Dairy Free Diet

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2001
Dairy Free Diet
11
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 1:12pm
I have read that they say when a child craves dairy he can actaully be allergic to it.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 3:51pm

I would go with rice milk or almond milk. I have heard great things about Goats milk too. Does he like chocolate milk? Does he drink skim or higher fat milk? Making the transition may be tough but if he likes chocolate and doesn't get it often you can get rice or almond milk that is flavored and he will see it as a treat making the change easier. If you are careful they will be flavored without sugar and with natural ingredients. There is even carob flavored.

Another thing to try might be digestive enzymes. They make some that are special to help digest milk. I would also be sure to give him a probiotic like acidolphulus. They make a great one that is chewable in blueberry and strawberry. It is like candy. In fact I can't buy it anymore because David would sneak them so they get plain old tablets.

Also, while he is little try to get him used to drinking water. They say milk does a body good, pshaw..Should be water does a body good. Nothing is better for thier little bodies. Filtered water is typically what my kids drink and sometimes bottled water. But I could take stock in Britta filters. They only really need about 2 cups of milk a day and then loads of water. If he doesn't like plain water, add juice to it and dilute it slowly until he is used to the water or set up a reinforcer around it at first and make a big deal out of it.

Oh, for the digestive enzymes I have had good luck with sneaking them in Mike's juice. I do that because of school. You can see them in there but cant taste it so I put it in a dark colored water bottle. It is his special bottle. I bet you can do that with milk too and hide it in there or hide it in any food. I am buying Rainbow Light brand which is good quality but not nearly as pricey as houstons. I also get them wholesale so it is cheaper than online. You can get schiff fairly inexpensively.

If you go to a trader joe's they have loads of supplements at very very reasonable prices.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 4:05pm

The reason for a dairy alternative is because you need to replace the calcium and protein your ds would otherwise get in milk. My dd drinks ENRICHED rice milk (if it's not enriched, it doesn't have calcium or vitamins), but it's not a good source of protein. Almond milk is supposed to be much better for protein, but it's harder to find. If your ds can get calcium and protein through other sources, you might not even need a dairy alternative. Also, eggs are protein, not dairy.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-19-2005
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 4:33pm

Hi Tina,

I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts to what other folks said. First of all, it wouldn't hurt to run this by your pediatrician, just in case, although just switiching to a milk alternative is easy enough to do. Like everyone said, just make sure it has calcium. You can get calcium from other sources too, don't forget, OJ, green veggies etc.
Just start reading labels and I'd also go for the "enriched" version of whatever you choose. There are many comparable to milk in vitamin and calcium content, some even better bc they typically have less fat and more protein.

Lots of kids who have trouble with cow's milk also have trouble with soy, but that is the easiest to find in the grocery store. My son likes rice milk. I have heard that many who cannot tolerate cow's milk can have goat's milk. It tastes great, the yogurt is good too, and of course the cheese. The milk can be hard to find, however.

If you are really trying to be dairy-free, you also need to think about cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter--anything derived from milk. Although eggs are in the dairy section (who knows why?) they do not have lactose or casein and although many are allergic to them, it's not related to being allergic to milk products.

It's hard to find a cheese substitute, most are soy, there is Rice Slice, none taste too good. There are plenty of good soy yogurts, if soy isn't a problem. There are also lots of butter substitutes.

One other thought, if you are just trying to go lactose-free you have lots of options. If you are thinking of going casein-free it's a bit more complicated. If you are thinking of casein free, then the cow's milk is out too, it has casein.

FYI, my son had lots of diarrhea until we got rid of the dairy. When I thought back, I realized he started having the GI trouble when we introduced cow's milk and solid foods, but everyone said it was due to teething at the time. It did help us, and helped with his ability to focus too.

Let me know if you have other questions. We have been dairy free (and also gluten free, but that's another issue) for over a year now.

Katherine

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2001
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 6:07pm
It is funny I also remember when we switched Bobby over to milk.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 6:52pm

Hi,

We have been on the dairy free/wheat free (casein & gluten free) diet now for almost 2 mos w/ our 7 yr old twins. Just recently we started the digestive enzymes which allows them to eat these things - they break down the gluten casein and soy which ASD kids have a harder time doing than regular kids. We have seen a marked difference in their behavior since we started the diet, and the enzymes have been SUCH a lifesavor for school and parties. I still limit their wheat/diary but the enzymes are so easy - chewable, taste good, and totally harmless. You can order them online from Houston Nutritionals.

btw, eggs are not dairy ;)

GL!!

meg

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 7:48pm

Here are my thoughts......

Sam used to have horrible constipation. Pre-dx we tried the diet route to help with behavior starting with removing artificials and eventually deciding between gluten and casein free and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. We decided to do SCD for a year which removes all lactose and any complex carbs (all grains, potatoes, certains starchy veggies.) We did this casein free (milk protein) for awhile with no change. This really helped to proved that diet wasn't the cause of his behavior but did help. The biggest change was the constipation went away and only returns if he eats too much lactose. Sam can have ice cream and milk, just not every day. We also avoid too much unaged cheese like mozzerella and any preshredded cheese at all because they contain starches to prevent them from sticking together.

