What can I feed DD (10 months old, vegetarian, avoiding cow's milk)

[nickeldaisical]

please help :)

DD is quite happy to shovel food into her own mouth.

she's got eczema and although she hasn't been advised to avoid cow's milk, we figured it wouldn't hurt.

God, I miss milk chocolate. :(

she's still BF.

I'm rather stuck for food ideas, really. We made some goat's cheese biscuits and she likes cream crackers.
she doesn't seem to care much about toast, but anything biscuit textured she devours.
she likes broccoli and other veg - doesn't seem to care if it's cooked or not
she also loves apples. but doesn't like cooked courgettes.

I'm just running out of ideas, really. Because I work, we end up eating breakfast at the shop, and it seems to always be cream crackers (dry because she won't eat it with spread on it), and I'm worried she's not getting a proper balanced diet.

examples of typical days:
milk feed before waking, cream cracker for breakfast, apple mid morning, water, goat's cheese biscuit, goat's cheese on toast for lunch, then only milk till tea time. (she'll have carrot or broccoli as a snack too)
when she's hungry she'll choose milk first, but then she falls to sleep.
tea-time she'll have generally what we have, just small bits of it (last night it was pizza, about 2/3 slice in total, the other night it was a mild curry, so quite a few chunks of veg and potato)

what else could I think of for daytime?
tia :)

[nickeldaisical]

pancake - we're using goat's milk

[DameFannyGallopsAtaGhost]

Re honey, I don't think the danger of botulism applies when its a product processed at a high temperature as the cornflakes will have been. But I wouldn't give a baby that much sugar anyway.

Don't worry too much about the nutrition side of things for now - while you're bf ing and she's under 1 all you need to do is give her lots of tastes and textures.

But do please avoid as much synthetic food analog as you can - and I'm including most cereals in that - she doesn't need sugar and salt, and the amount if processing that goes into a soya yoghurt isn't going to do her taste responses any good.

Just relax and give her real food.

[Pancakeflipper]

We cannot use that. I cannot remember if it's got milk protein or lactose in but anyway that's my issue not yours! Has it made the eczema better for your baby? And if they can have goats cheese that's an added bonus.

You can get some milks like oat milk fortified with calcium. And Dr's can prescribe a calcium supplement if they feel it is necessary.

I would keep asking them about re-introducing dairy. There is a lot of different theories about reintroducing it ( you should gently do they get used to it in their system to the keep them off it until about 3 yrs old - it's trail and error ).

Ooh you can eat After Eight Mints - no milk in them....

[cakeandcava]

Agree with PeachTown -you need to get her checked out to see if cow's milk really is a problem, and you need to seriously reconsider her diet -she has far too little protein and fat with what you've described above.

I don't think it's a problem to bring children up as vegetarians (vegans is another matter), but it is more difficult, and requires more planning and nutritional knowledge.

Dark leafy greens, beans and pulses would be good to feed her if she'll have them. Green beans dipped in hummus maybe?

[Startailoforangeandgold]

Do you have to avoid nuts, DD1 would happily scoff mushroom nut roast from about 7 months.

[AndMiffyWentToSleep]

Porridge fingers (using non-cow's milk) are great for breakfast.
And I second mini shredded wheat and weetabix as other good breakfast finger foods.

[nickeldaisical]

Peach - i don't think i'm struggling to give her a balanced diet because there's not the food available, but because I'm not using my imagination.
I have been a veggie for many many years, and a lot of my diet seems to be milk based - but that's not unusual anyway, I was watching TV last night and in one commercial break all of the adverts were for milk based products- milk, cereal, yoghurt, cheese and chocolate.

she can eat goat's milk and sheeps milk and probably buffalo milk, so lots of cheese options there, but we have to be careful for milk hidden in things (like some breaded products have milk in)

[nickeldaisical]

Not sure if it's made any difference.

I know that pizza i had last night was cow's milk (I thought it was worth trying it to see if it made a difference because it's been about 2 weeks since the last time cow's milk passed our lips) and she was itching and rubbing all night long, even after the anti-histamine, so it's possible it's related, but it might just have been an itchy night.

[nickeldaisical]

cake - she does have vitalite, and is currently eating toast with goat's cheese on it.
we also give her egg, and she has eaten home-made cheese things with fat in

[nickeldaisical]

mushroom nut roast sounds good. :)

i like the idea of dipping green beans into hummous - she does seem to like hummous (but usually just dips her entire hand into it and licks it off )

[Curtsey]

A lovely puree is potato, peas and cooked apple, with a little olive oil. Serve as a dip with pitta bread. (I add some cheddar usually but don't think it would be as nice with goats' cheese.)

