Cow's milk substitute?

[mo2]

Cow's milk makes my 3yo constipated. Horribly constipated. But it is the ONLY thing she likes to drink. I am working on getting her to drink water, but it is a battle. Would almond or soy milk be a possible substitute for drinking cow's milk? Would it cause the same constipation problems? Could I add chocolate to it to make chocolate milk?

 

And, please, I don't need any comments about how I shouldn't have let her get into the habit of only drinking milk in the first place. I know that, but I'm here, so all I can do is try to fix the problem now. :)

[Mnemosyne]

Almond milk is a reasonable substitute, as is coconut milk. I personally wouldn't go anywhere near soy. Haven't heard of similar constipation problems, but it could be a possibility, the best way to find out is to give it a try. Almond milk comes sweetened and unsweetened, there are also chocolate varieties (or you could add your own, but be aware that many of the chocolate mixes have cow's milk in it). Don't know much about coconut milk, but a lot of people like that too. Goat's milk may also be an option, if it's easily available.

[Guest inoubliable]

Cow's milk makes my 3yo constipated. Horribly constipated. But it is the ONLY thing she likes to drink. I am working on getting her to drink water, but it is a battle. Would almond or soy milk be a possible substitute for drinking cow's milk? Yes, of course. Would it cause the same constipation problems? It doesn't for my kids - we use both and also coconut milk. Could I add chocolate to it to make chocolate milk? Sure, why not? Silk (and most other brands of soy milk) have chocolate milk options. If you're going for soy milk, look for non-GMO, like Silk brand.

 

And, please, I don't need any comments about how I shouldn't have let her get into the habit of only drinking milk in the first place. I know that, but I'm here, so all I can do is try to fix the problem now. :)

 

[babs]

I like the consistency of almond milk for baking, but all my kids like vanilla rice milk. Very sweet...I don't like almond to drink plain, but rice is great. Our Costco carries it in bulk too. No soy! It is bad on many fronts, but also has an awful taste.

[jeninok]

We use almond milk here and it is delicious, DH has developed a lactose intolerance, and I am allergic and pinpointed milk to the cause of my breakouts.

 

I use the plain unsweetened almond for cooking and baking, the vanilla for coffee and cereal, and DS and DH LOVE the dark chocolate.

 

The only issue I have ever had is that it doesn't thicken when you make instant pudding. Everything else we have tried with it has turned out wonderful. Generally there is Silk brand and and Blue sky, I much prefer the blue sky.

[mo2]

Thank you so much. I think I will give almond a try. I've never spent much time looking around in the milk department (always have all the kids with me, so I just grab what I always get so I can get out of there!), so I didn't realize they had chocolate varieties. Is the almond milk much more expensive than cow's milk?

[jeninok]

I don't think it is, but I also always bought the Horizon Organic or milk from a local dairy.

[Hilltop]

My dds like unsweetened rice milk with their cereal. They drink water almost all the time, with an occasional juice box at a party or playdate.

[HappyLady]

You're going to want to try a variety of milks because one almond milk brand will taste different than another almond milk brand. You probably don't want to let her have too much of the sweetened brands because of all the sugar, but they might be the best ones to try first to get her to switch. You can also start slowly adding whatever you buy to the cow's milk until you completely eliminate the cow's milk. And like was previously mentioned, Silk makes a non-GMO soy milk. My kids drink the unsweetened version. They also drink hemp milk. There are so many alternatives out there now, you're sure to find something your DD likes. Good luck!

[besroma]

We love oat milk, both regular and vanilla.

 

With soy milk, especially, gradually introduce it into their diets, as they can experience intestinal discomfort if they consume too much before they get used to it.

[VeganCupcake]

We generally use coconut milk, but hemp milk is also very good for kids. Any of those are going to be an adjustment, though, because they do not taste like cow's milk at all. My DD wouldn't drink any kind of milk but breast milk until just recently (she is 4.5 now), no matter how I dressed it up. :) So be prepared for an adjustment and possibly lots of refusals.

[gingersmom]

My son has been milk free his entire life and is nearly off the growth charts at age 13. :001_smile:

 

I am lactose intolerant and soy milk makes me horribly bloated. Rice milk and anything else with the word milk in it also seems to set me off.

 

I would tread carefully.

[Karen in CO]

We use either chocolate almond milk or rice milk. I get the rice milk by the case at costco and limit the chocolate almond to daylight hours. I've found rice milk bakes well, and I can even make a custard style pudding with it. When we first quit milk, we used non-dairy milks with more flavor, but over time, my dd has found that now she likes the rice milk. She gets the chocolate almond as a beverage with breakfast and lunch. She feels like she is getting something special instead of being deprived of something normal.

 

She's allergic to soy too so that has never been an option.

[Dandelion]

We like the So Delicious brand of coconut milk (DS is sensitive to dairy, soy, and almonds). I prefer coconut milk to regular milk now that we've been using it for awhile.

[jeninok]

As an aside, I have much better luck getting both DS and myself to drink more water if I slice up an orange into a pitcher of water and keep that in the fridge. You could also use lemon, cucumber, and probably other options as well.

 

It just gives the slightest hint of flavor to the water, and makes it much more drinkable for us.

[cjzimmer1]

I like the consistency of almond milk for baking, but all my kids like vanilla rice milk. Very sweet...I don't like almond to drink plain, but rice is great. Our Costco carries it in bulk too. No soy! It is bad on many fronts, but also has an awful taste.

 

 

I don't know if everyone has this problem but rice milk was very constipating for my dairy allergic daughter. We had to use almond milk for her. Just something to watch for.