Worried About Toddler Calories, Need Formula?

[formykiddo]

My daugher was diagnosed with gluten intolerance and I expect her to be diagnosed with celiac disease, but we haven't gotten that far yet. She is also dairy, soy, and egg intolerant. Prior to diet change, she consumed 24-32 oz. of milk a day. She is now two. I worry a lot about the loss of calories and nutrition provide by the milk. She was not underweight before, but has thinned out a lot. She is hungry now ALL the time, but we are still struggling with finding foods that she can eat that she likes. There appear to be absolutely no toddler formulas on the market that are free of all these food groups. I thought that Toddler Health rice formula would be ok, but it has soy lecithin in it. She will NOT drink plain or vanilla rice milk and vomits the chocolate rice milk. Please help.

[Juliebove]

Have you tried any of the hemp or nut milks? How about coconut milk? Does she like avocado? My daughter never did. It's high in calories and it was recommended to me, but she would never touch the stuff. You could try adding a dab of olive oil to her food for extra calories.

[taweavmo3]

My kids really like almond milk......I also make cashew milk to use in smoothies (they won't drink it straight). Soak a cup of raw cashews in water overnight, rinse the next morning. Blend with 4 cups of water, a dash of vanilla and honey to sweeten. It makes a great base for smoothies, and adds nutrition.

I sometimes mix almond milk with a few teaspoon of coconut milk to add calories. Like the previous poster said, you can add avocados, coconut milk and olive oil for calories and good fat. You can also bake and cook with coconut oil....it is a superfood with healthy fat and calories.

Give her time as well. Switching from cow milk to milk alternatives is quite a change, but she will get used to it. Sometimes it takes a few days of tantrums, but they will not starve, and almost always come around. Give the almond milk a shot though...I've given it to kids at my house who also drink regular milk, and so far they have all liked it. Good luck!