Rice Milk

[nemosmum]

Hi, my bubs 13 months and has allergies so has been on a prescription formula since I weaned him. But now that his past the 12 month mark I would like to try him on milk, i've heard soy milks not that gd for babies so would like to know if any one has tried rice milk and what the nutritional value is compared to cows milk (as bubs milk products are limited- he can only have small amounts of cheese etc). I should probably ask his paed. but we arent scheduled to go back to allergy clinic till next month and they are always soooo busy when I call.

[aardvark]

The manufacturer's website says it is unsuitable for infants except on medical advice:

http://www.pureharvest.com.au/Products/Milks/233A.htm

Investigating further, it appears it does not contain any calcium, either.

[clairbear]

Hi orlando's mum, I remember hearing a horror story about a vegan couple feeding their baby only on rice milk and it died from malnutrition. I know of course your bub is over one and that wouldn't be his only nourishment, but still it makes me question it's nutritional value........
If he can't have much dairy I know that tahini (sesame seeds) is very high in calcium and good to mix with mashed vegies!

[madvoice]

If it is a lactose intolerance you can buy lactose free cows milk. Its no more expensive than buying soy. I'd steer clear of rice milk.

[alicesmum]

orlandosmum - i'll be interested to know what the paed says as i was just about to put alice (who is 13 months) on rice milk since cows milk and formula make her all snotty. she eats heaps of cheese, yoghurt (which I think also makes her snotty) and greens so i figured she would be getting enough calcium that way. maybe not?? i will look out for the lactose free cows milk.

[madvoice]

The Lactose Free cows milk is found in the Long Life milk section of the supermarket. I know you can get low lactose fresh cows milk but its often hard to come by.

[aardvark]

My teenager is lactose intolerant, has only become so in recent years.

She uses the Liddell's UHT lactose free milk. They also make lactose free custard and yoghurt, too.

She also uses Lactase tablets so she can eat normal foods like icecream etc when we go out. It's the enzyme which lactose intolerant people are lacking.

Problem is that Lacose Intolerance is relatively simple to handle, if it is the cows milk protein, then it's a whole other ball game, and certainly not simple to deal with.

[nemosmum]

Thanks everyone for your help :) ,

I WON'T try rice milk (doesnt sound very gd for bubs) I'll just have to keep him on his prescription formula till next visit to the allergy clinic.

[Tisme]

My 2 children are highly allergic to cow milk protein (and yes aardvark it is A WHOLE LOTTA TROUBLE)

My son weened onto soy with relative ease but my daughter is still on formula and will be until she is at least 2 as she can't tolerated soy milk. I toyed with the idea of rice milk but shoved that out the window when I was told the amount of sugar in it. It has no calcium and alot of sugar to replace it ... hehehe ... I guess bub's would be VERY active.

Soy is a great alternative (however much it stinks) and it really is just as nutritional now as cows milk is. You can get brands with extra calcium, or extra folate, or non-GM, or lite or whatever. I was so against using soy milk when my son was one, but he refused his formula and any other drink and so was dehydrating. Honestly I wouldn't go back now. My paed suggested that a baby can stay on formula however until they are 3 or 4 with no major loss of nutrients ... in fact the formula contains MORE vitamins and minerals than any milk product (hence the rise to the toddler drinks) And he is ranked in the top 10 paed in country. See what the paed you see suggests.

[Ineedsleep]

My 19m old didn't take to cows milk at all. She eats enough cheese and yoghurt and since she's not a little calf it doesn't matter.

She does have rice milk on her cereal. PS: I'm not saying this is a perfect food in any way I'm not a nutritionist or doctor.

A few comments from above though. The horror story was about feeding ONLY rice milk instead of formula or breast milk - this would never work!!! The baby died of malnutrition, not because it had rice milk. Not really relevant when talking about babies over 12m who are on solids.

Sugar in rice milk. I just did a comparision on my two cartons - rice and cow and here goes. All per 100ml of milk

Cows: 4.8g sugar, 49mg sodium, 116mg calcium
Rice: 4.2g sugar, 62mg sodium, 120mg calcium (added though).

So the high sugar, no calcium rice milk must have been a different brand.

I didn't use soy milk as i thought it was too high in eostrogen or some hormone.

Ah who knows - lucky mine likes yoghurt!!!

[Kassiasmum]

hi there,
My dd can't have cow's milk due to slight eczema (sp?), she tolerates goats milk fine, not sure how this goes with lactose intolerance though.

Tracey

[Lucybelle]

Rice milk is so sweet I don't need to add sugar to my tea!

[nemosmum]

Just got back from allergy clinic, DS still has the egg and dust mite allergy but the prick test came back negetive for milk YEAH!!!! The paed suggested I try cows milk and see how he goes if he gets congested then I need to stop and cont. giving him his prescription formula as he is very prone to getting asthma (due to dustmite allergy). Paed also recommended I try calcium fortified rice milk if the cows milk doesnt work out. She also said his formula was probably better than cows milk anyway (in re: to nutrients etc).
I am so happy, I'm going to start giving him some cows milk tomorrow and see what happens, maybe i should dilute it in water? do you think it'll be too much for his sensitive stomach :confused: I didnt think to ask her that.

[Georgie'smama]

Hi guys, just thought i'd get in on this. My son was diagnosed as allergic last year, with a list of foodstuffs as long as you arm! He was 5 months old, and we were just beginning to think about weaning. We gave him one of these formula things that you mix with water to make a 'cream' (farine lactee). We went to the hospital for 3 days- he went into anaphalactic shock as he is allergic to at least 2 ingredients in this mix- milk and wheat. Anyway, the final list was as follows- milk,wheat,eggs,fish,nuts,tomato, kiwi, apple, strawberry,carrot,celery and peas. Now take that list and try and come up with a good diet for weaning! lol Anyway needless to say i was knocked for six, but i bounced back, and 7 months later managed to make a birthday cake for my son, we also had snadwiches on the table, and jelly and cream! Now Georgie is 18 months, and we have narrowd the allergies down to 3- milk,wheat and soy (apparently kids allergic to milk often have cross over allergy to soy which was a real bummer for me as i was giving him soy yoghurt,butter etc although not milk as george couldn't get over the smell). George now eats a good diet, including lots of green leafy veggies- good source of calcium) and just to keep him topped up he has 1/2 a calcium tablet every other day.If you like i will go into more detail of calcium rich food in another post? We do have rice milk in our house, it has added calcium, and i use it in puddings, cooking etc, as George won't drink it on it's own.The make i use is called Rice Dream and is ok- i couldn't drink it either! lol but it is ok to cook- i used it in pancakes the other day and they came out great.
A great resource for kids and allergies is http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppallergies/
ok, sorry this post has been so long winded- good luck to you all out there with allergic kids, and i hope you all find an answer.