Dairy-intolerant DD approaching 18 months and I would like to stop pumping. Looking for ideas...

[MoonJelly]

The daycare is on the food program and provides meals, but she's a big eater and drinker. I would be willing to send more food if that's what I have to do, but what about liquids? DD1 just did water when she started daycare at 18 months. It seemed to go okay but since she wasn't a great sleeper anyway, any reverse-cycling didn't really phase me as much. And I didn't have another kid, etc...

DD2, however, is a big sleeper since early on--doesn't do much night waking. Just how she is. I would hate to throw her into a reverse-cycle at this point since nighttime sleeping works so well for her. (And it's nice for me too. ) So what do people switch to if they can't do cow's milk? Isn't soy (this frequently) a bad idea?

[Alyantavid]

Soy can bother kids who can't have dairy. It did with mine.

We do rice milk at daycare. He just has it at meals when the rest of the kids have cow's milk. I know almond and coconut are good too. I really think she'd be just fine with water though.

We did have to take a doctor's note to our daycare (also on the food program) stating that he does have a dairy intolerance and wouldn't be drinking the regular milk.

[kcparker]

Some people who don't do well on cow's milk can tolerate goat milk instead. Other options would be the whole family of soy/rice/almond milks (either pick one or rotate through them). You can make homemade almond milk (I find the store-bought is too sweet). Or you can just give her water. What is so bad about that as an option? I suppose that some kinds of veggie juice might be options too. And some people give their kids, you know, the F-word, in place of breastmilk...

[caenach]

We do what you did with your DD1. Just water at daycare. Nursing before and after. DD doesn't really reverse-cycle, imho, but she is NOT a great sleeper and does wake/nurse a few times at night. I think she'd do that even if she nursed all day though. So maybe it's worth a trial period with your DD2?

We do send almond/cashew/coconut milk as a treat sometimes, but definitely not everyday. I usually just try to give DD enough protein and good fat/fatty acids in her lunch (she loves avocado) & a spoonful of flaxseed oil in the morning and she seems to do pretty well with that during the day.

[lyterae]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid

Soy can bother kids who can't have dairy. It did with mine.

We do rice milk at daycare. He just has it at meals when the rest of the kids have cow's milk. I know almond and coconut are good too. I really think she'd be just fine with water though.

We did have to take a doctor's note to our daycare (also on the food program) stating that he does have a dairy intolerance and wouldn't be drinking the regular milk.

This. DD prefers (in order) almond milk, coconut milk, and then rice. We did have to have a signed note for the food program as well.

[ashleyhaugh]

my ds is 3 and didnt really start regularly drinking a milk alternative til he was 2 and i had to go back to work. its been mostly soy milk, until the past few months when i caught some good sales on rice and coconut milk. hes only had coconut a few times, and we just tried almond, but he told me recently that he prefers the rice milk over soy milk, so thats what hes drinking, at least for now.

our center is on the food program too (i work there too ) and they wont accomodate his allergies food wise. i send most all of his food in for him, but i do let him eat the center snacks if its somehthing he can have, because he enjoys having the same snack as his friends

[Geofizz]

We did soy milk, as others have noted, with a dr's notice outlining DS was to have no dairy. I also had to outline annually the steps for dc to take in case of accidental dairy consumption.

I was required to provide a replacement, as the milk part of the day counted in the calcium column of the food requirements. There was no getting around that. Water was not an accepted alternative. The *one* day I let ds run out in 2 years at the center was the day of the center's inspection, and the teacher got written up.

The center did provide replacement food for the meals, but it was the *same* replacement every day, and the same replacement for all kids on special menus (halaal, veggie, kosher, etc), so it was b.o.r.i.n.g

Before deciding on almond milk, check to make sure it's ok in the center. Ours was 100% nut/peanut free.

[MoonJelly]

It's a home daycare, though run very organized like a center.

Thank you all for the suggestions!

[ASusan]

Water, for the most part. For a while, they offered rice milk, but DS just wouldn't drink it.

I sometimes remember to bring in a bottle of coconut milk kefir ("strawberry drink"), which they offer at snack. But DS is hot and cold with it, so as soon as they report he's not drinking it, I back off.

[ashleyhaugh]

yeah we cant do almond milk either, because our center is nut free as well.

[bella99]

We did goat milk. I was not comfortable with soy, she doesn't like coconut, and I wanted to make sure she was getting plenty of fat in her diet.

It's pricey (4.29 a quart), but full of fat and protein and very gentle on the tummy. Now, at almost 2 years old, we are able to slowly incorporate cow milk into her diet without any problems.

[ihugtrees]

Hemp milk. I hate the taste of the stuff but my DD loves it...especially the vanilla flavored :-P

[lorijds]

We did enriched whole soymilk (Eden soy extra) with a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses added.

I chose the eden soy extra because it had adequate amounts of fat and protein. A lot of the almond and rice milk have virtually no fat or protein. I added the molasses because I was concerned she would become constipated with the change (she had a tendency towards that when she was little), and I thought the added nutrients from the molasses couldn't hurt. Goats milk wasn't regularly available, and the one time I got it, she didn't seem to like it very much. I think if we could have had it as a regular option, we could have made that work, but our co-op didn't have a regular supplier at that time, so we used the edensoy.

At 18 months, I think dd was probably drinking 8 ounces of soymilk a day, tops. The rest of water.

[JudiAU]

I'd probably choose coconut milk as a first choice and good quality organic soy as a second.

I'd choose water over reverse-cycling. =)

[cchrissyy]

Over here we're not milk drinkers at all. When my kids weaned, it was to water. Maybe rice milk in cereal and the very occasional sip or OJ or pomogrante juice, but as far as drinking anything with meals, it is always water.