CMPA food help for 15 month old

[Momaofthree]

My LO has just been confirmed CMPA. I am really struggling with milk free snack ideas that she can have on day trips out and on the aeroplane/upcoming holiday.

I know many normal prepackaged foods and snack are already milk free but without spending hours in the supermarket checking ingredients I'm oblivious to what these are.

I have 2 other kids without CMPA so snacks that all 3 could eat would be the best option.

Non-perishables will be easier to stock up for our trip.

Please help.

15 month old with CMPA here.

You have to check. Every single item. Every single time. I'm sorry, you just do.

My baby reacts to my milk so I'm dairy free and I've been caught out by so many things. Brands is a big one. My toddler loves bacon rasher crisps. Co-ops own brand is dairy free, branded frazzles are not. Mayonnaise - one of the hellmans ones has dairy in, heinz does not. Walkers crisps often dairy. Meats - pepperoni etc often have dairy. You will ask at the counter and they will laugh at you until you make them check then they realise it does. So many things are 'vegan' but not suitable for allergy. I remember being caught out because somewhere fried the vegan food in the same oil as the halloumi.

There's lots they can eat! Lots of biscuits such as Jammy Dodgers are dairy free. Some crisps. Lots of the toddler section snacks are (organix, ellas kitchen, kiddilicious have many that are dairy free). Jus rol pastry is often dairy free so you can make pinwheels. Make your own flapjack and freeze them.

It will get easier. But you do have to check every item every time as I've even been caught out by reformulations.

You have no idea how much this has helped, thank you.

It's good to know about the difference in brands!

I never thought about the vegan problem, I would have presumed that was fine.

My LO will be introduced to jammy dodgers tomorrow the lucky girl :)

I'm not the best baker, I tried flapjack last week and it was too coarse, worried she would choke. I'll google pinwheels, thank you.

I want to do the best by her but still open her tastebuds up to a world of options. This has made her such a fussy eater.

Thank you for your help

It doesn't need to restrict her eating at all.

Making at home is really easy. The pinwheels are great as you can freeze and bake as needed with lots of different fillings. They can have pasta and sauce, just don't add cheese. I make my little boy curry which he LOVES, using coconut milk. I make toad in the hole using oat milk in the batter rather than regular milk. Same with pancakes. He had a dairy free birthday smash cake. There's so many alternatives you can substitute in easily.

Banana, avocado and cocoa powder blended together is usually a big hit. We have a dairy free small Easter egg for him for Easter. Moo free does chocolate buttons. Lots of yoghurt options to try. The collective do a couple of their suckie flavours dairy free (https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/the-collective-strawberry-dairy-free-suckies-kids-yogurts/796370-789006-789007?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwvr--BhB5EiwAd5YbXnv0M1ORd2CLqMJTRKD1Hswwa8N8TOxaUr0Fl-CxT_NzEoskZbaGHBoCGLIQAvD_BwE), coconut collab and oatgurt are also good.

Eating out is harder and you do need to really advocate for your toddler and don't be afraid to ask the questions.

Mainly I would advise don't take anyone's word as gospel (myself included!) And check everything yourself.

Here are some things i put in lunchboxes:
Soreen
Biscoff biscuits
Fruits and veggies obviously
Jelly
i also use Jus roll
packet of raisins
party rings
Dairy free Alpro deserts/ yogurts.
vegan pizzas (Chicago town jackfruit and Zizzi vegan are the nicest)
ham sandwiches (vegan cheese is a bit rank I think)
hummus and cucumbers

My son is now level 3/4 on the Milk ladder so we don’t have to be so strict as he can tolerate small amounts now. Presume you are starting complete dairy free for now.

Just be careful with the alpro soya products as lots of CMPA babies can't tolerate soya as protein very similar. Mine can't but oat versions are great.

Lurpac does a great plant based butter, I can't taste the difference. It's one of the ones we've swapped for whole family to reduce the chance of accidental exposure.

DF snacks we have (it's so normal for us now, please be reassured!)

The flavoured soreen bars (apple, banana, strawberry). The original soreen loaf used to contain dairy but I think that might have been changed now

Lots of supermarket own brand biscuits don't contain dairy - Asda's digestives, Nice, oat crumbles (their take on Mcvities hob nob)

Meringue nests - the mini ones that M&S sell are a real treat here! Otherwise the big ones are a good pudding option with fruit and a DF yoghurt over the top

Oreo's are DF 🙂

Mcvities toasting waffles are DF. They do a choc version also which isn't but the original yellow packet are DF.

Party rings - again own brand. Aldi do the mini bags which are a great snack.

