EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

at 5 weeks, DS had blood in his diaper. ped said likely dairy allergy. i am ebfing, so i cut out dairy and soy. its been 3 weeks, and I am going nuts. next week, I am going to try reintroducing soy, and hopefully that will go over ok with ds, since i dont know how much longer i can keep this up. I lived on yogurt, cheese, and coffee. i desperately miss my ice coffee, and the rice milk isn't doing it. on the other had, i ebf my other kids until 13-14 months, and really wanted to do it wiht this one too.
can someone give me some encouragement? advcie?

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

I feel your pain! I did it for almost a year. Our ped really wanted us to wit until a year before reintroducing. I didn't go soy-free though, I only cut out dairy. But I cut out ALL dairy- even "hidden" dairy. Prior to going dairy free, I always had coffee every day, and could not imagine life without butter and cheese and milk. Sadly, I never found a worthy substitute for cheese, so that was something I just had to live without. The first few weeks were tough, but then, it became really easy, because I just got used to it. I tried rice milk (didn't like it at all!), almond milk, coconut milk, and soy milk. My favorite to drink/use in cereal was almond milk (I got vanilla flavored usually. For coffee, I used coconut milk (usually hazelnut or french vanilla flavored) and I loved it! I used Earth Balance butter (although I just looked at the ingredients and noticed it has soy, so obviously if soy doesn't go well for your little guy, you couldn't use this- sorry!), after trying a few others, and really liked that.
Like I said, the first few weeks are definitely the hardest, but you will find things you like and things that work for you, and then it will just become second nature. There are a number of mommies on here who have done it so you can find a lot of support! Feel free to FM if you have any questions- you can do it!!

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

It definitely gets easier I agree, I am not a fan of rice milk. Have you tried coconut milk? Much less offensive in my coffee!

Snacks are definitely tough. My diet is boring...I found a few things that I like/that work for me, and I just eat them over and over. Do you like nuts? I make a mix of sunflower seeds and dried fruits, which is an easy snack. Hummus and pita chips or hummus and cucumber sandwiches are other staples for me. PB & J? I know it's tough, but once you find a few go-to snacks/meals, it does get easier.

ETA: I just saw Maureen's response too...Earth's Best also makes a diary free, soy free buttery spread. I was able to add back soy without a problem, but I still use this...it is a pretty good butter substitute!

Message edited 6/12/2011 10:28:54 PM.

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

This is what I used:

Smart Beat dairy free American cheese
Tofutti cream cheese (they also make
Ice cream, sour cream, etc. Maybe even yogurt)
Rice Dream Ice cream
Amy's soy cheese pizza
Rice or almond milk, and after 8 months, was able to switch to Lactaid without any effects to DS. His ped told me to try it.

If you can get back in soy, there will be more options, so I
Hope you can at least reintroduce that. I got all of these things at Whole Foods, and the website www.godairyfree.org helped me tremendously. I was DF for 10 months...it's hard but it can be done. Good luck.

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

I went on and am still on an elimination diet for DS's allergies, so now dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, pineapple, fish and shellfish. Like jerseychick said, it gets so much easier!!! I completely cut out obvious dairy when I was pregnant and that was difficult, but i got used to it after a few months. I lived on the same things for the first few months while I was trying to figure things out, so I ate a lot of bagels and pita chips and hummus. Since you were a big dairy eater before you could try coconut milk yogurt and ice cream, it is delish!!! SO Delicious is the brand, and there's another brand of ice cream that's even better, the mint chocolate chip of the other brand is to die for!

If you need any ideas, send me an FM. I will be glad to help or send you some dairy & soy-free recipes

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

Re: EBFed moms who were/are dairy and soy free- please give me some advcie before I quit

1st time around i did it for 14 mos.
2nd time i did it for 12 mos.

you are doing it!
one meal at a time.
this is the ONLY time in your life you will have to live like this.

it helped me to know that i was eating super healthy, unprocessed foods while nursing.

my mornings were smoothies.
banana, frozen strawberries, chocolate almond milk.

a lot of pretzels
i substituted a ton.

good luck!! you can do this. not easy, but what an accomplishment when it is all over with.