Advice again please

[bod]

My 7 yr old son complains of tummy pains on a daily basis .... usually 20-30 mins after drinking milk. I have read up about lactose intolerance and also found some other symptoms such as lack of concentration and irritability which he exhibits. He usually drinks 2 lge mugs of milk at breakfast time and aain at bedtime. So today I decided that I´ll try to go milk free. I "tried" rice milk which he just would not have ... it is abit like sweet water ! My main concerns are these : 1. What can I give him for breakfast - sorry I know that sounds really stupid. 2. How can I ensure that he gets his calcium - are calcium supplements ok to use. 3. How long should I try this for. He didn´t complain of a tummy ache this morning and he had no milk so Im hoping that this may be the answer. My main problem of purchasing lactose free products is that Im an ex-pat living in Spain and I haven´t seen an abundance of products. Many thanks in anticipation of any advice.

[Pam]

Would he drink milkshakes? In the UK both So Good and Alpro (Provamel) make flavoured soya milk. I've heard that in spain there are lots of nut milks - eg almond, they may be worth a try. Some people also find that whilst they can't tolerate cow's milk they are fine with goat's milk.

Try to get him to drink fruit juice or water instead of milk for a couple of days and ask him if he still feels ill. If he can tell a difference he might be willing to compromise.

[bod]

He had no milk Mon and Tues and no tummy pains.... I have been giving him juice and found an efferesent fruit flavoured calcium tablet which he likes as its like a fizzy drink for him. That staes it gives 62% of RDA for an adult - no mention of children, but I hope its ok to give it to him. Haven´t found any flavoured soya milk...yet. Will carry on looking. Do you think that normal plain soya milk, which is available here, with some nesquick added will taste any better. Does soya milk provide calcium like cows milk? Thanks for your help Pam.

[Steve]

Alpro Soya make milkshake drinks with added Calcium. Check out thier web site http://www.alprosoya.co.uk/

They do Strawberry, Chocolate and Banana flavours.

[Pam]

A lot of soya milk is fortified with extra vitamins and minerals and many have added calcium. Organic ones tend not to have calcium as according to Provamel, calcium cannot be organically obtained. Calcium is also found in other foods and although I'm not too sure about just where, I think green leafy vegetables are one source.

Allergy UK might be able to give you more help in finding the products you need as they produce translation cards in several languages for people travelling abroad and also give advice to people visiting other countries. The vegan society might have a fact sheet on calcium on their web site too.

You need to be cautious about vitamins and supplements as many tablets contain lactose to bind the ingredients together, though it sounds like your son has an intolerance rather than a major allergy so minute amounts of milk would probably not cause him too many problems.

Yes, you could add nesquick or another milk shake flavour to plain soya milk, just check the ingredients first to make sure that there isn't any cow's milk in the mix. (I use a teaspoon full of cocoa, a spoon of sugar mixed with a little hot water to disolve, then top up with cold milk for an easy chocolate milk shake.)

The fact that eliminating milk from his diet has got rid of the tummy ache is encouraging. He is old enough to understand the consequences of drinking milk now so he will have to learn to make choices between taste and comfort.

[astra]

a good source of calcium is black strap molasses, i've got some in the cupboard virtually unused as it really is an aquired taste. that and i've not had the chance to disguise it in baking yet. it's supposedly very nice when added to a smoothie - i think i put too much in on my first go and haven't tried it again since, but then i'm a freak and will eat brussels sprouts on a daily basis so i'm definately having my share of calcium!

[matt]

molasses and sprouts, the things we have to put up with!!!

i take calcium tablets but i do like the frozen spinach you can get, tend to mix it in with mince or tuna and have with a sauce to go with rice etc.

wouldn't it be nice to not have to think of these things. still it gives us a healthier lifestyle with all these green leafy veg! and if i keep saying that maybe i'll convince myself one day!

[duckdingle]

If you live in a hardwater area, one glass of water contains nearly twice as much calcium as a glass of milk. A child needs about 600mg of calcium a day, thats 3 glasses of water. Most things contain some calcium, andin areas where they have never drunk milk, their calcium levels aren't low. Fruit and veg are good, nuts too if I remember rightly. Green veg, brocolli,sprouts etc although spinach isn't any good because the body doesn't use calcium from spinach for some reason.Sardines are really good, oranges are excellent, so we have a glass of pur orange juice instead of milk. Baked beans are fairly high too. sesame seeds can be sprinkled on food. Hope this gives youa few ideas
Denise

[kelly]

In reply to bod's questions.

> 1. What can I give him for breakfast.

This is what I do for my 2-yrd old son for breakfast, although as your son is older, some of these ideas might not apply.

a) Add flavour to the milk that he can have (soya or rice milk) - Nesquik have banana, chocolate and straberry powder that doesn't contain milk itself. I add this to my 2yr olf son's special formula milk to mix with cereals for breakfast.

b) Pop Tarts (strawberry flavour) don't contain any milk

c) Dry cererals - Cheerios on a string or Rice Krispies Muddles that have shapes (fish, trees, people and stars)

d) Crushed pineapple muffins (I have a recipe book that has dairy-free breakfast recipes I can send you if you want - e-mail me at kelly@glide.gi if you want).

e) Scrambled, hard or soft-boiled egg with toast soldiers (dairy-free spread).

f) Peanut butter and Ryvita.

> 2. How can I ensure that he gets his calcium

I don't know about this one, I worry about my 2-yr old sone getting enough calcium, but I know you can get calcium-enriched rice milk and juices (my son won't drink either, but yours might).

> 3. How long should I try this for.

My son is on this for at least another years before we try and introduce milk to his diet again, but we noticed the difference in him with just ONE day of a dairy-free diet. And if he had milk products we see a difference immediately, so I'm sure that with a few days you'll realise if this is going to help your son.

Do let us know how things go!
Kelly.

[ann]

:hug: Hi
My 7 year old daughter is severely allergic to milk and we are visiting Spain in a few weeks time- did you say that you can get soya milk out there- what is labelling like as my spannish is pretty non existent?

Hope you managed to get sorted with flavoured s milk. dont worry about the calcium I think they get enough if they drink soya milk- 'so good' soya milk (which we get here, not sure about there) states that it provides one third required daily intake in one serving!

Ps what do you use instead of butter out there?
Ann

[kelly]

You should be able to find soya milk in the large supermarkets such as Carrefour, and also El Corte Ingles has very good "Free from" specialist sections in their food stores.

I'll find out about the labelling, as in Gibraltar most things are labelled in English.

Here are some words you might find useful:
"sin" = without
"leche" = milk

I'm expecting a baby this weekend, but as soon as I can I'll pop over to Spain (I need to go and buy some things from there soon anyway) and check out the labels for soya milk, etc. in Spanish for you.

K.

[Pam]

Ann

AllergyUK produce some cards with translations of various phrases and words related to food allergies eg. all the milk derivatives, or asking in spanish if something contains milk. I think these have to be paid for, but it might make things easier for you. They have a web site and should have a contact number there so that you can give them a call.

A friend of mine had a house in spain but always took her own soya milk when she went over. I've heard that some airlines will give you extra free baggage allowance if you get a doctors note saying that you need to take special foods with you for allergy/intolerance but you'd need to check with the one you're travelling with.