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Henry's weaning journey

Henry is now 8 months. Our weaning journey had been eventful. (If you want to know more, please read "hits if weaning" under the 6-7 month topic) After a very helpful appt with a dietician we have discovered its cows milk he can't have, and it's that that causes the terrible eczema on his face. So I now face new challenges in reading all labels checking all ingredients, I have to ensure he has a diary free diet! The meals I have been doing him so far have been very plain, as up until now I didn't know what was causing his face to flare up. However he has loved these meals, I cooked up rice, chicken, carrot, sweet pot, broccoli and cauliflower all in seperate freezer bags in small portions, this means I can mix and match any veg etc. I also made up a batch of stock in ice cube trays so the meals wouldn't be bland. The rice helps with different textures too. Now I know it's the cows milk, Henry can start having what we are having, making meal times so much easier.

Replies

  • Hi Deb Tad, 

    Wow it must have been so frustrating not knowing what was causing his skin problems, bless him! So glad you now know what it is, and can feed him accordingly. I did the same thing with different veg and have frozen them - he loves the random mixtures of veggies. I've also made up some beef bolognaise for him as well. 

    Do you have to give Henry dairy free milk then? or formula? How does it work?

  • Glad you've got to the bottom of the problem, I hope that his skin etc continues to get better and you find your way with food now!

    Did it make an immediate difference to his skin? My son has been on lactose free formula and dairy free for a week but there is no difference to his eczema so think it must be something else?

  • Good luck on the dairy free weaning route. Thankfully I guess there are so much more available in the fridge section now then there was even 5 years ago. I have a friend whose little boy is also lactose intolerant. She really struggled with him even boefore weaning began . He is nearly 3 now and she doesn't even have to think twice about his diet anymore its second nature to her. Good Luck x

  • Sorry haven't been getting emails about the responses!



    Apparently it can take up to 6 weeks for his skin to heal. He has still been on a small amount of aptimal, which has cows milk. I had to slowly introduce the prescription milk as it's awful stuff. I'm pleased to say that as if today he is on neocate the prescription milk and is now cows milk free! So hoping his skin will start to improve ASAP.

    Lucy - apparently the cows milk protein in neocate is chopped up so much during processing it's very good for any intolerance.

    Mummy swan - keep at it for a bit longer and then see how the skin is. Can take a while to heal x x
  • 10 days milk free now! His skin is still a bit red, and when he's tired he itches it, which I think is a habit now. So still caking him in cream. The best thing is now he can eat what I cook for the family, making weaning so much easier.
  • wow that's so good!  we dud about 10 days no difference and the formula ran out so went back to the doctors who suggested doing it for a bit longer.  Haven't made it to the pharmacy yet but need to because now he's back on dairy his skin is even redder and itchier than before.  So it must have helped. Will update once we've gone back to dairy free,.

  • Yeah it's got to be that mummy swan, I've got another appt with the pediatrician in June. But hope it will be better by then. X x
  • 20 days milk free. His face does still flare up every now and then, but I'm wondering if it could also be teething? As this comes with an unsettled night then it goes.
  • Henry is nearly 10 months and he has been milk free for 44 days now. The dietician did say 4-6 weeks and I'm glad to say his face is so much better. He does have flare ups from time to time, but I do wonder if this is contamination from others, like a kiss after a milky coffee.

    Weaning is going well he loves chicken and pasta as he loves feeding himself.
  • I hope someone bought Henry some dairy free chocolate eggs for easter!! Its one of my friends pet hates. Her little boy is 3 and the amount of normal chocolate he gets from his aunts/uncles and nannas is ridiculous. They don't think its a real condition apparently!!! Fingers crossed his skin stays clear and that the small flare ups are because of contamination like you said x

  • Ha. Funny enough he did still get normal choc eggs from some family so my daughter is laughing as she now has double! My mum found some dairy, wheat and egg free Easter eggs. It's made with coca sugar and rice powder, tastes like dark choc, Henry wasn't a fan! Shame as I bet they were expensive.
  • Time goes so quickly, and Henry's almost 11 months. He loves his food and loves using his hands to eat himself. It's been hard not having dairy and sometimes sandwichs can be a bit samey for him, jam, ham or marmite ha ha.

    He is so funny eating fruit chopped up, he just gags on it. He loves it blended up though which is good. X x
  • Ah bless him, sometimes hard with fruit when you've only got a few teeth as it's so slippy!

    we're dairy free for Austin too and soya free now as the milk we'd been giving him made him sick. But at least having the prescribed formula again means that's he's definitely getting the nutrients as I was worried about the lack of calcium. 

    can an you get dairy free / soya free yogurts?

  • Oh yes tried those too. He kept spitting them out, so I had a mouth fall and they aren't nice at all.
  • I popped to the shops and I saw my friend and she offered to watch Henry while I went. When I picked him up she said she had given him a crisp and I didn't think anymore about it. In the morning his eyes were really puffy, so I text her and she said it was cheese and onion flavour, for some reason she didn't think it would have milk in it!

    His poor had all blistered where he held it and he got blisters on his lips, this was from 1 crisp. I can't believe it. X x
  • Oh Deb Tad, poor little thing, thats awful - just from one crisp - I can't believe it! To be fair I'd never have thought that cheese and onion crisps contained any milk - is it like milk powder in the flavouring or something? You just have to be so careful don't you? I bet your poor friend felt bad…easy mistake to make though.

    I have a close friend who has just been diagnosed as Coeliac and I'm finding myself constantly shocked by how much food contains gluten, so it must be the same as you with the dairy stuff. It's also a shame that they dairy free products aren't tastier for him…hopefully they will improve and make some yummy dairy free chocolate and yoghurts he can enjoy. 

  • Yeah it's so hard. I went to an activity event with me little girl today and everyone just kept trying to give him something, cheddar biscuit, wotsits and lumps of cheese. Argh!!! And poor Henry wanted all of it x x
  • So hard when they don't understand. Hopefully it will be something they will grow out of fingers crossed.... At least its a lot easier these days with better alternatives 10-15 years ago it must've been so much harder

  • Oh yes lots of choice now! The dietician reckons it's usually by the time they are 2 x x
  • Poor wee man. How horrible that he had such a strong reaction to something so small. Hopefully like the dietician says he will grow out of it within the next 12 mths.xx

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