily fish contain calcium? We make sure our baby has a portion of sardines and 1 other oily fish per week as well as plenty of spinach, broccoli etc. If your baby hates spinach you can sneak some into banana and oat milk milkshakes, they don't taste it that way.

We're also waiting to see the dietician who will hopefully be able to help as I worry about calcium too. Hope reading this has at least made you feel less alone!

My 2 year old is dairy free, we use oatly barista for cereal/drinking/cooking. He has cereal with oatly for breakfast, a cup of oatly at bedtime and a soya yoghurt or custard though the day. Out dietitian is happy with that and it meets the calcium amounts requirements for his age.

notmytea has already suggested everything I was going to, but Oatly barista is popular here, on (fortified) cereal and warmed up as a fluffy/babychino.

The vegan smoked applewood cheese is worth a try, it actually tastes like cheese (we're not fans of any other dairy-free cheeses either as most smell a bit weird)