Non dairy toddler

[Blueberry]

Just a word of comfort: our tiddler had an awful time with eczema and allergy, being very allergic to dairy, eggs, some nuts and some animals; by the time she started nursery the dairy was no longer a problem, and eggs are ok so long as cooked and not the main ingredient. We went for chinese herbal medicine when things got too appalling and feel it was a huge help. I still carry Piriton syrup (over the counter at the chemist) around in case she has an allergy flare-up but seldom need it these days. She's 4.

Help -getting son to drink Nutramagen formula

DS is 17 mths old and his excema is made worse by wheat and dairy. I just had skin tests done at the hospital and he is also allergic to eggs soya sesame and almonds.

they gave me some formula but he refuses to drink it. Anyone got any sugestions to make it more palateable.
Oh and he vomits on Orange juice too.

You could try giving it to him again in a bottle with a teat, as it's slightly less revolting that way for some reason! My daughter was on it temporarily at 14 months and ds has had it for the last 12 months (he's 14 months now), so it is a tried and tested way. I know children are not supposed to use a teat after a year, but if needs must....!

Yes - Lou I second that - my dd ( 16 months)is on nutramigen and as soon as I give it her in a cup she refuses to take it - so she still has it in a bottle last thing at night. As far as I'm concerned the 12 month cut off is fairly arbitrary - and she's perfectly capable of using her cup - and does so for all other drinks - so where 's the problem?

Yes - Lou I second that - my dd ( 16 months)is on nutramigen and as soon as I give it her in a cup she refuses to take it - so she still has it in a bottle last thing at night. As far as I'm concerned the 12 month cut off is fairly arbitrary - and she's perfectly capable of using her cup - and does so for all other drinks - so where 's the problem?

I had already tried the bottle. Yes I know they aren't supposed to have a bottle , but I still give him a bottle before bed as its the quickest, easiest way to get him to drink when exhausted. I eventually tried adding fruit juice to it to give it a bit of flavour and after much effort he drank that last night I hope I can gradually cut that out though.
Do you have a prooblem using it in cooking? Or do you just substitute with other things? and if so what?

My sons had to take neocate ( equally foul) so I used to make it into chocolate with nesquick etc.
Definitiely better chilled than warm...

My son just had to change from Nutramigen to Neocate, so I have the advantage of knowing how lovely they both smell!

I usually just substitute any cows milk for his formula when cooking meals, just and make him a little separate dish. Nutramigen do recipe cards though, which your dietician should have or be able to get for you.

I must have a special baby because he absolutely loves both the Nutramigen and Neocate, and will only try the very occasional apple juice as a substitute! Either that or he has no taste buds!

Bless him! Actually my youngest adores neocate advance, which is definitely weird. The others weren't fooled though!

I'm looking for a good dairy free cheese for DD and myself to use. I don't like Scheese or Cheezly because they don't melt and smell vile. Tofutti do an excellent cream cheese (scrummy on jacket potatoes with chopped corriander) but I'm wanting something that is like proper cheddar. I've heard about Vegie Kaas which is supposed to melt and taste like real cheddar but haven't managed to find it in the shops yet (though one has offered to order some for me). Does anyone know if it is any good?

Yes I'd be intereted to find one too- dd loves Toffuti cream cheese bu has rejected out of hand any soya hard cheeses she's been offered so far.

Bayleaf, have you tried Tofutti cheese slices, I have heard that they are good but never tried them.

No I've never come across them - will look out now I know they exist!

I have at last tried some vegie kaas vegan cheese (its also soya free). It is quite greasy but DD seems to like it. I used it on nachos but it sort of went crunchy instead of melting, but it still tasted ok. I also used it on pizzas and it was great, it did melt when it was on top of the tomato sauce and garlic bread. Its quite expensive at £1.99 for 170g but its worth it for a treat.

I also found some Tofutti cheese slices (non-dairy) and these weren't to my taste, they are a little bit pastey, like the cheese cream stuff that you get inside tuc biscuits (though the original tuc biscuits without the creamy filling are actually milk free). I still love the Tofutti cream cheese - its yummy on jacket potatoes with chopped herbs.

PamT, can I ask where you got the kaas cheese from? It would be great for ds by the sound of it.

I actually bought it from the wholesalers (a wholefood cooperative) because I sell non-dairy products locally. I have had a health food shop offer to buy it in especially for me but I haven't actually seen any in the shops around here. I have seen Soya Kaas but this contains casein which is a milk derivative so no good for DD. I have found that most health food shops are helpful and will try to get items like this if you ask. It is available from my wholesaler in single packs so the shop won't have to buy loads that will sit on the shelf for ever though it does have a very long shelf life.

The reason I set up my business was because I couldn't buy the things that I wanted (like non-dairy chocolate) so I decided to sell them. I'm only doing home delivery because I don't want to be tied to premises with 3 young children, and things are very slow at the moment but I am hopeful that it will take off as more people hear about me (I've only been going about a month).

Thanks PamT, are you local to me btw?! What area do you cover?

Kirklees, W Yorks.

So thats a no then i guess!

Lou33, I don't know where you are, but its not really economically viable for me to deliver any further afield. I did a marketing course last night and the presenter suggested that I should sell on-line, particularly for the dairy free chocolate which isn't so widely available. This is something I need to look into and read up about because I've never had anything to do with this before (other than personal purchases through major outlets). Any recommendations for informative web sites would be most welcome.

PamT, my dp is about to look into this so I'll let you know how his research goes (if he ever gets around to it!). I'll certainly be after your dairy free chocolate if you do sell online. There would be costs involved in getting a website designed and for web hosting and then you have to find some way of taking money (like Worldpay that mumsnet have started using for subs). Once all this is taken into consideration maybe it won't be worth delivering further afield although charging p&p might change that.

www, please do let me know how your DH goes on with his research. I've also posted on UKParents because they have a work from home forum. I actually have a web site already and DH has basic web writing skills though he has no experience of web trading either.

D & D chocolates do dairy free and diabetic chocolate but their range is restricted to dark couverture and carob. I have access to a wider range of carob, a variety of plain chocolates and a non-dairy milk chocolate (this is made by Plamil) plus the allergycare whizzers that you find in Sainsburys or health food shops. Goodness Foods direct do sell some of these products by mail order/net but there is a minimum order value or hefty postage and you also have to buy a whole case of some products.

I'm not trying to use this message board to advertise but I do feel that there is so little information out there for people who need dairy free products and it is lovely to find out about new products which are suitable. I am always open to recommendations, for my own consumption as much as anything.

I'm in Bedfordshire PamT, so it's not viable as you say. Shame because I'd rather give money to smaller businesses, but never mind, thanks for the info about the cheese anyway.