How To Start Dairy Free Weaning For Cows Milk Protein Allergy

Paediatric Dietitian
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Worried about dairy free weaning? Wondering when should you start solids if your baby has cow’s milk protein allergy?
When it comes to dairy free weaning, you can start with vegetables and fruit just like any other baby.
There are a few key dairy free foods that you do need to consider when weaning babies with cow’s milk protein allergy.
This article will provide a step by step guide with everything you need to consider, when starting milk free solids for your baby.
BSCAI paediatric allergy group and the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Food Allergy Specialist groups (which I am a member of) have put together an excellent document on preventing food allergy when you are thinking of starting solids.
The advice is clear and cuts through any myths that you may have read online around dairy free weaning. If you are not working with a registered paediatric dietitian then I invite you to book a free call with me to discuss how we can work together.
The first step is to identify the style of baby feeding that you wish to adopt.
Should you spoon feed or follow baby-led weaning? The choice is entirely yours but think about why you are planning to start earlier than the recommended 6 months.
Is your baby showing the correct signs of being ready as per the NHS guidelines?
If you’re joining us today because you suspect that your baby might have a dairy intolerance or a milk allergy and you are looking for advice on starting solids, then I recommend reading the blog post below first:
Continue to breastfeed or use your baby’s special infant formula recommended by your GP, paediatric dietitian or allergy doctor.
Depending on your baby’s initial symptoms, your baby may have been prescribed an extensively hydrolysed feed or an amino acid formula. Both are suitable for babies with a milk allergy.
If your heart is set on baby led weaning, then please do wait until your baby is six months of age.
A recent UK paper published in Appetite 2019 showed interesting results. As parents, we tend to be overly critical of ourselves so I hope that the results of this paper reassures you.
The researchers found that babies who followed baby-led weaning were more likely to be offered vegetables and join the family meals.
With a few tweaks to your family meals to ensure that foods available at the table are dairy free, there’s no reason why your baby with a milk allergy cannot join either.
Baby led weaning is safe so if this is your preferred feeding style, then go for it!
In fact, this UK paper showed that babies at increased risk of choking were those who were not given finger foods alongside their puree foods.
Regardless of the type of feeding style you choose, always remain with your baby during meal times to minimise any potential risk of choking.
If your baby has been well since starting their special infant formula or whilst you’ve been following a strict milk free diet for breastfeeding, you may have forgotten the earlier signs and symptoms that your baby had when first diagnosed with cow’s milk protein allergy.
The first thing that you will notice if your baby is accidentally given food containing milk is an allergic reaction, whether this is immediate or delayed.
Signs and symptoms of milk allergy (usually immediate within 2 hours)
Serious symptoms (rare)
Symptoms for delayed non-IgE mediated cow’s milk protein allergy
If your baby is less than 4 months of age, you can start dairy free weaning with puree of vegetables and then fruit.
Simply peel, chop and then cover with water to cook in a saucepan.
Mash with a fork using the water in the pan, breast milk or your baby’s special infant formula. There’s no need to purchase a high grade commercial blender for this weaning stage.
Your arm power is perfect and the residual lumps useful for baby’s overall development for texture progression.
If your baby is over 6 months of age, you can start offering finger foods.
Use very soft pieces of steamed or cooked vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, root vegetables and then move onto fruit.
During this phase of weaning, focus on the variety rather than the amount that baby eats.
Babies are so clever, they will naturally adjust their volume of formula or breast milk as they start to eat more solids.
Focus on Iron rich foods. From around 6 months of age, baby’s iron stores and the amount of iron present in breast milk starts to decline.
Once your baby has confidently tasted a variety of vegetables and fruit, do move on swiftly onto iron rich foods such as meat, chicken or fish.
If you are following a plant-based diet, then you can introduce lentils and beans which are good choices of iron.
Recommended iron rich foods to give when starting solids for your baby with milk allergy include:
Plan a daily menu with calcium for your baby with a milk allergy.
Aim for 3 balanced mini meals per day.
From around 9 months of age, you can start to use a plant milk to prepare porridge, dairy free pancakes or homemade bread for breakfast.
Not all plant based milks are suitable and your dietitian may recommend using some types over others based on the source and amount of protein, the over all calories, presence of added calcium, vitamins and minerals.
It seems early to think about “meals” but you can start creating mini meals with texture.
Breast milk or specialist infant formula
Dairy free yoghurts (check that they are calcium fortified)
Finger foods: cut up pieces of bread or toast dipped into hummus or calcium fortified yoghurt based dips
You can use mild herbs and spices for flavour
Custard using a dairy free custard powder and then mix with baby’s specialist formula
Raw vegetables and/or fruit
Mini sandwiches or rolled up bread with avocado, nut based spread, hummus or another dip prepared with tahini
Why not listen to this podcast to help you choose the best plant drink for your baby.
Other useful foods containing added or natural sources of calcium include:
See the full list of non-dairy sources of calcium in this podcast and blog post called ‘What you need to do before reaching for calcium supplements’.
There are many ways that milk can be labelled and it’s not always obvious.
Never assume that foods from a “free from” range will be free from cow’s milk protein.
Remember that you are also avoiding milk and food products made from sheep, goat or buffalo as the protein is very similar to cow’s milk protein.
Confused? Book an appointment and we can go through the entire list of words and hidden sources of dairy so that you can confidently prepare and execute a dairy free diet for your baby.
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Whether you are worried about picky eating, irritable bowel syndrome or suspected dairy allergy, I’ll help you manage these with confidence.
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2 thoughts on “How To Start Dairy Free Weaning For Cows Milk Protein Allergy”
Hi, I am Renata, from Brazil. Thank you for sharing your Knowledge. I Am Paediatric Dietitian and learned a lot with your audio.
Hi Renata, thats brilliant, good to hear that you are enjoying the podcast. Thanks so much for tuning into Kids Nutrition Podcast. Bahee