Adding olive oil to food for dairy free baby

[WhatInTheWorldIsGoingOn]

I've been reading about this and there seems to be a lot of good evidence for doing so.

She has plummeted down the weight chart and has now been referred. She is currently dairy free until the dietician appointment comes through to check for allergies.

I have just mixed some in with her veg at lunchtime and am now panicking that this is going to cause her a problem somehow!

Does anyone have any good advice about this? Have you done it or can recommend anything better? She is 8 months and breastfed. Thanks.

I know it's really frustrating and they can't do a test as often intolerances won't show. The more solids they eat though I think the easier it is to know. Also dairy can take up to 2 weeks to completely leave your system so if you've just cut it out your diet recently it could be a while before you reap the full benefits. Please feel free to send me a message if you'd like any dairy free recipes for weaning or any advice on best products to use. I've been doing dairy free for 5 years now so have adapted most things. I make a great dairy free mac & cheese and a really tasty dairy free chocolate cake (according to my 5 year old anyway ).

Sounds like your DD's reflux is not being well controlled to me. My DD had to up her dose of meds for reflux as she grew. She was on omeprazole
and had symptoms like your DD's. I went dairy free for DD, who was bf. In retrospect I don't think she had cmpa, but it is best to try to help in any way you can, and cmpa might be the reason for your DD.

DS developed Lactose intolerance v suddenly at 6 months following a viral illness. After 3 weeks of constant digestive issues GP gave us special formula which sorted out the digestive issues within 3-5 days. I pretty much gave up breastfeeding as I was so flummoxed and got no advice. I was told to cut dairy from my diet and basically panicked because I am vegetarian. No one told me I could buy dairy free cheese, milk etc quite easily. Sounds obvious now, but at the time I was exhausted trying to get to the bottom of what was wrong with DS, as well as dealing with 10-12 dirty nappies a day etc

Weaning was a bit of a relief to be honest. i did give him olive oil in potato, made homemade hummus / pesto with olive oil. Lots of veggies, soup, bread, potato, pasta, meats etc. Used coconut milk for puddings etc

FWIW - our HV useless - I did a lot of research myself.

Once he was one we switched to Arla Lactofree milk which is fantastic - it is basically cows milk with lactase enzyme added - so tastes like ordinary milk and is great for cooking (unlike the soya alternatives)and to be honest both me and husband prefer the lactofree milk - I think we are all a little sensitive to dairy

Appreciate dairy allergy much harder to deal with but what you describe sounds more like an intolerance.

Good luck. We continue to have challenges. DS now refuses to even try dairy so we have no idea if he has outgrown his intolerance or not. However, when I have managed to sneak in a bit of dairy I am beginning to see a link to his eczema flaring up

Thank you so much everyone. Really appreciate it. Is there any way to test for intolerance?

The problem I have with symptom spotting is that she is so unhappy anyway it's hard to tell why or what's changed!

When dd was at the same stage I added the Oatly cream or tinned coconut milk for extra fat and cals, worked so well.

For the reflux can I recommend getting a tummy tub for baths if you don't already as then you can always keep upright. Also wedge pillows under top of mattress, inclune on the pushchair, carry baby in a sling etc. Basically anything to keep the pressure off the gut will make it slightly easier (for both of you).

I remember waiting for appointments being agonising. Happy to tell you that now at age 5 dd is fighting fit and eats really well. She is still not great with dairy but we no longer have to avoid it completely like the baby days.

I feel your pain, OP. My 16 month old DD has CMPI. Also intolerant to wheat, carrot, parsnip, butternut, grapes, tomato, banana, avocado and many more. It is an utter pain, and horrible to have to restrict their diet so much.

I am wondering if your DC has intolerances to other foods, as well as dairy. There is unfortunately no test for intolerances, so the only way to test is to remove foods from the diet then introduce them again slowly and observe symptoms. It has made weaning my DD painfully slow. We have to introduce new foods very carefully: day 1 just a very small amount; day 2 a bit more, day 3 more etc, over consecutive days. Her intolerances don't usually show up till day 5. After that we have 10-14 days of horrendous reflux/vomiting and eczema.

Does your DC like lamb? It has a very low potential to cause allergy and intolerance, and is fatty, so is a good source of calories. My DD loves minced lamb and lamb chops. Also, smoked salmon, and chopped olives, though we waited till after 1 to give those because of the salt. Like pps have said, nut butters are good, as is coconut yogurt. I find Coconut Collaborative a little less sickly than CoYo. Another good find is the Waitrose LoveLife flapjacks, which are wheat and dairy free, and full of calories.

Brilliant. I've decided I'm going to have to stop being a worrier about other allergies and just try things. It's the only way. She had coconut milk today and is fine so far. Bought ground almonds too. She is really enjoying olive oil in her food. Started milk ladder yesterday and was fine with a malted milk.

I think I've been focusing too closely on the intolerance and perhaps not giving the ranitidine regularly enough or enough of it. Will try and get back on top of that today too. She is 6.6kg and is only having 0.5ml of ranitidine twice a day. Surely she should have more. Will investigate. Thanks everyone. You have made me feel a lot more positive.

Glad this thread has helped. I would say definitely keep on top of the Ranitidine and make sure the dose is large enough for current weight, or it may not be effective.

I add olive oil to DSs food sometimes, he's also 8 months, breastfed and on the light side of normal.

He doesn't have purée because I'm doing BLW but I add a bit to plain boiled veg to make it a bit less dry/easier to eat. Plus I'm Italian and it's encouraged to add a little bit of olive oil to baby meals.

Allergies are a pain, we're also waiting for tests (DS seems to be allergic to most fruit and some veg)

Have you tried beef yet? You could blend it to make a smooth bolognaise sauce.