How to go dairy free????HELP

[Amber3]

Hi there

My baby (13 months) has a cronically runny nose, every day. I have to wipe her nose many times. Its been like this for months. Otherwise she is happy. She drinks mostly formula and eats a bit of fruit puree and sometimes a bit of avocado or pumpkin/carrot puree. She has a diagnosis which is why we are not further with eating. But I wonder if the runny nose could be due to a problem with milk. I wonder how I could try to take her off milk, especially it is challenging since that is her main food. But how could I replace milk and make sure that she will get enough nutrution at the same time? Does anyone here have exerience with dairy free babies? Also, would it be worth trying goats milk in stead of formula?

Amber

 

[Cattia]

Is she under a paeditrician? You can get diary free formula but it's better if you can get it on prescription as it's very expensive otherwise. If she has issues with eating anyway, I wouldn't rush to cut out dairy unless you have ascertained for sure that this is the problem. A nutritionist who specialises in children could safely guide you through an exclusion diet but it isn't something I would want to do on my own.

 

[jodilee6]

Kids have runny noses, my 3yo has a constant streaming nose tho he's now old enough to carry tissues and wipe his own nose

I wouldn't cut out any food group without medical advice espically if you say she already has compromised eating

 

[TTC First]

I have a lo that has issues with dairy, we are trying to determine if it is the protein or the lactose. Do you know which one your lo has issues with?

I was told that if she has issues with the lactose then you can simply go with lactose free foods. They make most things in lactose free so there wouldn't be a problem there.

If the issue is protein then it is a little more challenging. They don't make a protein free dairy product so you would then need to cut out all dairy. Since your lo requires milk at that age, then you would need to continue on a dairy free formula. I am not sure how long that would happen. Then you would need to cut out a whole list of foods.

I have a another lo that seems to have issues with the protein, she is only 2 months old so is strictly BF. I need to cut out all dairy in my diet as the protein passes in breast milk. There is something called Cows Milk Protein Allergy, if you look that up you will find a list of foods that you need to cut out.

I haven't heard of a runny nose being a symptom but look it up and maybe you will be able to match up other symptoms.

 

[AP]

I think you certainly need the advice of a professional here.

 

[StranjeGirl]

Dairy is known to contribute to creating mucus and causing a runny nose, or at least making it worse, so I think it is definitely worth a try. I'm not a doctor, but I do know dairy is not necessary in a diet. DD1's pediatrician told me that milk was definitely not necessary(and not as good as the media claims it is)- we just had to make sure sure we were getting all the nutrients (we are not dairy free, but i'm not a fan of milk for many reasons). To replace the actual liquid part of milk I chose making my own hemp milk (the store bought ones have carageenan in it) and buying oat milk. Oat milk is naturally sweet so I would usually mix them because hemp milk tastes a bit weird. THen you have to make sure she is getting fat and protein. Avocados are really good for fat and oils. For protein we use a lot of quinoa (I cook it and blend it into purees for dd2 (10 months old), beans, whole grains and nuts (nuts for dd1 who is almost 4). Eggs are good too if your LO can have eggs. I try to buy cereal and oat milk fortified with vitamin d, but they can always take a vitamin supplement (I like animal parade gold) to make up for some of the nutrients found in formula. At 13 months they don't need formula, but I like it due to all its vitamins, but you can just give a vitamin supplement. Many would say to replace with soy, but soy is controversial and from all the reading I've done I truly believe it is more harmful than helpful (except fermented soy, but we don't eat much of that here) Anyway, this is obviously just my opinion and not to be taken as medical advice, but it's what I do when I go dairy free due to runniness from seasonal allergies!