Non-Dairy V Dairy Families

[Bev]

:) I found out that I was severly allergic to dairy products as a young teenager. Controlling the dairy products has however been the key to getting my life back from chronic eczema. Now with children of my own (7 year old twin boys and a three year old daughter), all of whom are eczematic to some degree, I'm well setttled into a non-dairy life - though websites like this one are a real bonus.

Both the boys were allergic to milk until around age 5, when one "grew out" of his allergy. His brother of course is still severely allergic and, at his age, is now realising that he might have the allergy for life. Does anyone else have this dilemma to juggle with? I've only recently - after 2 years of badgering - got the school kitchen to say which meals are diary free so that both boys can, on occasion, have school dinners instead of sandwiches!

My daughter is also currently dairy free, but as her eczema is very slight I strongly suspect that this will also be transitory!

[Lan]

Hi Bev,

Unfortuantely I am unable to comment on your situation as I am intolerant to milk, and have only been so since I was 19 years old.

My house though is awkward for meals at times due to the fact that my partner has no allergies/intolerances. However we seem to cope fine.

Hope that somebody in a similar situation will be able to answer your queries soon.

Take care.

Lan. :D

[Yvette]

Hi Bev

My daughter has milk allergy and wants school dinners.I have an egg allergy .
I saw her dietician last month and now I am meeting with the school and the caterers, ( in about half an hour) they are being very helpfull.
She is only 5 and the only girl in her class on pack lunches. ( it is a small school)
Both the school and the caterers are very happy for Anna to go on School Meals.
Now if they can get the menu right :unsure: anna should be on school dinners in the next few weeks.
I have to try Anna in July on Milk and see how it goes.

P.S. I live in wales and have the Welsh Assembly offices down the road :) , that might be why.

[lyndamc]

Hello Yvette

It'll be intersesting to hear how you got on with the school. Do they produce all their meals on site? My sons school do and are very good about food allergies. Although this doesn't affect my son, it will affect my daughter when she starts school as she can only eat a limited amount of dairy before getting constipated.
Mealtimes in this house are hardwork - the preparation I mean. Today for instance, Hubby and the kids are having Cottage Pie and cauliflower cheese, meanwhile I'm having Cottage Pie but made with Quorn mince and plain cauliflour (yuk). They all get to have homemade Rice Pudding and I'll have a banana or something. (I'm alllergic to milk products and intolerant to beef, tomatoes, eggs and monosodium glutamate).
When my daughter does start school I shall have to return to work, I don't know how I'm going to find time to cook everything from scratch, although I realise it's better for all of us than processed food. I suppose I'll just have to get on with it.

[linny]

Hi, Mealtimes in our house always seem really stressful for me. I am dairy intolerant, also onion and garlic. We decided it would be best for our 8 yr old daughter to have school dinners and then I just need to make her tea. I seem to live on jacket potatoes. I also have gastritis which means I have to eat little and often, but the snacks seem to be unhealthy ones. Sometimes at dinner time i get so stressed about what to cook I end up not wanting to eat anything. If my husband is late he cooks for himself and I just have sandwiches for tea with my daughter. Yesterday I went to my parents as it was mums birthday and I felt a total spectacle as she said that she'd got special biscuits and cakes for me. When I asked if I could have a plain roll as I'd taken my own spread, I was told to scape the spread off one of the rolls!! I was just presented with a plate of biscuits and cakes! I ended up eating some crackers I'd taken 'just in case'. I feel like a total pain most of the time with regards to eating.There a 2 children in my daughter's class who are allergic to peanuts, so they have made their year a 'nut-free zone'.

Good luck with the dinners.

[ellsie]

I found bananas very cooling on my tummy whrn I had gastritis.

I used to know a little boy at a toddler group who was allergic to nuts whose mum provided special biscuits in a plastic tub labelled "Tommy no nuts." Taking it a little far I thought!
Although it doesn't affect me I will be interested to see what happens at school dinners as so many are prepared off premises now.

