Is Rice Milk The Only Other Option?

[tan2406]

My DS has been dairy free almost since birth and he is currently drinking soy milk in his bottles and cereal. I'm wondering if he may be soy intolerant so I'd like to cut it out of his diet for a bit to see if I notice a change...but what are the other options for bottles? Is Rice Milk the only other option?

[frec]

There's almond milk, which I find tastier than rice milk. The two brands I have access to have soy lecithin, but I don't tolerate soy and the lecithin doesn't seem to be a problem for me. I like the almond milk better nutritionally as well. There's also hemp milk.

[Mango04]

There's almond milk and hemp milk ...or you could eliminate the "milks" entirely. Whole Foods and other health food stores usually have a nice selection of alternative milks...just avoid the Rice Dream and read labels and you should come across plenty of options.

[gfpaperdoll]

full fat coconut milk would be excellent - you can thin with water if you like.

[tan2406]

full fat coconut milk would be excellent - you can thin with water if you like.

My DS is allergic to tropical fruits and I'm not sure if coconuts would be a problem...so should I avoid the coconut milk?

[tan2406]

There's almond milk and hemp milk ...or you could eliminate the "milks" entirely. Whole Foods and other health food stores usually have a nice selection of alternative milks...just avoid the Rice Dream and read labels and you should come across plenty of options.

Just wondering why I should avoid Rice Dream?

[home-based-mom]

Just wondering why I should avoid Rice Dream?

Rice Dream claims to be gluten free but it isn't.

[tan2406]

Rice Dream claims to be gluten free but it isn't.

Oh, ok, good to know. Thank you.

[MarsupialMama]

We usually do nut milks, but we have to make them ourselves in the blender. Blend nuts with a LITTLE bit of water until very smooth and creamy, then add the rest of the water to thin it out. A TINY pinch of salt and some sweetener or vanilla if you want is a nice addition.

This at least gives us other options. We do hazelnut, sunflower, almond, cashew, etc. Walnut and sesame tend to be a little bitter and not very yum for milk. But it's an idea if you have a handful of nuts and are out of other milk.

You have to use raw nuts though, not roasted, because the roasted will give a funky oily flavor.

[ek327]

my neice did goats milk when she couldn't do dairy and tolerated it well.

[crunchy-mama]

I would do coconut milk if possible as it has lots of good fats. Or the almond or hemp. Or just skip it, really it isn't necessary.

[khockman]

My DS has been dairy free almost since birth and he is currently drinking soy milk in his bottles and cereal. I'm wondering if he may be soy intolerant so I'd like to cut it out of his diet for a bit to see if I notice a change...but what are the other options for bottles? Is Rice Milk the only other option?

My 2-yr old has celiac. She still had stage 3 damage after 6 months on the diet. I have made a lot of changes, one of which was taking her off of soy milk. I saw instant changes in her poop after I stopped giving her soy milk and switched to almond milk--more solid, darker, more normal looking stool. We are now doing the specific carbohydrate diet and I make her almond milk. It is very easy and much cheaper. I just put almonds and water in my blender and voila! I get almond milk. I strain it through a very thin cloth and sweeten it with honey. She is doing much better and I am saving money. We tried rice milk but it gave her the same reaction as gluten almost. But she is older than your son, so our situation is different.

I would avoid soy milk if I were you, but that's just based on my experience.

[taweavmo3]

I too would avoid the soy milk....if you do some research, soy is not the health product it proclaims to be (at least not in the form marketed as milk). My kids never tolerated it anyway, and they always seemed to look so unhealthy and scrawny when they were on it.

What we use now is Almond Breeze, but we don't use much. It is expensive, so they each get one cup a day. We also drink calcium fortified orange juice. The rest of the time they drink water....everyone always says how great it is that my kids drink so much water. But really, if that is the only option you give them, they get used to it!

[tan2406]

We usually do nut milks, but we have to make them ourselves in the blender. Blend nuts with a LITTLE bit of water until very smooth and creamy, then add the rest of the water to thin it out. A TINY pinch of salt and some sweetener or vanilla if you want is a nice addition.

This at least gives us other options. We do hazelnut, sunflower, almond, cashew, etc. Walnut and sesame tend to be a little bitter and not very yum for milk. But it's an idea if you have a handful of nuts and are out of other milk.

You have to use raw nuts though, not roasted, because the roasted will give a funky oily flavor.

My ds has never been exposed to nuts before, so I'm wondering if it would be ok to try him on almond milk. When are you supposed to introduce nuts?

[mushroom]

My ds has never been exposed to nuts before, so I'm wondering if it would be ok to try him on almond milk. When are you supposed to introduce nuts?

There is also milk made from hemp (Whole Foods should have it) if you don't want to introduce nuts. I found it delicious and wish we could get it here.