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 :)

and i do eat ethically reared and sourced dairy products and eggs.

i'm not randomly doing that. the doctor said it wouldn't harm to try it, but we didn't need to.
you know what it's like to havea child who is ripping their own skin off, so try anything. and to me it makes sense to cut out milk prodced for a foreign species

I don't think you're evil. I eat meat myself. I used to be veggie and stopped when I thought through it all and realised animals still die in the dairy and egg industry. It's good that you eat ethically sourced dairy, but that doesn't spare the cows from their eventual destination to the abattoir and meat pies, or the male calves from becoming veal. And even if you don't want to eat meat yourself, it is a useful and nutritious food for children - a spag bol once a week would give your daughter lots of iron and most babies love it.

Nickel - We have started used Udos oil on DD's lunches to help her skin atm, it is very itchy and sore, I add a little to hummus, toss her cooked pasta in it etc. It seems to have made a real difference to her skin.

Would you let her have fish at all? Both DDs will eat tuna mayo in pitta or with crackers, together with a bit of avocado and a banana it apparently (according to the dietician) provides one of the most nutritionally complete meals around.

okay.
i still don't want to give meat to DD.
i'm not going to be persuaded just because i'm not vegan.

thanks blueberry
no, not fish either. but avocado and banana in pitta sounds good.

Nickel - there is no need to feed DD meat if that is against your principles, there are plenty of healthy alternatives.

My girls also like wraps with goats cheese in the middle and rolled, then cut into snail slices. Veggie scotch eggs are handy too.

How about making some seitan, it's very very easy and I still high in protein. I've only ever made sausages but they were ace :-)

www.theppk.com/2012/01/vegan_sausage/

Plus, enough of the veggie/vegan bashing - IF you are sensible and informed, it is a perfectly healthy diet, even for infants.

hmmmm, that looks interesting.

thank you blueberry and Fine :)

that's the thing, i can manage my own diet and have done almost vegan before.
but i can also handle a spoon and a bowl and don't drop food and then crawl over it
that's really why i need ideas :)

Have you tried tofu? We aren't veggie but the boys love it with noddles and veggies

Like I say we aren't on any restrictive diet but if I thought something was causing my child pain or discomfort I would also stop using those products. Maybe check out some o the vegan forums as recommended.

Also look out for high protein/ irons/ fat good food that she can eat ( many green veg are high , as are seeds/ nuts/ legumes etc..)

Sorry, it looked like from your OP you decided to cut out cows milk, not your doctor advised it. I would still ask for proper testing because the weather has a lot to play in it. Childhood eczema is also really common (however that doesn't make it any less horrible).

My thoughts aside because again, its none of my business, I'd make sure you serve up lots of pulses for protein, green veg for iron and plenty of goats milk for calcium. The issue isn't now while she's mainly breastfed, it will be when she's over one and should have mainly food providing her nutrition.

Have you asked your gp/hv their advice?

i don't normally eat tofu and other fake meat, but it wouldn't harm to give some to DD.
not quorn though, i know that it's so similar in texture to meat, someone unscrupulous might try to pull one on her.

hug - the dermatologist said that it's unlikely to be diet, but that it wouldn't harm, and if we did it, that we could then reintroduce it once the eczema was under control to see if there was any reaction.
(ie, he didn't suggest it, but when i asked him, he said...)

he also said there's not much point testing below 2yo because skin prick tests are usually unreliable under that age.

Re-read your op, you state you haven't been advised to cut it out so why have you? It could be dust, the weather, other allergy etc. I'm going to hide this thread as it seems to me you wanted to be told what your feeding your child is fine and if you think that why bother asking?

yes, i thought it best to try to get into "good habits" while it doesn't matter so much :)

no, no, i don't want to be told i'm doing it right, i want ideas for quick/easy/nutritious food that can be prepared at home and fed here - that's why the default is constantly toast, crackers or apples, because i can grab them from the fridge/toaster and feed them straight to her.

i just didn't want to miss any of the "dietary restrictions" because i didn't want lots of suggestion of chicken/cheese/etc. :)

didn't want to drip feed

just ideas and recipes .

Was going to say sliced avocado and banana, and DS ADORES banana and avocado mash sandwiches. You could do those for breakfast, loads of protein?

Second frittata, Spanish omelette, goats cheese biscuits.

Since he was weaned DS has loved lentil and sweet potato stew, I throw any other veg we have into it and slightly mash it do the lentils and potato blend, he adores it

You need some more protein, so peanut butter on toast or nut roasts? Little egg mayo finger sandwiches?

Nut butters are very handy, full of fat and protein. in the mornings and for snacks can be eaten on bread/toast or as a dip with sticks of cucumber or grissini. Hoummous is also a perfect food, loads of protein, fat and calcium - you can vary the pulses and add herbs, eg. Hugh whatsisname makes a cannellini bean one with thyme. Tahini on its own or in a dip with olive oil and lemon juice is an excellent non dairy source of calcium. I second the strips of omelette, but you can also make dosas (pancakes made with chick pea flour) which are high protein, full of iron and vegan. Your baby doesn't really need cow's milk, she has your milk which is far better and contains more minerals which will more readily absorbed by her.

Tofu isn't fake meat.
I'd never eat fake meat, have no need to as I'm omnivore and often cook non veggie tofu dishes!
It's great in it's own right and worth a try.

I forgot to say earlier OP, I suffer from eczema and DS had a few patches before he was one. I find Aveeno much better than emollients - just the normal stuff you find in Boots. I use the 'skin relief' one with the dark blue cap. It's suitable for babies so might be worth a try.

Another suggestion of mashing together banana and avocado.
You've had oats soaked in fruit purée suggested, we made up porridge with water, and then added fruit puree or raisins.

Eggs - omelettes, as above, with various fillings inc potatoes, eggy bread, egg fried rice.

We also varied the bread - crumpets are popular here.

Mixed bean casserole is always a success.

home made baked beans

We were dairy free for a bit, and it was suggested by the dietician we used calcium fortified oat milk (Oatly). I made up 'milky' puddings with this - rice pudding, jelly made with milk (think most jellys are veggie these days, sorry if thats not appropriate), and self saucing chocolate pudding

Would you consider adding sustainably sourced fish for fats and proteins for a few months?

Yes, you do need to batch cook for the freezer. It's such a lifesaver. The lentil stews freeze beautifully, as do tomato-based sauces (just don't freeze the pasta). Breast milk storage bags are really handy for portions.

Your DD sounds like she loves finger food though. Salad of baby potatoes, hard boiled egg, feta and spinach? Tossed with olive oil and lemon? Store in a lunchbox for two days' worth. Lots of iron and protein.

Full-fat coconut milk banana and cocoa powder milk shakes? You don't need to add sugar, just let the bananas get really brown.

Food prices are going up and food shortages are on the way. It's a very good idea to have several go-to balanced vegetarian meals for children in your repetoire whether you eat meat or not. (I do for the record!)