Some Suggestions from Other Moms Who Have Children with Milk Allergies

A.,

My son was also allergic to all milk products including soy. We totally skipped milk for awhile. I realize that sounds horrible, but it was better that the projectile vomiting and him being so miserable. He did grow out of it by about two years, I would just occassionally give him a little to see how he did and eventually it was ok. It truly didn't have any long term affects on him, he is now 7 and at the normal height and weight, so don't worry too much. Good luck!

Walmart sell Lactaid and a Land of Lakes lactose free milk at the cheapest price I could find. Their Silk is also cheaper than Krogers, the plain silk doesn't taste too bad and is what my paediatrician has recommended for us (my six week old has problems with spitting up and reflux and I have to follow a dairy free diet so I can breastfeed her). Hope that you are sorted out soon.

My 17 month old is lactose intolerant, and I usually get her milk from Giant Eagle..... I usually buy flavored (vanilla/chocolate), and she loves it....
I've heard Sam's Club sells Soy Milk in balk, which are the one's that can sit out until your actually ready to use them.... But, once you open them they have to be used usually 5-10 days (depends on brand)... Giant Eagle also sells these types, but not in bulk...

If you want to buy plain (which is usually the same price) just add flavoring)....

Also, beware of foods that you feed your child... Read all ingredients, I learned the hard way... Spaghetti Sauces, Raviolis (canned), Hot dogs, Chicken Nuggets, everything... If it has any type of milk product (cereals too), they've gotten better at labeling but not all companies have!!!!

Some do outgrow it while others do not... My Daughter has not, but My Niece (whom is now 27 mos.) has completely....

Hope I've been some help... If so, and you need to know anything else feel free to ask....

I don't have this problem but aside from soy milk I have also seen lactose free milk. I think I have seen it at Kroger (you can also check where ever you shop). Or at least low levels of Lactose. I think there are also tablets you can give kids to help them digest it better. Hope that helps.
Some kids do eventually grow out of being Lactose intolerant too.

My DD is 8 and has a dairy allergy. We use any type of vanilla soy milk...generally what is on sale. She likes them all. For a treat we sometimes get the chocolate. When your son is older, they make soy icecream! GL!

**They make low fat versions of vanilla soy with added calcium and vitamins...it doesn't seem to take away from the taste**

A.,
My 2 1/2 year old daughter went through the same thing. The Dr.'s were of no help so I did some research and came up with my own solution: Goat's milk. It has alot less lactose in it and she did great on it. I bought it from a local farmer. No pasturization or anything. The Dr's were not really happy with me, but I had to do what didn't make her sick. Look in to it, it was a life saver for me.
M.

I see that a lot of other mom have intoduced their kids to the Vanilla Silk Soy milk. My suggestion on the other hand is that you should use the Silk Soy Plain. If you get them used to the sweet taste of the vanilla he won't be willing to change to anything else. My son had the same problem and started to prjectile vomit with milk. Actually with the Similac Advance With Iron, and the regular milk that I was trying to introduce to him at 11 months as requested by my peditrician. I bough the 2 pack that was at Walmart Supercenter in Brimfield. I don't know how close you are to a Supersenter and I am not sure that it is the Silk but that was what I bought because it was cheaper than Giant Eagle. But my general suggestion would be not to start with the vanilla and start with the regular plain soy. My son took to the plain with being used to the soy formula that he was drinking before anyway. You know what is best for your child, but I didn't go for the vanilla I went with plain.

Mother of 7 and 18 month old boys.

All three of my children have had issues with cow's milk that manifested as a skin rash. So I've been dealing with soy products for about 10 yrs. As for formula we found carnations all-soy was the best tolerated. I'm pretty sure it sells under the Nestle brand as Good Start. The older outgrew the allergy around the same time they were ready to transistion from formula to milk. The youngest (2yrs) is still on soy. Since I tried to breastfeed them all as long as I could, I have tried a lot of the soy milks out there. Silk is one of the best ones. My daughter drinks Silk Enhanced and even though it clearly states that it is not to be used as a baby formula, her Dr. gave us the green light at a around 1 yr of age. It costs the same as the regular Silk but is packed with good stuff. It is pricey at around $3 a half gal. but is still much cheaper than the supplements or formula on the market. We just keep an eye on the flyers and stock up when it is on sale. On a day-to-day basis, Giant Eagle seems to always be .20-.40 cheaper than Krogers. Meijer is also good on the price but, my local one has stock issues.

