Help me out here. Since we stopped breastfeeding, it's been a struggle to get A the "proper" amount of calcium that our doctor wants. Since he cannot have dairy products, he drinks soy milk. The kind we use is 45% daily allowance per 8 ounces. He drinks about 8-12 ounces a day. That's all I can get him to drink. Foods with calcium? Nothing out there screams calcium. We supplement him with a vegan powder vitamin that supplies him with 25% more. After that? Well, there is a soy yogurt, but he'll only eat it sometimes, and honestly, when he does eat it, he gets diarrhea. So I think the live cultures are milk based.
Anyway, I stress sbout this eery day. I'm counting his calcium like a dieter count calories.
What are you all doing? Do you even think about calcium? Even if your toddler is on milk, do you obsess? Talk to me!
6 comments:
I don't really think about my sons' calcium intake because they drink whole milk at each meal and eat cheese and/or yogurt every day. I can see how the elimination of dairy could make it challenging to get enough calcium.
Here is a link to a site that lists 11 dairy-free calcium sources: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1061.
I think that many of the suggestions here could be adapted for a toddler.
I wish I could offer some suggestions. We don't have any milk allergies so whole milk, cheese and yogurt are staples for C. But I will say I hadn't even thought about calcium, maybe if he were dairy sensitive I would have?! Oops! I hope others comment because I'm interested to see some other options, especially since ya never know what #2 will throw at us!
Tofu has calcium. It can be chopped up put in other dishes. Also some leafy greens and broccoli have calcium. I often steam spinach, kale, and broccoli chop it up and put it in pasta.
I don't stress too much about how much she's getting. I try to keep her meals balanced and offer her lots of choices.
I have no idea if kids can take Tums or if that would help, but isn't that calcium? We have the fruit flavored ones. They're pretty good.
We add Vital Whey to our kids' milk (for the protein). It is grass-fed cattle, GMO-free, hormone-free, pesticide/chemical-free pastured, you name it ... some of the best whey out there. We get the vanilla one (naturally flavored) It is supposed to have levels of lactose and casein below what causes a reaction in people (check their FAQ section). It only contains 8% of the daily intake of calcium in it (for an adult), but I mention it because it's an awesome source of protein and so so easy to mix in that you might be able to sneak in some here and there in his formula to keep tipping the calcium scale in your favor. Worth googling anyhow!
I am always looking for ways to sneak in stuff. :)
And look at you 31 weeks pregnant!! Sorry I have missed so much. I feel like I have been living underground lately ... so excited for you!!
I am lactose-intolerant myself and had my own misadventures with soy. Actually, it makes me almost sicker than lactose does. It's too much protein and is hard to digest.
They have some yummie yoghurt products from coconut milk I really like. Otherwise, I take calcium chews - my faves are the gummies (vitafusion), yumm!
When I first had to get off milk, I was suggested to eat more dark leafy veggies, sardines. I keep an eye on this topic (lactose-free options) and some months ago, there was a cool little article in huff.ington post.
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