Home bargains used to do gingerbread men. Like 10 packs of 3 men for 99p. Haven't bought them in a while but a great snack option to have in a day bag when you're out and about.

Crisps, bread sticks (again, I think M&S do mini bags which are great for on the go), sweets, of course fruit also.

It can be daunting but it will get easier. I've been there 😘

Oh Sainsburys jam doughnuts are DF (and the best of all supermarket doughnuts!)

Yum yums in Asda and Sainsburys are also DF

7 year old still allergic to cows milk protein and soya here! All the above is absolutely right, and you do start to learn what is possible and what is not.
My DS likes

• Soreen mini loaves
• Bear roll ups and related fruit snacks by the same brand
• dried fruit
• nuts (especially good as they contain fat)
• Oatly barista milk is his fave
• Flora plant butter
• Coconut collaborative coconut "yoghurts"
• Jordans fruesli bars
• nature valley crunchy bars (they make a mess though)
• most supermarket gingerbread men from the bakery
• Krispy Kreme original donuts
• Apple with 100% peanut butter
• ready salted crisps
• Pom bears or the supermarket equivalent own brand
• pretzels
• M&S onion rings (not Tesco for some reason, those have dairy)
• Itsu seaweed
• brand name Peperami
• most hummus brands incl. supermarket own
• M&S vegan cherry bakewell cookies

I cannot thank you enough for your help and advice.

Thank you for your advice, this is very helpful. Yes she is dairy free as we start the milk ladder this week

Thank you soooo much for all the ideas. It's starting to get more exciting now I'm aware there are easy choices out there.

Can I ask about the soreen, I love it and I know she will too but I've been scared to give it to her incase she chokes. How do you feed it to your LO?

This is amazing, thank you :)

DD used to be dairy free due but grew out of it around 3/3.5.
I used to do a lot of our own snacks; pinwheels/fruit/biscuits/cakes with flora or similar and things like hummus/veg/pombears/fruit bear things/party rings. Check out taming twins/bbc good food. Most of their homemade snacks will still be possible with minor tweaks, like flora and oat milk.
Most of the subs are really nice now so things like oat milk I used in cooking so we could all eat the same. I was told that the oatley barrista milk is the closest to regular milk for calcium content. Ocado used to have an excellent dairy free selection and very rarely got subs but do check places like Aldi, especially if soya is an option - they used to do soya yoghurt/plant based cakes that had no dairy. Much less ££. And second the advice to always check the label!

Cheese wise, the best sub I found was the violife mature cheddar but it's not setting the bar very high!

Flapjacks are your friend. Also fruit is always a good one if you can be bothered with all the cutting it up😅 probably get roasted on here but at that age my little one loved maize crisps. Have you seen a pediatric dietitian about the milk ladder because of you can even get them halfway up it like mine has it really opens up alot more choices

My daughter has 20 food allergies!

At toddler age our go to snacks on the go were
Sweetcorn or broccoli puffed snacks
Bread sticks
Water biscuits
Apple/banana and date bars
Rich tea biscuit fingers
Oatly yoghurt in a little tub with frozen fruit

Preschool/school aged snacks
Soreen bars
Jammie dodgers
Bourbons
Bread sticks
Crackers
Water biscuits
Oatly yoghurts frozen fruit and a drizzle fruit coulis
Nomo chocolate lollies
Moo free chocolate bars
Fruit
Oggs mini cakes
Salt and shake crisps without adding the salt

Oh I forgot a few things!

• Oatly cream 'cheese' or vegan Philly works well for creamy sauces as a sub for double cream/creme fraiche
• Oatly Barista makes a good sub for milk in almost any recipe, including scones and pancakes
• most shop bought puff pastry is dairy and soya free
• Mr. Organic make a cheese free pesto, and their pasta sauces are really good for a quick meal

Oh yes, how could I forget the Mcvities toaster waffles. The plain ones and the chocolate ones are a huge hit in my house😂 is your little one allergic to soya or just cows milk? I'm so lucky that my DS was able to have soya formula from a few weeks old and when he turned one the alpro toddler soya. It's fortified with alot more vitamins and iron compared to the oat milk which doesn't give all the nutrients they need. It actually tastes lovely and sweet too which helped with my little one at breakfast time because he's such a fussy eater😅 having to cut out soya as well as dairy would be a real nightmare

Another note to say to check different brands. But snacks we have on the go (apart from fruit obviously)

• Bread sticks
• Cracker
• Raisins
• Dairy free cheese
• Biscuits- bourbons, jammy dodgers, party rings (you can get jammy dodgers and party rings in small bags great for keeping in a bag)
• Dairy free Yogurts
• Dried Apricots
• Skips and pom bears
• Rice cakes