Going lactose free would be an easy transition into diary free. Aged cheeses like cheddar and swiss are pretty much lactose free (it gets eaten up by enzymes in the aging process.) There are lactose free ice creams out there too, but you have to watch out for artificals in them. Many lactose intolerant people can handle yogurt (a fave for Sam) but commercial yogurt often has skim milk powder added to it to make it thicker, so it's not really lactose free; the cultures in it help alot though (renee mentioned acidiophilus.)

From a nutrition stand point there's no real substitute for milk, unless you get the enriched rice/soy milk. I personally wouldn't even bother with the milk subs unless he loves milk and would miss the routine of drinking it. A good yogurt smoothie is so much more nutritious than a glass of enriched rice or soy milk. And from a digestive stand point both rice and soy milk are just as difficult to digest, if not more difficult to digest than cow or goat's milk. Goat milk protein (casein) is a smaller molecule so some find it easier to break up than cow. It's expensive and hard to come by though.

I think it's worth a try going lactose free for a while. If that's going well you could transition into dairy free and see how it goes. None of it has to be permanent, but a good 6 months will let you know if it is helping at all.

Good luck!!!

Chrystee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2005
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 11:34pm

Tina,
You really got me thinking about something I would have never made the connection to. I had Jake on rice formula until he was a year old because he couldn't tolerate the regular formula. When we made the switch to regular milk at around a year old is when his loose bowel movements became an issue. They are still an issue to this day and in fact I had put off potty training in the hope that it would improve. Jake like bobby loves milk. He drinks about 3 cups a day and would drink more if I let him. I had started the GFCF diet just after he was diagnosed but he is such a picky eater he wouldn't eat anything I made him. To be honest it was pretty hard to stick to and we didn't do it long enough to see any results. This has got me thinking about trying to take the dairy away at least. Let me know how you do if you decide to try it. How are things going with Bobby today? I know I'm always exhausted by the end of the day when DH is away for work. I got your suggestions about school districts. Thanks! I actually had Springfield on my list but after reading what you had to say have decided against it. DH really didn't want to live in Springfield anyway. I'm trying hard to find a house in Haverford school district within our price range but having a tough time so we may end up moving back to Drexel Hill which I didn't want to do because that is Upper Darby SD and I'm not sure that will be any good.Thanks again for doing that for me!
Teresa

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 03-01-2006 - 11:56pm

I was just talking to someone about this today. Mike was on soy formula from about 6 months and then soy milk until he was nearly 2. Now if you read up recently soy or at least processed soy is thought to be bad for the brain. Mike started on Milk around 2-ish if I remember but we tried a few times before that.

Mike had a major change around 1 1/2 or 2 years old. He was still napping great then. 2 - 2 hour naps a day and sleeping all night. But he would occasionally have these horrible screaming fits that would last an hour or more. Particularly when waking up. We thought he had migraines.

Mike was always a challenge. He had horrific stranger and separation anxiety from a very little age. I can tell you he was tactile defensive from birth. But there was a total change in him with regards to behavior right around then.

I don't know if it was the milk and his allergy to it, if it was the soy and the problems with that, or if it was shots with extra mercury. It seems stuff just ganged up on him then. Not that they caused Mike's autism. Like I said, there were plenty of signs from day one (what baby doesn't want to be held to go to sleep) but those things certainly didn't help matters at all.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2005
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 12:38pm
Renee,
You just described Ella to a T. Tactile defensive,crying for no obvious reason, MAJOR stranger anxiety and it's only now that she lets me hold her.Did you have a hard time getting Mike daignosed? Everyone that sees Ella think it's "all sensory". Did you have a similar experience with Mikes therapists?
Teresa
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 6:45pm

Ohhhhh boy.

Well, mike had a hard time getting diagnosed but due in large part to my Dh and I being in denial. There were a number of professionals who said ASD starting at 3, but Mike had a lot of strong skills as well. He was never "developmentally delayed" like his sister for instance. And he was very outgoing with other kids, he just usually bugged the tar out of them. Though the professionals would initially mention ASD they were more than happy to agree with us that it was sensory, ADHD or auditory processing, which in hind sight it is too bad that they agreed with us that easy. Our oldest had just been diagnosed and of course we would be sensitive about a 2nd child on the spectrum. He didn't have her delays so he couldn't be autistic.

John and I were both professionals in the field so they put entirely too much weight on our oppinions. It is completely different when it is your own child and you have blinders I think to lots of things.

Mike was diagnosed SID, and auditory processing disorder at 3 by a neurologist who recomended more evaluations to rule out a pervasive developmental disorder. Then ADHD at 4, ADHD with OCD and anxiety disorder at 5 and finally Aspergers at 7.

After Mike was diagnosed with AS I went back and told his preschool teachers. Not a single one was surprised adn they all expected that he had an autism spectrum disorder.

Would have been nice if they had said that at 4 when he could have benefitted more from services. Instead we were told that he didn't qualify because he did not have a significant language or cognitive delay.

Renee

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