Dietary questions for my 18 month old

[serenityvee]

We saw a paediatrician this wk as my little bear had reflux and went onto nutramagin milk and is still on it now. I kept him mostly dairy free and gluten free which I am too.

The paediatrician wants me to put him on dairy foods and gluten as she doesn't believe I should restrict his diet if there is no real allergy. I personally believe dairy and gluten are bad news for the gut and want him to have easily digestible foods. I also understand it can help him sleep better to stay off dairy and gluten and he's a frequent night waker even though he sleeps in our bed.

I've also been advised to stop the nutramagin milk and give him soya milk but what I've read so far on soya milk is not encouraging. He has alpro soya yoghurt and loves it though.

I am thinking of introducing dairy and gluten very slowly to see if he has adverse reactions but only because I'm being advised to by the paediatrician.

Anyone else had similar advice?

[Singingmom]

It is quite possible that you know more about nutrition than your pediatrician. I have always found even good doctors to be lacking in knowledge about nutrition and also allergies.

I would try different milks at 18 months I think, like rice or almond or flax, especially if he's no longer drinking it as if it were formula or a major part of his diet. He does not need cow's milk, nor does he need gluten/wheat to have a healthy diet.

It sounds like you've done a lot of research, and I think you should feed your child with confidence.

[Aerynne]

Doctors often don't know much about nutrition.

I have a degree in nutrition and will share what I know about these topics.

1. Dairy and gluten are not needs and as long as the diet is balanced and provides all the nutrients your child needs, it is fine. It is, however, not safe to put a baby [or an adult for that matter] on a low-carb diet so if he is not getting gluten-containing grains, make sure he is getting other grains or potatoes- something really starchy because that is essential.

2. There is some evidence that not introducing things early can cause allergies to those things later on. So if he is not actually allergic to gluten and you don't give it to him, he may become allergic later on because of that. As old as he is, if he has been gfdf his whole life that may already be the case- that he wouldn't have been allergic but now could be if he hasn't been having it. 7-9 months is the time frame for introducing stuff you want your child not to be allergic to. This goes against prior thinking, but there is some good evidence that this is the case. However, even if he does have the allergy for this reason, it won't compromise his health as long as he is careful with his diet- it will just be annoying, as I'm sure you well know.

[Singingmom]

Erin, do they no longer advise waiting a year before introducing high allergy foods like dairy or nuts?

[deena]

Agreeing with the other posters.... To be blatant, don't listen to the doc!! GF Food and water are perfect for a growing child with a history of reflux. Milk is not necessary (I personally believe it is bad) and it does not need to be replaced with a milk substitute.

[ValiantJoy07]

Originally Posted by Singingmom

Erin, do they no longer advise waiting a year before introducing high allergy foods like dairy or nuts?

Yes. this is a recent change as of the last year or so.

I feel like they go back and forth about this, I think the advice has changed twice since my oldest was born.


We are a gluten free and dairy free family. I personally have serious issues/autoimmune reactions to gluten and 2 of my children get severe eczema and bowel issues when they have gluten.

My littlest is also having issues with eggs in my diet.

I am of the mindset that it's better to focus on gut health, what can I do not to stress their gut out, but to help build it up to be as strong and healthy as possible?

For us that means white rice (the easiest to digest), potatoes, limiting sugar, we're dairy free (but hope to one day be able to handle cultured milk products again- lots of good probiotics) we're gluten free, and we avoid all blatant corn products and soy. My middle two also cannot tolerate much oat, millet, and quinoa (my oldest does ok). We tried them on all the foods as infants and they were miserable. Up crying 12+ times through the night, eczema, nasty cradle cap, belly pain making them miserable, reflux, horrible stinky gas. It continued even after they weaned and we eventually decided they were better off not eating certain foods than struggling so much. That isn't even including the behavioral issues.

So we're all those things free and as long as they get enough fresh fruits and veggies, they're good to go! We could improve our efforts to fill their diet with gut healing things, my middle dd has been having some new rashes and mood issues but in general their diet is just fine and well balanced with out gluten or dairy. The kids drink almond milk and take a multivitamin to be fill in during sticky phases.

[Aerynne]

Originally Posted by Singingmom

Erin, do they no longer advise waiting a year before introducing high allergy foods like dairy or nuts?

Some people might still advise that, but the science is definitely showing that isn't necessary with peanuts and that waiting that long to introduce them makes allergies more likely.

So whether people are still recommending that probably depends on how well those people are keeping up with the science.

https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-...k-Infants.aspx

As for dairy I haven't heard of any guideline changes. Personally I would never recommend introducing dairy to anyone.

This isn't evidence, of course, but all of my babies have had peanut butter before one year (in smoothies, which we drink all the time) and none of them have had any peanut allergies. However dd1 is allergic to shellfish, which we pretty much never eat, so I thought that was interesting. Again, not evidence of anything, but interesting.

[Trixie]

All of my doctors have given me the talk about how I need to give my kids x amount of milk per day. I've always just told them I don't think milk is good and/or necessary and ignored that part.

Doctors take maybe one course on nutrition for a pre-req and maybe go over it a few more hours in med school. Their advice is solely based on outdated handouts printed by USDA which in turn is largely influenced by lobbyist, not nutritionists.

I don't mind some yogurt or some dairy as a treat, but three glasses of milk a day is excessive in my opinion. Especially since my kids get a well rounded diet with lots of veggies.

I've never been a big fan of dairy, even as a child. Though oddly enough it is one of the few foods I am not allergic to.

[Aerynne]

Originally Posted by Trixie

All of my doctors have given me the talk about how I need to give my kids x amount of milk per day. I've always just told them I don't think milk is good and/or necessary and ignored that part.

Doctors take maybe one course on nutrition for a pre-req and maybe go over it a few more hours in med school. Their advice is solely based on outdated handouts printed by USDA which in turn is largely influenced by lobbyist, not nutritionists.

I don't mind some yogurt or some dairy as a treat, but three glasses of milk a day is excessive in my opinion. Especially since my kids get a well rounded diet with lots of veggies.

I've never been a big fan of dairy, even as a child. Though oddly enough it is one of the few foods I am not allergic to.

Yes, this is all true! If you're going to eat dairy, eat it because you like the taste and not because you think it is good for you. The China Study has remarkable insight into this. T. Colin Campbell, the man who wrote it, found cancer growth could be turned on and off like a switch by changing the milk protein content of the diet. This was in rats but is still fascinating because they can't experiment on people that way but they have found similar things in people, too.