food suggestions for milk allergy toddler and gaining weight

[jame06]

My grandson is 18mo and has a milk allergy. He hasn't gained any weight since he was ab a year old. He weighs 19.5lbs. My Dd is looking for suggestions on foods that will help him gain weight as his gi doc is concerned.

I suggested:

Olive oil
Avocados
Red meat
Beans
Coconut oil
Coconut milk
Soy nut butters


Any other suggestions???

[3boysforme]

Could he be gluten intolerant? I saw on her FB post that he has chronic diarrhea, and instantly thought it could be gluten.

[Carini]

Will he drink smoothies? My dd is milk protein intolerant and smoothies really helped.

- Almond butter/banana smoothie with coconut milk
- Coconut/soy yogurt smoothies with any kind of fruit
- Coconut milk yogurt/ orange juice Popsicle

I add flax oil to her smoothies and sometimes avocado to her berry smoothies

[jame06]

Could he be gluten intolerant? I saw on her FB post that he has chronic diarrhea, and instantly thought it could be gluten.

Well I've suggested that as well.........but you know

Anyway yes he would drink a smoothie and those are great suggestions.

I'm thinking the biggest struggle is the "that requires too much effort" to fix. :-/

[mamacat]

That in btween 1 & 2 age can be hard because they do slow down with weight gain usually.Was he a nursed baby? My grandson wasnt and ped suggested giving him at least a couple of bottles of cups of formula during that yr.Good ideas but would be careful about anything soy........ What does he eat?

[3boysforme]

I'm thinking the biggest struggle is the "that requires too much effort" to fix. :-/


Yea.... I noticed that.


I would try to get her to up the healthy fats as much as possible.

[jame06]

That in btween 1 & 2 age can be hard because they do slow down with weight gain usually.Was he a nursed baby? My grandson wasnt and ped suggested giving him at least a couple of bottles of cups of formula during that yr.Good ideas but would be careful about anything soy........ What does he eat?

He was nursed for 3 months then on formula. I'm not sure of his diet on a daily basis. I know she gives him tons of juice :-/ and I've said its not good, he eats chicken nuggets and hot dogs a lot. Before the possible milk allergy was brought up he ate a lot of mac n cheese and yogurt. Now he gets soy yogurt.

She doesn't really cook. She gives him all things that are easy out if the box type foods.

[MomtoJGJ]

Is she sure that the food he's eating is truly dairy free?

FWIW, none of my kids have ever gained weight in that second year of life. Generally from about 6 months to 2yrs they don't gain weight, then it's very little until they are approaching puberty (evidently)...

My almost 8 year old is only 42lbs and she was 26lbs at a year, maybe 28. She was only 30lbs at 3.5. and for more perspective she was 8'14" at birth.

My 3.5yr old is only 28lbs and she was 10lbs at birth and also either 26 or 28lbs at a year (I cannot remember which was which... although looking at it I'm guessing she was probably the 26.) She was up to 32lbs at 3, but got sick this summer and lost a lot. She had a staph infection in her mouth/lips and couldn't eat. She could just drink enough to keep her out of the hospital, barely.

Anyway, all that to say that some kids just don't gain weight during that time.

[mamacat]

sounds like he should def be back on toddler formula of some kind.Are you in a financial positon to help at all? If he could have things like gluten free pasta with coconut oil intead of butter and maybe pan fry some chciken cutlets in c. oil to keep on hand so he could have that instead of the hotdogs. also if you could get them some of those pouches of baby food - they had them at Big Lots recently. My 13 yr old dd even liked the organic broccoli and applesauce one :shifty

---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

see ike these things - they were 1.00 a piece at Big Lots and if he even had one a day to help supplement http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_17?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=baby+food+pouches&sprefix=baby+food+pouches%2Caps%2C275

[jame06]

I'm pretty sure not all his food is dairy free. He goes to daycare so it's hard to say what he eats. They don't give him milk to drink but that may be the extent of the daycare not giving him milk.

I pushed her to take him to a gi Dr and have testing done since he has direah daily and is a frequent puker.

---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

sounds like he should def be back on toddler formula of some kind.Are you in a financial positon to help at all? If he could have things like gluten free pasta with coconut oil intead of butter and maybe pan fry some chciken cutlets in c. oil to keep on hand so he could have that instead of the hotdogs. also if you could get them some of those pouches of baby food - they had them at Big Lots recently. My 13 yr old dd even liked the organic broccoli and applesauce one :shifty

---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

see ike these things - they were 1.00 a piece at Big Lots and if he even had one a day to help supplement http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_17?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=baby+food+pouches&sprefix=baby+food+pouches%2Caps%2C275[/QUOT
I can't help financially right now. I think she's given him the applesauce packs like that. I'll suggest the veggie ones.

