Dairy free alternative to cow's milk

CuppaTea

Please can you tell me what you think is the most palatable for a child to try. I want to keep them on board so starting off with a "horrible tasting" one and ruining their breakfast won't be my best move!!!

Nice taste and moneysaving too would be fab. Thank you.

My local supermarkets are Tesc* and Waitr*se. Can sometimes get to a M*rris*ns.

Much appreciated.

hazyjo

If lactose intolerant, try Arla Lactofree milk. Tastes the same to me.


If it's another intolerance, hopefully someone else can advise on the rest.




Jx

AylesburyDuck

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=276993737

Both me and my other half have for the larger part gone dairy free over the last couple of years, this one was reccomended to us as a starter point for most palitable replacement for cows milk and i still use it to this day. Apart from tea that is, nothing apart from milk works in tea, thank god i mainly drink coffee.

june89

Agree with Koko, rice milk is usually quite inoffensive and sweet so could be another option. Although very few non-dairy options are MSE when compared to cow's milk. Own brand soya is probably the cheapest. But if you also want to avoid soy, Waitrose in particular often have good deals on the other milks - usually 3 for £3 or similar.

I use Tesco Value soya (59p) and find it perfectly acceptable but I've been drinking non-dairy milk (due to allergies) for over a decade so am very used to the taste!

jackyann

I would be wary.

If you haven't already asked a dietician (I mean a properly qualified one) then I would - you can get an appointment through your Health Visitor or School Nurse (both of whom can also give basic advice)

My reasons are:
some alternatives are much lower in vitamins & minerals than cows' milk and the deficit needs making up with other foods.
soya, a popular alternative, needs using with care in children - it can cause allergies, it is often sweetened so much that the child can get too much sugar, and there are a few other issues around its use for children.

If you are asking because a health professional has recommended dairy free, then go back and ask for a dietician's referral.
If the child just doesn't like milk, but happily eats yoghourt / crememfraiche or similar, then concentrate on that
If lactose intolerant, do as suggested above.
Otherwise, I would ask for advice. NHS Choices has some ideas.

Kynthia

I don't know about how palatable it is but apart from cow's milk the most MSE option is to make your own nut milk. Eat Well For Less with Greg Wallace did a small bit on this recently. They blind taste tested some milks and found goat's milk and sweetened soya the nicest tasting alternatives to cow's milk. However they liked the homemade almond milk and it was easier to make than expected. They also said a little on the differences in nutritional content so it might be worth seeing if you can watch that.

fairy_lights

There are so many dairy free milks these days, it it's lactose intolerance that's the problem then I'd start off with a lactose free milk, although they can get expensive if you use a lot.
Then there's almond milk, rice milk, oat milk, soya milk...
Soya milk has quite a strong flavour so I wouldn't rush in to that one, but oat and rice milk are pretty inoffensive.
I'd get a few different ones to try and see what the child prefers.

Lucyxx

AylesburyDuck wrote: »

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=276993737

Both me and my other half have for the larger part gone dairy free over the last couple of years, this one was reccomended to us as a starter point for most palitable replacement for cows milk and i still use it to this day. Apart from tea that is, nothing apart from milk works in tea, thank god i mainly drink coffee.

This Koko milk one on the link is my fave one for having in my cereal. Apart from that I also have Alpro Hazelnut too. The Koko definitely tastes less 'different' of all the types I have tried. (weirdly if I have cow milk now - I haven't found an alternative I like in tea either, cow milk tastes gross to me like I have eaten a block of dairylea!) I imagine if I put the Koko in my children's cereal they wouldn't even notice. I buy it in Asda and it is usually on offer for £1. I think I've seen it in Tesco too. That brand also makes a really lovely Strawberry yoghurt. A bit pricier at £1.25 for only 2, but very tasty!

rach_k

I'd go with a nut milk for breakfast as it goes nicely with cereal. I make my own when we need it as I don't know what half of the ingredients are on the cartons of ready made stuff, but if you want ready made you can get small cartons so you could get a couple of varieties for everybody to try. You might find people like different things and some are better for different purposes.

lollypopswater

I'd second the point about speaking to a dietitian.

My daughter had cows milk allergy and we were initially advised no soya as the protein is very similar so often can also be an allergen, no nut milks due to risk of allergy and no rice milk due to arsenic levels.

I used oat milk initially and then alpro+1 soya milk when I realised she wasn't allergic to soya as it's got some of the best calcium levels and is designed for toddlers/young kids.

Now she drinks milk and eats cheese and ice cream

CuppaTea

Thank u all for your advice.