April 2019 Moms

Milk Alternatives..

elmich3elmich3 member
edited December 2018 in April 2019 Moms
I am interested in trying a milk alternative for my 13 month old. I'm concerned he has a milk allergy as he has gotten back to back ear infections and rashes since he started whole milk. I was raised on soy milk so I am partial to alternatives as my mom was "anti milk". But obviously I want my son to be getting everything he needs. He is 99th percentile for weight and height so growth/ weight gaining isnt a big worry. 

Just curious if anyone has a brand or type of alternative milk (soy, rice, almond, etc) they have had success with! 

**I have seen his pediatrician about this and he has encouraged me to look into alternatives, hes had troubles with milk based things since he was born

Re: Milk Alternatives..

  • If you think it's an allergy get him tested by a board certified pediatric allergist otherwise you could be eliminating an entire group of food based on nothing. My concern with soy would be the consumption of too many phytoestrogens (assuming you'd switch to soy milk, soy cheese, soy yogurt, etc) especially since soy is so prevalent already in the standard diet. You do you though. Just make sure the calcium and fat he's missing from skipping the whole cows milk is properly accounted for in whatever alternative you go with since fat is important for brain/neuron development at his age and cows milk is an easy, affordable source for toddlers. 
  • I would def. start with a dr visit. Mainly because if he does have an allergy you’d want to know now rather than him getting milk somehow later and having a severe response. 

    That being said. Coconut milk doesn’t have the same issues as soy milk.
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  • @Becky012016 I just got home from seeing our pediatrician due to another ear infection/ allergy flare up and he encouraged me to look into an alternative milk. Of course I would make sure his diet made up for the calcium/fat, etc. Just starting to research and ask if any other moms have had any milk other than cow that worked well
  • @elmich3, I don't have personal experience with this, but my nephew has a suspected milk allergy and my sister recently started using "pea milk," with him.  I'm not sure what brand she buys, but she said it's the closest consistency she has found to cow's milk and it doesn't have a noticeable flavor like coconut or almond milk. She primarily uses it in things such as pancakes but is trying to get him to drink it straight as well.

    I made pancakes for him the other day and tried one, didn't notice any difference in flavor but I did pick up a slightly different smell versus regular pancakes.  Hope this helps!
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  • I'm an allergy mom and to be honest we never had anything work well. He ended up failure to thrive and now has long term effects of a restrictive diet. Our only options were oat and coconut milk. Oat was closest to cows milk in terms of fat but coconut was more palatable. Hemp milk might work for you; it caused a reaction for us. Your pediatrician should really send you to an allergist. Ear infections are frequently bacterial infections which are not caused by allergies. A rash might be an allergic reaction from milk but is also a frequent symptom from taking penicillins like amoxicillin used to treat ear infections. It's life-altering to have a true allergy and should be looked into more by an allergist. 
  • @Becky012016 Yes, we do plan to see an allergist, just doing some research to be prepared. He has had bad rashes as well as eczema since birth so it's been an ongoing thing to find the source which our pediatrician think may be milk. He has also had vomiting and diarrhea after drinking whole milk so we are just trying to find something that works. I may have come across casually about this, but there is much thought and health issues and oh so many doctors appointments behind this. I didnt explain everything because it's too long winded, the jist is I just wondered of good alternatives if that's what it will come to. I haven't though of hemp milk, I will look into that thank you.
  • @kangstadt Pea milk, interesting! Haven't heard of that one, that is helpful thank you!
  • Hemp milk yogurt was a good comparative to cows milk yogurt, too. Coconut yogurt was easy to find and tasty but the volume needed to equal cows yogurt was 2x. I would stay away from goat milk anything. If he is allergic to cows milk, he's got up to a 95% chance of also reacting to goats milk because the major proteins are shaped similarly and receptors in our bodies have a hard time distinguishing between the two mammals. Oat milk was the best for cooking because of the mild flavor. This might be an UO but he doesn't NEED to drink milk but he does need the 3-4 servings of dairy/dairy alternatives per day. Liquid milk is just super convenient and easily accessible. Nut milks don't have enough calories and nutrients for toddlers growing bodies to be of true value at this age (140cal per cup of cows milk vs 50 cal per cup of nut milk on average). 
  • @Becky012016 That was all super helpful! Thank you! 
  • @elmich3 my 5 year old nephew has a dairy allergy and has always drank plain soy milk. He will also drink Almond milk now that he’s older. On a side note he has frequent ear infections and has already had 2 sets of tubes and his aneroids removed. His one ear just doesn’t drain properly. My DS had tubes put in at 13 months, after a year+ they fell out and he hasn’t had a problem since   
  • I never put DD on regular milk since I can’t stand the taste. She did really well with almond milk ( we mainly do the almond breeze brand or make it ourselves). I prefer original unsweetened because it’s already pretty sweet. 
  • @kangstadt pea protein chocolate milk is awesome. A friend suggested it and I like it but it's too expensive to buy regularly. I get it from Target.
    @elmich3 I'm a FTM so no advice or experience here but I would second pea milk if your pediatrician says it's a suitable substitute.
  • My son drinks cow's milk but I have some friends whose kids have dairy allergies and the best alternative milks they've found contain pea protein as mentioned above. Silk has one called Silk Protein Nutmilk which is basically a nut milk with pea protein added. The macros (calories/fat/protein/carbs) are identical to whole cow's milk. The other popular brand of pea protein milk is Ripple milk although I believe this contains fewer calories per cup and the macro ratios are a little different. 

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  • Ripple milk is the brand my sister has been using, for what it's worth!
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  • DS wouldn't do cows milk after we stopped giving him expressed BM, so we would occasionally give him some unsweetened almond milk (we rarely had cow's milk at home at the time - DH is lactose intolerant and I only drink milk pregnant). He ate lots of yogurt and cheese though, so I'm not sure if that made a difference when my pedi approved it. Now that he's older he loves cow's milk. 
    Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • I really like oat milk! It’s pretty tasty and you can easily make it yourself (or buy). Want to say 101cookbooks website has some interesting on-dairy milk alternatives.
  • This may sound weird because it was 39 years ago, but when I was a babe I was intolerant to cow's milk. My mom gave me goat's milk (not sure if she introduced while she was breast feeding or after). I eventually was ok to drink cow's milk. I don't even know if you can buy goat's milk anymore!
  • I really like oat milk! It’s pretty tasty and you can easily make it yourself (or buy). Want to say 101cookbooks website has some interesting on-dairy milk alternatives.
    I read this as cat milk and was like...floored. 

    @rennie1108 you can absolutely buy goat's milk still - I know the Whole Foods near us carries goat's milk, along with the crunchier and the more high-end groceries near me. 
    Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • Thank you for all of your feedback! So helpful! He has started drinking unsweetened almond milk and loves it. We are still giving him yogurt and cheese until we find out if he has an allergy or not. Hopefully just not having all the extra whole milk in top of his food dairy will help him a bit! So far it's going very well. 
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