What is the best dairy free diet for a growing child?

Question

My son currently only drinks non-dairy formula. He is at step 2 for solids. I've mainly been giving him rice cereal, fruits, veggies, oatmeal and then formula. I've been told that babies need whole milk not only for calcium but because the fat in it helps with motor skills or something like that. We are also trying to stay as fresh and raw as possible as well. What would a daily diet look like for him? How does the food pyramid look for our lifestyle? Thanks!

Answer 1

Mystic covered quite a bit, as ususal!

I would second the discontinuance of the rice cereal and also tell you to stop with the jarred food as well and start giving him fresh.

He is only 9 months.. so you have a bit of time before thinking about what to do instead of formula. Is relactation an option? It would be rather hard at 9 months, but with some dedication, you may be able to produce enough milk to supplement his diet by a year.

That would be VERY beneficial as far as fat, calcium and lots of other nutrients go.

Other than that... the main nutrients we get from milk are Vit A, Vit D, Calcium and fat.
Vitamins A&D are easy. Many veggies are great sources of A (carrots being a biggie!) and Vit D is readily produced with a little exposure to the sun (about 15 min/day).

Calcium is a bit trickier... Leafy greens are good... For me, personally, I make homemade bone broth. I freeze it and then use it in cooking. Great source of calcium and lots of other stuff.

For fat (because I lost WAY too much weight after going off dairy) I take a cod liver oil supplement (also contains A&D) and eat lots of avocado, nuts, and eggs. Of these, avocado is the only one your son can have now... but since he is still getting formula, you don't need to worry about fat so much.

I would also second the caution about soy. I limit my intake and i severely limit my sons intake. Its just not worth the chance.

Oh, yes and protein... It's so common i didn't think to mention it. We eat lots of legumes... red meat, definatly... fish is great... really anything.

Answer 2

You need to make sure he is getting calcium, protein and fat. Cows milk provides all of these things effieciently but it is not the only source. I'm not sure why he is drinking soy formula but you need to know if he is just lactose intolerant or if he's allergic to something in the milk (albumin etc). To get him some fat and protein, ignore the "rules" and let him have plenty of red meat with fat in it. Humans need animal fat for brain development. Talk to the doctor about cheeses, yogurts, and butter some people don't react to these things but cannot drink milk. Calsium can be found in broccoli and other veggies, talk with the doctor about making sure your son is getting enough of it. If your son is allergic to the proteins in milk or the lactose, you will have to read labels carefully, even some kinds of instant oatmeal have dried milk powder in them as does bread and other things.
A caveat, lots of babies are misdiagnosed with a milk allergy when young because their system didn't tolerate formula well as the baby matures, the system matures and the baby seems to "outgrow" the allergy. Hard cheeses are the least likely to cause allergies in little guys so (after checking with the doctor) letting him have a little and checking for tummy troubles might let you know that he can have cheese etc.
Most health insurance will cover talking with a nutritionist so check with yours and get a referral from your doc. Good luck.

Answer 3

Okay, what you ought to do to be certain that your son is getting 'the whole thing' he demands to develop powerful and be sensible ... so take a 'well appear' on the dairy meals and what nutrients and 'fat' they include, after which appear on the meals you devour and spot in the event you are not able to 'discover anything' that your son can devour as a way to 'suit your variety' ... and if that's 'too complicated' you'll be able to simply upload a 'nutrition/mineral tablet' and positioned a few 'vegetable fats' (oil, margarine, and so forth.) onto his 'well vegies' ... and I consider that you just must 'supply him plenty of potatoes' together with his foods at least one time an afternoon, so you can have a 'well approach' to 'sneak the stuff' in that he 'demands' ... you'll be able to 'boil them' or 'bake them' after which 'get dressed them up' so he's going to consider he is getting a 'truly deal with' ... even as you're giving him 'what he demands to be powerful and sensible.'

Answer 4

He needs lots of leafy green veggies for the iron, after all that's where cow's get it from.

As for the fat, the best thing would be breastmilk, as you are formula feeding you could continue that as well, there is no reason (except financial) to discontinue formula or breastmilk before age two, and there really isn't any reason after. However as you are using soy formula (I would imagine) you need to take into account the possible risks of exposing a boy to high levels of soy, the risks are generally not well proven but there is some proof.

Fatty fish are rich in good oils, though they may contain mercury so you should take a balanced approach. I have heard both good and bad things about flax seed oil in regards to the DHA content. Basically there important fats (this week, haha) are Omega-3 and Omega-6. But they are supposed to be in a specific ratio and apparently flax has too much of one in ratio to the other. You can also use olive oil which is generally thought of as healthy. Obviously try to stay away from trans fat.

Nuts and seeds are additional sources of fat, that are generally good for people however you need to take the age of your son and your family history of allergies into account. As your son already has one allergy I would be more concerned about introducing peanuts, sesame seeds, and tree nuts which are three of the top 9 allergens. Hemp seed oil or protein or whole are supposed to be very good for you. Of course there are plenty of seeds aside from sesame. Remember raw nuts and seeds are healthier than toasted, though toasted sure tastes better. Raw nuts and seeds should also be kept in the fridge so the oils don't become rancid.

If you are giving him commercial baby rice cereal I strongly suggest you discontinue that. The ingredients in it tend to be very bad and whole grain oats have comparable amounts of iron when you take into account how little of the synthetic iron in baby cereal is actually used. Of course heme-iron is the best source of iron as it is the most digestible. Heme iron is only found in meat and poultry and also contains high levels of zinc and a high protein ratio. High protein ratio foods are incredibly important for weaning as babies are used to and need a high protein diet. Even a small amount of heme iron makes non-heme iron more absorbable so if your son won't eat meat (which most babies will) you can cook beans, and greens in beef broth.

More:

Dietary Zinc and Iron Sources, Physical Growth and Cognitive Development of Breastfed Infants
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/130/2/358S
(Discusses meat as a weaning food)

Meat as a first food improves infant zinc and
iron levels
http://beefresearch.org/PDF/Meat%20as%20a%20first%20food%20improves%20infant%20zinc%20and%20iron%20levels.pdf

Dietary Zinc and Iron Sources, Physical Growth and Cognitive Development
of Breastfed Infants1,2
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/130/2/358S.pdf

Zinc absorption and exchangeable zinc pool sizes in breast-fed infants fed meat or cereal as first complementary food.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=11753162&dopt=Abstract

Nourishing a Growing Baby
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html