Dairy free tips/ideas

[Bellyrub1980]

Hiya,

I'm going dairy free for my 2.5 week old baby who is breast fed and my health visitor thinks she may have an intolerance.

I'm a first time mum and whilst my DP is an excellent cook and will sort a dairy free evening meal, I need ideas for quick breakfasts and lunches that require minimal prep and can grab and shove down my gob within seconds! At the moment my baby is feeding almost constantly and I'm not adept enough at this baby lark to spend much time in the kitchen!

Although I intend to get a sling which might help.

Any ideas???

Hummus/ olives/cherry tomatoes and bread sticks
Peanut butter and banana sandwich on granary bread ( sounds weird, but works!)
Mini weetabix as a snack - you don't need milk, but you could try soya milk/rice milk or almond milk with it

scrambled egg with something like oat milk.
Beans on toast

Chocolate bourbons tend to be dairy free as do some jaffa cakes and you can get a gorgeous carrot cake from a company called Respect at Sainsburys and other places, but we all know they are junk and we don't do that on MN

Some ideas for you....

Breakfasts:
Toast & dairy free margarine / honey
Porridge with soya / almond milk & banana / berries
Cereal & soya milk
Granola / muesli, soya yoghurt & fruit
Boiled / poached egg & toast

Lunches:
Can your DP make extra portions of dinners so you can reheat for lunch?
Baked potato and fillings
Fresh or homemade soup
Sandwiches

Thanks for those ideas! Adding to the sainsburys online shop as we speak!

(And maybe a packet of bourbons... Just because!!)

Oatly chocolate drink is the only way I can satisfy my chocolate craving since going dairy free for the same reason. Nakd cocoa crunch bars are also not bad for a chocolate fix.

I think my breastmilk may now be 50% chocolate bourbons.

Sacla do a dairy free pesto which you can chuck in with pasta or use in a sandwich. Beans on toast is quick and filling.
Pure have two dairy free margarines, one without soya.

I also end up snacking on dried fruit or raw carrots as they're easy to grab.

I tried a few different milks with my breakfast cereal and found almond to be my favourite. Yummy!

Breakfast:

• scrambled egg made with water instead of milk. Heat the pan with a little olive oil. Chuck in some chives (cut with scissors).
• dairy free smoothie made with almond milk, banana, oats, honey, frozen berries.
• toast with peanut butter, fruit spread or other nut butter and drizzle of honey.
• cereal or museli with rice milk
• porridge made with oat milk and / or water
• you could make some flapjacks (there's a good non-dairy / non sugar MN recipe) or vegan banana bread when baby is napping in the afternoon and just have a bit when hungry or keep as a quick grab breakfast. These two recipes are super fast and easy.

Lunch:

• Any kind of non cheese sarnie (egg, chicken, ham, hummus, tuna, prawn Mayo) with vegan olive oil / soya / sunflower spread or mayo
• couscous salad with precooked chicken / smoked mackerel
• dairy free ready made soup (try lentil, tomato based ones - they do exist!)
• beans on toast
• egg on toast or omelette
• innocent or other veg pots or curry type things that you heat in the microwave or saucepan

Snacks & Biscuits - doves farm ginger biscuits, coconut milk yoghurt or soya yoghurt (some babies allergic to dairy will also be soya intolerant too - just watch out!), fruit, veg sticks, bean or hummus dips...

We love anything by booja booja - their chocolate ice cream is really yummy but eye wateringly expensive. I see it as replacement wine!

Good luck!

My DS1 was similar with reflux, cutting out dairy helped and using a sling helped hugely as well, a nice stretchy one like a close caboo or a kari me / moby wrap!
Soya milk isn't that nice IMO but I would recommend almond milk and coconut milk, and would second the oaty chocolate drink! Some nice dark choc is dairy free as well.
Good luck, and hope it works

Thankyou for all these tips. I'm actually quite enjoying the dairy free life.

And up until today it really seemed to be making a difference as my baby had been so much calmer. But today OMG the vomit was back with a vengeance. 3 whole feeds spewed up. I'm not sure why... have thought of about 20 things I might have done wrong.

Either way, I'm not attempting to leave the house tomorrow!!

I'm pondering wearing a plastic poncho due to the vomit. Join me and we'll start a trend?!

Yep! I think a little baby poncho for the LO would save on the washing too! As well as some kind of plastic cover for the car seat which now smells rancid

I'm trying dairy free for the same reason, DS is 10 weeks. I've found provitamil oat drink to be nicer in tea & on cereal than oatley as it seems to separate out less.

9bar do a seed cereal bar that's very tasty, second pp who suggested nakd cocoa bars for choc hit!

I may be wrong but I'm sure I read somewhere that soya can have same effect as dairy? Also read that when you go dairy free baby can get worse before they get better, about 1week in & it takes 2-3weeks for dairy proteins to leave your system.
I've been dairy free 2weeks today & although keen to do anything to help my baby's possible silent reflux, I'm secretly hoing I've done all this for nothing & he'll grow out of it on his own so I can have some Christmas choccies & cheese bad mother!

This weekend I started on the FODMAP diet, and so far it seems to have made a big difference with DD's explosive bottom action (not on the reflux though). Still, given how upset her farting was making her and how much it disturbs her sleep, I think I'll keep going with it for a bit longer. It is quite restrictive, but worth it to reduce little one's pain.

I'm so desperate for chocolate, DD better appreciate my sacrifice for her when she's older! This is true love.