Omelette with tomato and goats' cheese - DD aged 9 months would eat this all day.

Red lentil stew.

Banana and avocado on toast- great lunch or breakfast for you both, and loads of fat.

French toast with cinnamon and stewed berries.

[AndMiffyWentToSleep]

Also I'd keep offering foods you think she doesn't like - she's quite young to have strong food preferences and the more often she tries something the more likely she'll like it - obviously just small tastes of what you're eating rather than buying and cooking courgettes or whatever just for her

[nickeldaisical]

yes, i see. the courgette thing is because when they're cooked it only seems to be the skin left! (which she usually gets rid of) - so she sucks it then chucks the skin away.
she will eat the courgette raw.

lovely ideas cutesy

we've just got to batch cook lots of things that I can throw in the freezer and defrost when we need it. we put a freezer in the shop for this purpose and it's just full of raw frozen veg and suckers.

[nickeldaisical]

curtsey not cutsey

[nickeldaisical]

I like the idea of dried banana - she seemed to like banana, but after discovering that the bloody stuff stains her clothes black (even after 2 boil washes), I'm reluctant to let her have it again

[JimbosJetSet]

I saw some Cheerio type cereal in Sainsburys last week, made by Ella's kitchen I think - horribly expensive for the amount you get in the packet but I did think it looked like perfect cereal for BLW...

[forevergreek]

Spanish omelette ( can be made and sliced and you can both have over a few days)
Avocado sliced
Banana
I make carrot and courgette muffins which go down well, and spinach and cheese scones ( you can make and freeze)

Porridge fingers
Variety of fruit

[forevergreek]

Also for lunch prob little ones here love houmous, spinach and grated carrot in pitta bread ( maybe in a few months with more teeth!)

[nickeldaisical]

thank you :)

all noted.

she has no problems biting and chewing! and she's got 8 teeth already

[multipoodles]

I would recommend you join a vegan forum where there is lots of advice about rearing vegan children. Vegans rear healthy children regardless of what others may think, it is a much healthier lifestyle than overloading children with an excess of animal protein and fats.

Have a look here

www.veganforum.com/forums/content.php?119-vegan-children

www.veganforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?40-Parents-and-children

.

[upinthehills]

Personally if mine were vegi, and there is no diagnosed allergy or intolerance to dairy, I would introduce milk as it is a major hassle not to be able to eat dairy. Smother her in Aveeno cream every night as maintenance and see how you go! Mine had facial eczema and it would never have occurred to me to drop dairy. Aveeno and getting older sorted out the eczema.

One of my DC favourite dishes was coconut lentil curry - onion, garlic, ginger, red lentils, gara masala, carrots, sweet potatoes, salt free stock and coconut milk - served on rice.

Houmus sandwiches, rice cakes, oatcakes and cashew nut/ peanut butter all well liked.

I too feel you need to up the protein and filling carbs like pasta.

[nickeldaisical]

thank you poodle i've bookmarked those too.

hills - i know, but it's this niggling paranoia, you know! i think it comes about because i have a very good friend who is CMP intolerant and so it was the first thing that came to mind.

[lurcherlover]

It's a little bit pointless being veggie for moral grounds and then drinking milk really...what happens to the male calves? Or the cows for that matter, when their yield drops? They go exactly the same way as the beef cows do (who live much nicer lives, by the way). You might as well buy organically reared, ethically sourced meat, for your child at least.

[nickeldaisical]

thanks lurcher - again not helpful, but I do appreciate your input.

I'm just looking for ideas on how to feed my DD, not advice on how evil I am still to eat dairy and eggs.
even worse, i keep chickens at home, and i know what happens to baby boy chicks.

[hugandroll]

lurcher my mum drives me mad with that. She's vegetarian (although always cooked meat for me) but wears leather shoes. I just don't really understand vegetarianism tbh, why not eat something our bodies are made to eat (why we have canines), wouldn't catch a lion nibbling on a leaf.

But then it's not my business. My mum doesn't drink milk because she doesn't like it but does have cheese (not vegetarian btw....). I would give your baby milk unless you are told by a doctor to do otherwise. Ds1 gets eczema and is flaring up at the moment because of the change in season, happens every year. The backs of his legs are red raw and we are going to the dr to get cream but I'm not guessing at what he needs and cutting random things out of his diet "just in case".