---------- Post added at 02:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:01 PM ----------

[QUOTE=mamacat;4970040]sounds like he should def be back on toddler formula of some kind.Are you in a financial positon to help at all? If he could have things like gluten free pasta with coconut oil intead of butter and maybe pan fry some chciken cutlets in c. oil to keep on hand so he could have that instead of the hotdogs. also if you could get them some of those pouches of baby food - they had them at Big Lots recently. My 13 yr old dd even liked the organic broccoli and applesauce one :shifty

---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

see ike these things - they were 1.00 a piece at Big Lots and if he even had one a day to help supplement http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_17?url=search-alias%3Dgrocery&field-keywords=baby+food+pouches&sprefix=baby+food+pouches%2Caps%2C275
I can't help financially right now. I think she's given him the applesauce packs like that. I'll suggest the veggie ones.

[knitlove]

they have guac in premade packs. That woudl be higher in fat and just as easy as apple sauce.

[mamacat]

probiotics might help his gut.

[Oakyn]

I'll have to ask my cousin what she gives her daughter who cannot have milk. She was on a special hypoallergenic formula, she's gone to soy formula and going onto soy milk, although I don't like soy. I'd do coconut or almond. I'd be giving him as many bottles of almond or coconut milk as possible. Or you can put a tsp of coconut oil in the bottle, too or add to smoothies. I am also looking for ways to gain weight and I'm going to try coconut oil mixed into foods. Almond butter on crackers or toast (some bread contains milk products) avocado pudding, pb and bananas, mac n 'cheese' made with daiya cheese. I'd def address his diet to ensure it is milk free. He won't get better or stop the diarrhea or vomiting if he is still being exposed to milk.

[Aerynne]

Smoothies are great! I put a lot of peanut butter (could also use sun nut butter if allergies are a concern) in smoothies with banana, peanut butter, oats, and almond milk. I tend to be lazy and not want to make complicated stuff and smoothies save me in that regard.

It sounds like he might be filling up on juice. If it were my kid I'd go cold-turkey on the juice, but then again I don't give my kids juice except as a treat. Do you think she might be willing to do that? Or she could gradually water it down more and more until it's just water.

My not-quite-ftt-but-not-gaining-as-she-should toddler eats my healthy cookies and muffins very well. I put peanut butter in those, too, and sometimes I sub quinoa flakes for some of the flour, which ups the nutrition. I make them with less sugar than the recipe calls for and always use whole grain flour. A plate of these delivered to his house might be welcome, especially if you could do it regularly. Or make a bunch of frozen cookie dough for them (freeze in cookie shapes on a tray, then take out and put in ziplocs) and she can take it out and bake him a few at a time. The one I did today I altered the pb rounds recipe in my BHG cookbook- less sugar, whole wheat flour instead of white (and I did applesauce instead of butter but obviously that's not a good choice for a child with ftt- you could use another fat, though, since dairy is an allergen)

Almond milk is very low cal- I would do coconut milk. But I wouldn't give too much because that can make him not eat, too.

[3boysforme]

I make those peanut butter oatmeal smoothies that Erin is talking about. They are yummy. :yes

[cbmk4]

Too many fluids of any sort can overwhelm a toddler colon's reabsorption capabilities. It's actually called toddler's diarrhea. Too much juice is especially notorious for causing diarrhea in children as are sugar alcohols such as sorbitol.

Children with toddlers diarrhea may be getting too little fat and too many carbohydrates in the diet, but they should be gaining weight at a normal pace. (And that normal pace is quite a bit lower the second year than it is the first.)

Hopefully, your dd and grandson will find some help in sorting out his situation.

[jame06]

Too many fluids of any sort can overwhelm a toddler colon's reabsorption capabilities. It's actually called toddler's diarrhea. Too much juice is especially notorious for causing diarrhea in children as are sugar alcohols such as sorbitol.

Children with toddlers diarrhea may be getting too little fat and too many carbohydrates in the diet, but they should be gaining weight at a normal pace. (And that normal pace is quite a bit lower the second year than it is the first.)

Hopefully, your dd and grandson will find some help in sorting out his situation.

The gi Dr did tell her he has toddler diarrhea yesterday and told her to stop the juice immediately.