[yvonne]

My children have both been breastfed and suffer allergies. They are both allergic to cow's milk. However I find this only an minor problem. We have successfully dealt with this for 5 years now. My children are 10 and 8. They have goat's milk. They are unable to have soya as they are allergic to that also and eggs. I buy goat's and/or sheep's yoghurt from Tesco, they are fine with this. It means that I am unable to let them have many products that are pre-prepared or manufactured from sauces to crisps. They enjoy a variety of foods that have to be made with a little extra care. I use 'PURE' margarine with sunflower also easy to obtain. School dinners are almost a no no for us too - the school kitchen is great at not using milk but soya is in most of their meat products so this causes more trouble than it is worth. Living without cow's milk can be quite easy. If your child can have soya - use soya. There is also rice milk or coconut milk that can be used particularly in desserts. My children can have sorbet in an ice cream cone instead of ice cream. I blend strawberries and other fruits and add to their youghurt and make milkshake with their milk and rice pudding too.

I also found it very daunting at first, but as our friends and family have got used to this and we all see the benefits, it has been well worth it.

[ellsie]

Hi Yvonne. Sounds like you are coping really well with your kid's allergies. How do they cope with parties and other kids offering sweets etc.

[Pam]

When my 5 year old goes to a party she always takes her own food in a lunch bag just to be on the safe side. She doesn't seem to get upset by this and generally worries more that someone will give her something she can't have if she doesn't take her own. I always used to keep a small packet of sweets in my bag for the occasions when other children were eating sweets in her presence. A nuisance but it is better to be prepared than to see her upset. As she has got older she accepts the "we will get you something special when we get home" answer.

[Yvette]

Hi All
Got on very well with school dinners, Anna has been on them a week now and doing very well.
They cook everything there in the kitchen, and the marg they use is vegan:) .
they are keeping a close watch on what she eats and changing things she does not like.
Do any of your childrens school have free milk at break time?
Ours do its paid for by the welsh assembly, at the moment I take in and pay for Annas milk. i was thinking of finding out if they would pay for Annas milk as it is costing me a fortune.:rant:
I have an egg allergy, I was reading in a book from asda it said that breastfeeding does not prevent allergies in babies, I breast feed Anna for about 41/2 mths that made me feel better. It said if the mother has an allergy that the baby should avoid that food as well,?????

[yvonne]

Babies can become intolerant to something the mother is ingesting and that can be past on through the breast milk.

My children are 10 and 8. They know what they cannot have, there list is as long as their arms. Not only does it include cow's milk, eggs, and soya, but, citrus fruits, bananas, colours and monosodium glutamate too. Obviously their reactions are different to some of these products.

They have learnt themselves how they react, and choose themselves to abstain.

My son loved donuts. I recently told him - if you want you can have one, it's up to you if you want it. He thought about it :unsure: and decided that it wasn't worth the agony and distress it would cause him.

Yes I feel like a nagging mother sometimes saying no, no. But I know my children are happier and healthier. I have to make sure they find treats that they can have. They don't eat sweets with colours. But we manage with treats. These sometimes turn out to be non food items at their own instigation. However, we have a lovely rice pudding in the oven tonight, with goat's milk, added sheep's yoghurt as this is sweet and creamy.

They love it.:bleh:

A point worth noting, my children only started with ezcema the following week after their first lot of vaccinations at 3 months. But that is another subject in itself isn't it .. I could go on... and on ..

[matt]

and you'd be a reactionary and bad member of society to suggest that possibly the innoculations did some harm.....

i wouldn't mind if they were honest so that we could make informaed decisions. my daughter had the first mmr but not the second. we asked for some clarification of the risks and why a second was needed. we were basically told because we say so.....needless to say we decided against. but was that the right decision, balance of probabilities risks of mmr jab versus risks of measels etc. i could also go on....

