Other food sources for toddler with allergies

[Bellabaz]

Hello,

My dd2 cannot have milk, soy or almonds. Thesoy doesn't bother me so much as we don't really use it. My ped wants us to buy a special formula that is made from cow's milk already broken down for calcium. I have my doubts that this is the best path.I prefer to find other sources of the vitamins and mineral she may be missing. I give her diluted raspberry leaf or nettle tea from time to time. I was wondering if this could be a regular thing, if there are specific doses. Other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. FWIW, she is 20 months old and we are no longer nursing (she lost interest around 16 months).

[lfpalmer]

I share your doubts. There is a time for weaning in mammals --- a time when a one-source, highly digestible/absorbable, tailor-made diet is no longer necessary. It comes sooner for some and later for others but your daughter has had a wonderful beginning. There's no reason to believe that a human child needs the baby milk of cows after weaning from breastmilk or formula. The formula your doctor is speaking of has milk proteins hydrolyzed, or broken down into smaller pieces that are no longer recognized as cow proteins. Either hydrolyzed cow's milk or purely amino acid based formulas are great for very difficult cases where there are no other nutritional options. Your daughter is plenty old however to be deriving all her nutrition from solid foods. If she's getting some good portions of vegetables and or beans and or nuts, she's getting great nutrition, I'm sure. The teas sound delightful and can help to reduce allergic reactions. A serving or two a day would be fine. If you're looking for a "dosage," then one tea-bag's worth of tea daily (all the tea one bag will make) is a good upper end, though not a strict limit.

Some of us still worry a little about our children obtaining optimal levels of all vitamins and minerals, once breastmilk is over. I don't feel it necessary but it's OK to try a child's multi-vitamin and mineral. Alternatively, as some little ones just won't do vitamins, some foods are fortified with what tend to be the nutrients of greater concern. It can be comforting to include a fortified food, for the few added nutrients, while generally nothing can beat whole-food veggies. A couple examples of fortified foods are some commercial cereals (you can still get whole grains) and the various milk alternative products. Enriched hazelnut or hemp milk have added A, D and E, B12, and calcium. Some foods have added C. Coconut milk is great stuff too. I don't recommend these be used as breastmilk/formula substitutes at all, but they can be used as occasional drinks or, even better, as bases for smoothies, with cabbage, a little raw beet, carrots, walnuts... all kinds of things work in the standard blender (just a delightfully bit chewy), along with frozen fruits (dark cherries are great) for flavor and great anti-oxidants. 

[lfpalmer]

I think it'd be great to hear from others about some of their best finds in terms of foods for food-sensitive children.

[Bellabaz]

thank you so much for your reply. I guess I get worried because the ped acts like I am being cavalier with my child's health when I say I have taken stuff out of her diet. I found her allergies through process of elimination. I went on a very restrictive elimination diet when she was 6 months old, after receiving very poor advice from a different ped. I have not had her tested officially because I continuously read that the results for unders 3yo can be highly inaccurate.

As for veggies, I do my best to keep it varied but she can be picky. Bean she generally likes and will eat hummus by the bowlful. I make this about once every 10 days. I have been avoiding nuts after she started reacting to almond milk and oil. The reaction as eczema, so maybe it was just an intolerance. She likes peanut butter alot (which is a legume technically I know) and she generally likes lentils. I used to give her almond butter too but stopped. I was doing coconut milk but she isn't crazy about it and after awhile it seemed to make more sense to me to give her teas instead of something more processed. Plus i don't want any more sensitivities to develop.

 I am glad the teas are okay. I have read that they contain forms of calcium (and other minerals) more easily absorbed than other things. I too would love to hear what others have experienced and tried.

Thanks again for the info and the reassurance =).

[lfpalmer]

Yes, I didn't acknowledge the teas for their good nutrients as well. You are right, eliminating tells far more than allergy testing. The tests are very often negative under age of two or three years, and even after that, they're not highly sensitive or accurate. One big factor that doctors don't understand is that when a food has been avoided for a while, a blood test will show up negative for that food, as the antibodies reduce in the body over time with good avoidance. A food has to be re-introduced two or three times often before symptoms will re-occur, or antibodies will appear in blood testing.

In terms of your doctor's attitude toward your child's nutrition, it only takes a handful of nutritious foods really to create a balanced diet. Avoiding some popular food doesn't make a diet nutritionally deficient. We must understand that pediatricians receive all their nutrition education from formula companies, baby food companies, and the dairy industry. I worked very hard once for a family whose baby, Andrei, was taken away for being fed "only" breastmilk and raw vegetables. I don't know what could have been better, and when that baby didn't tolerate formula feedings in foster care, even forced-feeding through a tube did not make this baby any bigger than his destined smallness, like his small parents. It surely did make him one sick little boy. On the other hand, I've never heard of a child being taken from his parents for having had breastmilk withheld, and being supplemented with trans-fat french fries, milk shakes, cakes and sodas.