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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Intolerance baby: want to make meals we can all eat but

9 replies

Lollypopzmummy · 01/04/2008 02:48

her formula tastes like cardboard and is really horrible when added to cooking. . .
I've managed to make a nice curry with coconut milk (obv) or tomatoes etc but what can I use in dishes that require milk?

Is Rice milk expensive? I know I could try soya milk but that's not too appetising (we also have DD1 who's 2 1/2 and having enough trouble trying to get her to eat things that do taste nice let alone adding Soya milk to the equation )

We've bought Pure dairy free marg but just need a bit of advice on the milk front.
ATM DD2 is on purees and rusks but it's now getting to the point where I definately need to be thinking of adding more complexed meals to her diet.

I'm going shopping for dairy-free cheese tomorrow (looks at clock. . . today) so will be looking at dairy-free milk too but it'd be good to get a head's up on the taste matter IYSWIM (It's late/early and I'm probably not making a lot of sense. . . I know what I mean! )
Thanks in advance!

xXx

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Lollypopzmummy · 01/04/2008 03:07

Sorry forgot to mention DD2 is 6 moths old, only recently started weaning regularly, but seems it's taken off in the past few days and will be making it 3 meals per day as of tomorrow.
Sorry if I've missed anything else out. Did find a thread on the weaning section but nothing really in the way of adding Nutramigen to family meals (looks like it's pretty much disgarded by the whole family taste-wise! lol)
xXx

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FasterPussyCatGrrrl · 01/04/2008 11:17

Rice milk is MUCH nicer than soya milk, although it's a little sweet. I have it on my cereal (DS1 is intolerant to dairy) It's around 95p for a litre carton, and it has added calcium too.

Dairy free cheese is gross- i went vegan once in my teens. Vile stuff [puking emoticon] Could try goats cheese? DS1 has a little bit once in a while.

Alpro soya yogurt is nice- there's a pear and something one, that's good. The banana and strawberry one is a bit odd i think, although DS1 likes it.

Lollypopzmummy · 01/04/2008 14:29

Thanks fasterpussycatgrrrl that's a big help (now I wont have to spend money on stuff that wont get used!

Will ask HV about goat's cheese (am pretty sure she said it was no-no but can't remember why, maybe cos it's not pasteurised and will have to wait til she's a bit older, can't remember!)
xXx

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FasterPussyCatGrrrl · 01/04/2008 14:33

i think goat's cheese has a similar enzyme / structure or something, so she might still react to it.

DS doesn't- and you can get really nice hard / soft goat's cheese, which is perfectly safe, ie pasturised.

mummypig · 01/04/2008 14:52

Hi, I agree with FasterPussyCatGrrrl that rice milk is far far nicer than soya milk. We also buy the added calcium variety, but not all versions have added calcium, so it's worth checking the label. If you go to a healthfood shop you might also be able to get other 'milk' alternatives like almond or hazelnut milk (probably best to wait until offering those though, just to avoid nut allergies) quinoa milk (which would be fine to use now but it does taste a bit strange so might take a while to get used to) and one called Tiger White which is made from a cactus.

Re cheese alternatives, I didn't find any very palatable ones either, although this was about 5 yrs ago, so things might have improved since then. Our ds1 is now 6 yo and has goat's cheese but I think the danger is that although many children who react to cow's milk are fine with goat's milk, others aren't. Also watch out with the cheese alternatives as some of them still have some milk proteins in them (which seems a bit crazy to me but I suppose might be useful for people who are only avoiding lactose).

We used hoummous a lot so if you can encourage your little one to enjoy that then it's a good thing to put on sandwiches/crudites/rice cakes etc instead of cheese. Avocado is good too. I found the vegan society website had some good ideas for calcium-rich dairy-free foods (as calcium was the main thing I was concerned about and didn't want him to end up deficient).

From our experience I would say watch out for using too many soya-based products as your little one could develop a soya intolerance if exposed to too much. (I know this doesn't happen to every child weaned onto soya products, but it did with ds1, and there is a link between reactions to cow's milk and reactions to soya.) There are some non-soya 'yoghurt' alternatives in pots called Rice and Rice, although they are quite sweet, and expensive. Also you can just buy pots of fruit puree and use for dessert. If I was feeling up to it I sometimes used to make a dessert myself from eggs, cornflour, rice milk and flavouring, which ends up a bit like set custard but that is quite labour intensive so not what you want at this point .

You can substitute soya milk or rice milk for normal milk in lots of recipes, although you might want to reduce the volume and possibly add a bit of oil to make up for the different fat content. I have made rice pudding and fish pie with coconut milk. Some recipes just don't need the milk and people add them almost out of habit, e.g. scrambled eggs or porridge can be made absolutely fine with no milk in.

And don't forget that at this stage they are just trying things out and their main nutrition is meant to come from their milk (whether formula or breastmilk) until about 1 yr old. So I think it would be okay to just offer her bits of what's on your plate rather than everything, e.g. pieces of cooked veg or potatoes but not the fish pie made with milk. But once I got used to cooking without milk it was fine, and I hardly use any cow's milk now even though ds1 would probably be okay with small amounts. About the only thing it gets used for is dp's cereal and tea!

mummypig · 01/04/2008 14:56

We get mild hard goat's cheese from ASDA, Waitrose or occasionally Sainsbury's (they don't seem to have it in stock as often). Once she's eating a fair number of different things it might be worth trying to introduce it, but without anything else new that week, just so you can see if there is any reaction or not. It's very pleasant, and everyone in our family eats it now.

