Milk alternatives for children

elphie754 wrote: »

Just so people don't keep repeating it-we have already seen and discussed it with pediatrician as well as pediatric allergist. Was looking for brand recommendations.

My son loves Silk unsweetened vanilla cashew milk. He also likes the new Silk nut protein milk (I think it's a blend of cashew, almond and pea protein) but it has a lot of sugar so I didn't buy it again.

When it comes to milk allergies - there are two types - the lactose intolerance - Goat has less of it but still has it.
The other one is a protein allergy - I think it is called A2 from ancient memory - There is cow's milk that is free of it and it is not in goat's milk.
So it greatly depends.

My cousins with cow's milk allergy did well on soy milk

@janejellyroll goats milk does not have lactose in it, so the lactose intolerant can drink it.

I would honestly just try everything. My kids don't have a milk allergy, but they've had almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk, rice milk, goat milk, quinoa milk.....if you can milk it they have drunk it. FWIW they're favourite has been almond milk.

elphie754 wrote: »

Anyone have an suggestions for milk substitutes for kids when they are old enough to start drinking milk?

Soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, cashew milk, flax milk. If this is for an allergy I'd ask the allergist for a recommendation.

Ideally, goats milk would be best. It is the closest to human milk and has a better blend of protein/carbs then nuts milks, etc. Sheeps milk would be an option as well, if you can find it. I do not like goats milk, but my kids tolerated it because we gave it to them so young. That said, my one child that had a severe milk allergy also showed up allergic to goats milk. As with all allergies, there are no guarantees. But in order of what we liked for nutrition - raw goats milk (taste depends on what kind of goat you get it from), So Delicious Coconut Milk, Pacific Hemp milk. We finally settled on the coconut milk. We use unsweetened. My kids actually hate the Silk brand milks. They can actually have raw cows milk now but they were dairy free for so many years that now they can't stand the taste of regular milk so we have just stuck with coconut milk. We don't eat cereal or drink it so I basically just cook with it. If for some reason they have cereal as a bedtime snack or something they said the coconut milk tastes fine. Hemp has a much better fat content overall but the taste is pretty strong. Ultimately though, she is going to adjust to whatever you give her because she'll be starting it so young she won't know the difference. I would look for which has the best balanced nutrition and start her on that one to see how she does allergy wise and then move on from there. You may have to mix her formula with the milk a little bit at a time to ease her into the transition when you do get to that point.

If you have access to a good health food store, sheep cheese and yogurt tastes better to me then goat yogurt and cheese (when she gets to that point). Less gamey to me. It's expensive though, and can be hard to find. The overall protein/carb mix is better with sheep milk products as well. I still have a fairly strong whey allergy so I stay away from milk.

Don't worry too much about people telling you to ask your doc. You've been around long enough most of us know you already do that. It always helps to ask other moms and honestly, you'll learn more from other moms then your doctor is ever going to tell you. You're a mom now. Your mommy instincts will tell you when to talk to your doctor and when you can probably trust other mom's advice.

Hope you're enjoying being a mom. They grow so fast (I know you've already discovered this)! Enjoy every minute with her.

Almond milk in our house

We do almond in our house. I have 3 that are allergic to cow milk. I avoid soy milk as soy is an estrogen mimicer and too much of it messes with developing hormones.

I'd just try different brands and see what your child likes. I avoid soy because of hormonal reasons. I'd try coconut or almond. My store doesn't have many options so I don't have much experience with brands. Lol.