Watch out for any products that contain whey protien. It is everywhere! You end up spending much more time in the grocery until you learn which things to avoid. As far as the other soy products out there--well...it's an acquired taste. I don't think they will ever get the cheese thing right.
Hopefully your son outgrows it for good like my son did. But, prepare yourself for issues in the future. (My oldest has just begun a battle with eczema and we aren't sure that milk isn't the trigger.) Also, it has been my experience that other food allergies are a possibility. Keeping a food journal would be really helpful. Good Luck.

I have never had children with milk allergies but my youngest couldn't tolerate my breastmilk if I had any milk products- I did the soy milk and totally agree that the vanilla is the best- it takes some getting used to the taste but its a good replacement on cereal etc. I also wanted to recommend the veggie cheese ( I know wierd right?) They usually have it in the vegatable section and the shredded cheese makes a great replacement on tacos etc- I believe it is all soy based. Just one of the many products soy products they have out their. I would also check out health food stores - if your area has "whole foods markets" or anything like that- they have come up with alot of vegan dishes that are very good and contain no animal products-- good luck to you!!

hi my name is L. and i have a 13 month old who has a mil allergy, she vommits when she has regular cow milk to, her doctor told me at first to slowly introduce milk and it did not work and they never told me to give her soy, instead they told me to give her the formula but instead of a bottle maybe a sippy cup. so that is what we are doing as of now. so maybe when she is 18 months we are going to try milk again.

My son is 12 months old and we found out he had an allergy to dairy when he was 5 weeks old. I've cut dairy out of our family's diet (at home in our kitchen, at least) and once you get the hang of it, it just becomes habit.

First, there are lots of dairy-free milk substitutes like soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, oat milk, hazelnut milk, etc. If you are concerned about the price of buying these pre-packaged milks, you can make your own rice/soy/nut milks at home for much, MUCH cheaper:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Nondairy.html

Also, some more good resources for living dairy-free:

Feeding a baby/young toddler without cow milk
http://www.kjsl.net/~beanmom/nomilk.html

Helpful, compact lists that help you avoid dairy and hidden dairy in products:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~fsdebra1/refluxdairy.html
http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01...

A Practical Primer for People w/ Milk Allergy
http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html

Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook by Cybele Pascal
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Foods-Allergy-Cookbook-Homest...

I swear by Silk brand...they have a kid formula called "very vanilla" with all of the vitamins that kids should need from milk. My kids go "ga-ga" over this Silk very vanilla. It is worth the money to have healthy children.

All of my kids had milk allergies. My oldest out grew it before it was time for him to drink straight milk. My twins couldnt tolerate milk at all, so they had to drink soy until they were almost 2 years old. They liked the chocolate soy milk the best. They have both outgrown it and can drink milk just fine, now! I get WIC and luckily they cover soy milk!

My girlfriends daughter is lactose intolerant and she drinks soy. She has told me she likes the vanilla soymilk. I have personally tried it myself and I like the flavor too.

S.

A little boy that I babysit has problems with milk. His aunt brings him vanilla Soy and he likes that real well. Keep an eye out in the Sunday paper. I find a lot of coupons for soy milk in there.

You already have alot of good advice here, but I'm new so I thought I'd put in my 2 cents. My daughter does not have a milk allergy, but we are vegans (meaning no animal products in our diet). She really likes the vanilla soy milk and the chocolate soy milk. Whenever I need milk to cook with I use the regular or the vanilla and the food cooks up the same. You can get soy milk at pretty much any grocery store out there, however we like going to Trader Joe's and getting their store brand of soy milk. It's a good price and, in my opinion, not as sweet as the Silk brand. You can also try almond or rice milk. Those are a bit more expensive, but could be fun to try. When it comes to soy and rice cheeses, in my opinion they're pretty nasty tasting. I'm not sure how a milk alergy goes, but alot of soy cheeses have casein as an ingredient. This is a byproduct of milk. Also, there are lots of packaged foods that have milk ingredients in them like casein or whey, so make sure to read those labels. And as a really big downer. I'm not sure if you're a big fan of McDonalds, but their fries contain milk-derived ingredients. Good luck to you.

I am dealing with this problem! my son was about 1 when he started this as well. He kept having BAD rashes and would have severe diareah (sp)
We took hom to the dr and they did the scope and found he had allergy to dairy

Hes 8 and we are still batteling it. I dont kow what to do alot of the time. Its so miserable for him and us as well. They told us to avoid whey..well its VERY hard to do..its in EVERYTHING he likes and eats. Its ridiculous!
Its so hard to deal with

He gets terrible terrbiel stomach aches, feels sick (like vomiting) and has to go #2 and its usually diahrea (sp)

I was told hed outgrow it too but he hasnt yet! He dont like to soy and lactaid milks..weve tried just about it all!