Lollypopzmummy · 01/04/2008 15:51

Wow! Cactus milk sounds cool (sounds suspiciously expensive though! )
Will definitely be taking a look at those!

Quick Question, as I've been reading about the arsenic content in rice are we thinking organic milk would contain a lot less arsenic than the regular type?

I too have had concerns about the calcium thing but figure it might be worth just chucking green leafy veg into everything! (Also been looking at things with added calcium, althugh organic tends not to have added anything so not sure how to get round that one, not that we buy everything organic but was thinking the rice milk cos of the arsenic thing. . . IYSWIM?)

Was planning on keeping soya to a minimal amount (mainly due to the effect on small organs by the oestrogens) so it'd just be yoghurts I think really there.

Rice pud with coconut milk! Why didn't I think of that! (maybe cos I was up at stupid O'clock and now have a freaking headache!! )

Does rice milk work in tea/coffee? I am planning on getting the whole family dairy-free (been reading that book by that woman. . . and I've realised that it's probably best for all of our health that we get rid of cow's milk, it's just about the only thing we haven't tried to try and lose weight! Finger's crossed!) but need to convince DH so it might be a good idea to sneak some rice milk/soya milk into his coffee (I know you've got to put the soya milk in the cup 1st and add the water slowly or it curdles but he doesn't like the taste so next stop is rice milk! [covert emoticon])

Thanks a load mummypig, will be checking out the goat's cheese varieties at Sainsbury's (Waitrose is a bit far to walk and we don't have an Asda here, thanks to blardy Tesco petition to keep them away!! ), thanks for the advice it will definitely be handy Also, before I go spending a fortune has anyone tried the AK pasta stars? Am I right in thinking there's no milk in them? (I looked in Boots today, they didn't have the stars but the shells ingredients just says wheat flour, water and thiamin. . . anyone tried the stars (if I can get hold of the blooming things!) thanks).

xXx

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mummypig · 01/04/2008 22:41

Hi again, i typed another long message and then my internet browser crashed[grr]. I shall try to remember what I said:

We hardly ever buy the cactus milk but I just wanted you to realise there's a lot of variety out there ;

I am not an expert in this area, but think the reports said arsenic content is lower in organic rice. If I remember it rightly, the arsenic generally arises in areas where the ground has been intensively treated by fertilizer or insecticide (especially former cotton fields); however also the content in American rice was far worse than European rice so it might be worth checking out the origin. I'm not sure if they always put that on the cartons but it does seem that organic is not necessarily the only safe option.

Rice milk doesn't really work in hot drinks, in my opinion, and as I said before dp still has it in his tea and on his cereal. I've decided it's not worth hassling him about it as we eat pretty healthily otherwise. (Incidentally both dp and I had cow's milk protein intolerances when we were little so in a way it's not very surprising ds1 did too. But we both have clearly grown out of our intolerances and ds1 appears to have as well.)

Leafy green veg seem to be good for so many nutrients. They even have all the essential fatty acids you really need, hence why healthy vegans don't have to take fish-oil supplements. Anyway both of my sons have loved broccoli from an early age and luckily never gone off it even if they aren't so keen on other green veg. But I don't think it hurts to have other sources of calcium in anyone's diet. Dried apricots were another favourite and for a while ds1 always had them in his porridge but unfortunately he seems to have had enough of them and won't touch them now.

Anyway the other thing was that you can buy little pasta that isn't specially made for babies (and probably terribly expensive because of branding). Most (all?) dried pasta won't have any milk in it. Just look for types designed to add to soup, e.g. stellini or rissoni (little stars or rice-shaped pieces) and Sainsburys do conchiglietti (little shells). You can make a nice soup (e.g. with broccoli but no salt of course) and scoop out the veg and pasta for your little one. But also it won't take long before she wants to hold things herself, and then the pasta twists have always been very popular among our family and friends.

hope that helps

Lollypopzmummy · 02/04/2008 14:13

Thanks so much Mummypig you've been a big help
I was discussing the dietry changes with DH and he seems happy to settle with cow's milk for just hot drinks and cereals (I made a pasta dish last night and used soya milk and Pure marg, it was quite nice and I think I managed to get the balance right in taste, DD1 wolfed it down so, at least, I know she will eat it!)
Also, I discussed the (obv?) situation with our bodily figures and that we have, over the years, tried most diets to no avail and the only option left really is to cut dairy out (we're both quite mucussy atm too so it kind of got through to him once he started having a coughing fit! ) we have really quite a healthy diet (and I've picked up some beans and quinoa to kick start it off to the next level) and the only real problem (that I can see) is the dairy aspect, everything else is lean (we rarely eat anything but chicken/turkey!) green or beans!!
So, here it goes people, one lifestyle change coming right up!!
(I have our troublesome babe to thank for it all, what an inspiration in disguise eh?! )
xXx

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