[ellsie]

Herd immunity. Vaccinate the mass so that the few who don't or won't are also protected. My daughter is due for her 2nd MMR now. I went for single jabs last time and I really only need to do it again in case the first lot didn't take. I have been told that a history of family allergies and MMR is not a good mix so I need to decide soon what to do.:unsure:

[lyndamc]

My sons school doesn't supply free milk, but they have free fruit at breaktimes, which has been brilliant, suddenly my son is eating a lot more fruit and raw veg - something he always turned his nose up at!!
I remember warm milk at school - yuk, I hated it and would pour it down the sink!

[Pam]

I believe that Margaret Thatcher stopped the free milk at school thing, certainly in England. Our school sells subsidised milk but it is an optional extra. I always sent a beaker of Wysoy for my daughter as she was still drinking it at the time. Now she takes some juice to have whilst the others are having milk. I used to loathe milk at school, I've never enjoyed drinking plain milk but I did quite like milk shakes and drank quite a lot of them whilst pregnant all three times if I remember correctly.

They do have free fruit at school now though.

[linny]

My daughter had free fruit and subsidised milk at nursery and infant school, they had a fridge supplied too. The junior school have neither and the kids are only allowed to take a bottle of water to drink, a bit mean I think. I remember having milk and a biscuit at morning break time, although I think we paid a small amount for the biscuit.

[matt]

yep can remember the milkman delivering those little bottles to the junior school and having a straw to drink it with, we never got the biscuits though!

maggie did stop it.....

free fruit and veg given out at my daughters school. not that she'll eat it! her mother is not a great fruit or veg person so she won't eat them. strange thing is broccolli and spinach or baby sweetcorn get hoovered up! normal sweetcorn, dried fruit etc are the devils food! someone please explain?

it's all a gimmick by blair. did you see him last night?? not getting political, honest, but i just don't trust him. he is a lawyer afterall!

[Pam]

I'm expecting to have a good budget this year and lots of positive things happening, we're coming up to an election this year or next so he has to impress!

Sweetcorn is sweet - that's why it is so popular with children, dried fruit seems to go down quite well here too.

[matt]

yeah but she'll eat baby sweetcorn but not normal size sweetcorn!

carrots if i cook them just so.....

dried fruit never. just not going to happen. her mum doesn't eat it either. i think it's more to do with that than taste.

loves garlic! cue revenge of seperated father, spag bol for tea for her with extra garlic. she hoovers it up, the ex's house then stinks of garlic for the next couple of days!!:lol2:

budget. can't wait, see where the sting is. how many extra taxes has this dynamic duo given us? wouldn't mind if they actually achieved something it just seems to get wasted though. oops sorry did say not political. promise no more politics.:mellow:

[Yvette]

Hi All

In wales we get free milk but pay £1 a week for fruit.
does anyone else live in Wales get free milk for their children.

[Lan]

Hi Yvette.

I'm 27 and don't get free milk. What's going on here?

Where in Wales are you from? I'm from the Cardiff area.

Kind Regards,


Lan.:D

[matt]

in england the kids get fruit each day but not milk. just a gimmick. they would do better getting decent food in the cafe/dining room.

or if they prepered the fruit/veg and gave it to the kids. instead they come out at the end of the day holding a carrot or satsuma etc, get dropped on floor palyed with and end up in the bin. if they actually did something and gave the kids it at break. carrot with a dip or fruit flapjakes/muffins....but that would be sensible.

[Pam]

At our school the children are actually given prepared fruit/veg to eat at a specific time in the morning. The staff hate it though because they have to do all the preparation. My sister in law is a classroom assistant and moans continually about having to take time out to peel and chop food when she should be helping in the classroom and then there's all the mess that the little darlings make afterwards.

[matt]

i can see her problem, which is why i think it's a stupid gimmick. better todo what jamie oliver's trying to do.

spend some more money on proper food at lunch. i'd happily spend a bit to supply my daughter with something quality at lunchtime. last time i looked at the lunch menu it was chicken dippers and chips etc. or if there was a healthy option there was only a little bit and several times my daughter came how having not eaten a lunch asthey'd run out!:angry:

i mean how much hassle is it to make a spg bol for the kids? loads of veg all cut up small so the little sods don't realise!:rant: rant over