Lactose Intolerant Toddler

[tigerlily]

Hi Everyone!:D

My little girl is almost 2 and is Lactose Intolerant. She used to be alergic to all Dairy but following a "blow to her immune system" she now is L.I. (She also has a heart defect.) Her dad was allergic to Dairy from 0-3.
On top of everything else, Eden is a VERY fussy eater and I would like to hear from other parents who can possibly recommend more food items that she can eat. She loves the BABY ORGANIX range.

Vanessa.

[Pam]

I discovered that my daughter was milk intolerant (all milk) when she was about 10 weeks old, she has been a very faddy eater but is now (age 6) trying a lot more things and quite often clears her plate these days.

At 2 your daughter will now be able to eat most foods so you don't need to scour the shelves for suitable baby foods. She can eat whatever you're having if you adapt it a little. Almost any recipe can be made dairy free just by substituting milk for a suitable soya/oat/rice etc alternative and using a dairy free spread instead of butter or margarine (try Pure or even Vitalite). Cheese is a little difficult, but what she's never had she probably won't miss and I wouldn't bother with expensive dairy free cheeses at her age as they will be wasted. If you like lasagne or pizza you could buy some Tofutti slices which will keep in the fridge for months and can be put on top of a pizza to melt and keep the other ingredients from drying out too much.

Swedish Glace ice cream is widely available and tastes very nice - even my anti-dairyfree-foods husband likes it. Alpro do some nice yoghurts (Yofu) and even do some smooth ones for babies who don't want lumps, they also do some custard type desserts which are very good. Or you can make your own custard, rice pudding etc using alternative milks.

Arm yourself with a list of milk derivatives eg lactose, whey, casein, butterfat etc next time you go shopping and you know what to look out for on the ingredients lists, though most supermarkets are getting better at "contains milk" allergy advice. A lot of processed meat products and dried foods (eg packets of pasta in sauce, packet soups etc) contain milk in some shape or form so it is generally better to cook things yourself if you can. You will probably find a dairy free version of most foods though if you look hard enough (dairy free chicken nuggets are particularly hard to find but there are some out there).

If there is anything particular that you need to know about just ask, one of us will probably know the answer.

[cnc]

dairy free chicken nuggets are particularly hard to find but there are some out there.

Co-op do some chicken bites which are a bit bigger than chicken nuggets and battered but are dairy free and quite tasty!!

Welcome to the site Vanessa. As shes young at least she won't realise what shes missing out on as she won't have ever had proper cheese etc...
If you're lucky she may grow out of it as well.

Good luck. Hope you stick around the site.

[tigerlily]

It all started when she had a tummy bug and Tonsillitis at the same time, at 8 months. Initially she was allergic to all dairy, then, earlier this year, it eased off a little. Then Eden was found to be anemic and put on a liquid supplement...and 6 weeks later she was Lactose Intolerant...this was in February! We use Lactolite. Her dietician is pretty useless, it seems that I know more about this than she does! She advised me to re-try dairy after 3 months (which I thought was fairly soon) , which we did, but it didn't work! Eden still gets bloated/windy and gets diarrhea from all milk/lactose.

Rob, Eden's dad, grew out of it just past age 3...but he didn't have a heart defect. I'm still hopeful but think it's got something to do with her low immunity.

Does anybody on here have a child who has grown out of a dairy allergy?

Thanks Pam for all your advice on where to get dairy-free sweets!

Vanessa.