I do not eat or cook with dairy, soy, and eggs due to skin sensitivities. It has been about a year and I was perplexed at first, but it is not so bad. I even made up a soy sauce substitute using worcheshire sauce and balsamic vinegar. I have posted a lot of soy free dinners, snacks, breakfast ideas, etc on my blog. Just google handychickadee and soy free. You should see my postings for ideas on foods, snacks, and treats you can get at the grocery along with some recipes. Trust me...it really isn't a big deal. There are a lot of soy free and dairy free choices out there. Also, they are a lot healthier. I just recently had my younger DDs bday party and had to make cupcakes and frosting soy free, dairy free, nut fee, and egg free. They came out delicious, and I used water instead of milk for the mix. It was awesome and all 20 kids loved them and had seconds. There were no cupcakes left.

Anonymous wrote:if you stick to real, unprocessed food you should easily be able to avoid both dairy and soy.

Any Paleo recipe will meet this criteria. Check out the whole 30.

+1

And almost all processed foods, including most bread, has soy or dairy in it. You have to read the labels carefully.

I'm not eating dairy or soy either and it's difficult. I cook all of my meals at home. For breakfast I eat coconut milk in my cereal, oatmeal, or cream of wheat. Lunch and dinner are usually homemade soup, meat, vegetables, etc. You can find a lot of dairy and soy free foods at Whole Foods. It's a huge pain but once I went on this diet the pregnancy weight dropped off really fast. Stay on your prenatal vitamins. The hardest part is not being able to just pick up takeout, especially during busy weeks.

Be careful to check the ingrediants in bread. A shocking number of brands contain milk and soy. As do the major brands of peanut butter, mayo even some tuna and hot dogs.

It will be hard eating in resturants. As long as you like pasta and eat meat you should be able to find enough to eat.

I am vegetarian and had to go dairy and soy free while I nursed my MSPI daughter. Ended up nursing for 2.5 years. I cooked 90% of my food at home. Going out was tricky but chipotle worked on occasion as do vegan restaurants like Great Sage and Vegetable Garden. Good luck. It's tough at first but can be done. I'm now back to eating soy but have mostly given up dairy as my body can't process it much anymore.

Our second daughter had many reactions and an unsettling stomach due to the dairy we started her off on. We had to immediately find a different alternative...and that was switching to Coconut milk. She has been drinking that ever since and has not shown any signs of intolerance(has been 14 months now)!

take it easy, OP. You'll be able to do it. I have found that a major diet change takes 6 months to fully get used to. It's an adjustment, but you can do it!

PP here. Also, be aware that you might be able to back off the intense diet after a few weeks. It's highly likely that the small amounts of soy in processed foods (like a tiny amount of soy in a rice packet or something) will not cause a severe reaction for your child, since so little will get through your breast milk. I think you need to do a strict diet now and see what happens, but in a bit, you'll be able to test the limits and see what is a problem and what's not, so don't think you're "sentenced" to this forever! It will end! GL.

Do you eat meat? I was a vegetarian when I got hit with the same news, and it was really hard, but if you eat meat, you are in luck!

A few ideas for simple and nutritious meals/snacks:

- Peanut butter or almond butter on toast (check, but most breads don't have milk or soy)
- Pasta (check the label, but most are okay) with marinara sauce (make sure there's no cheese in it, but most don't have any), and ground beef
- Salads
- Burritos or tacos without cheese but with meat, beans, and veggies (salsa should also be fine)
- Most cereals are okay, and so is oatmeal (you can add raisins, fresh fruit, nuts, brown sugar, milk substitutes, etc.)
- Rice or quinoa (great protein!) -- the mixes have a lot of sodium in them but are easy and delicious
- Bake potatoes with toppings inside
- Sweet potatoes with toppings inside
- Deli meats as snacks or on toast
- If you have a slow cooker, it's easy to throw some meat, veggies, and broth/water into it and cook all day for a delicious meal free of anything you can't eat

Try some of the milk substitutes (especially things like coconut milk, almond milk), and make you are getting enough calcium (you might need a supplement). But be aware that most dairy substitutes or meat substitutes have soy in them, and so does a lot of processed food. I personally hate things like "almond cheese" and coconut yogurt, but maybe you'll like them. I'd rather have something completely different than a fake substitute that isn't any good.

Anonymous wrote:FYI, some babies have a milk protein intolerance but soy is fine. I would probably cut out milk first and see if your baby is feeling better in two weeks. You can find substitutes for almost everything (I really liked Coconut milk, creamer and ice cream and still eat them even though my baby grew out of his intolerance around 6-7 months).

I would actually recommend the opposite. Take it all out at once and then try small adding things back in once your baby has improved and see if you get a reaction.

Anonymous wrote:I cut out all processed food and pretty much ate lean protein, veggies, fruit and grains (rice, oatmeal, lentils). It was easier than trying to read all labels.

Exactly this. And know that it can take a good while to see results. Don't give up too early. It is actually a very healthy way to eat.

Almond Milk makes a great sub for milk.

FYI, some babies have a milk protein intolerance but soy is fine. I would probably cut out milk first and see if your baby is feeling better in two weeks. You can find substitutes for almost everything (I really liked Coconut milk, creamer and ice cream and still eat them even though my baby grew out of his intolerance around 6-7 months).

if you stick to real, unprocessed food you should easily be able to avoid both dairy and soy.

Any Paleo recipe will meet this criteria. Check out the whole 30.

I cut out all processed food and pretty much ate lean protein, veggies, fruit and grains (rice, oatmeal, lentils). It was easier than trying to read all labels.

Just took 12 week old son to ped. Skin issues, sleeping issues, slow weight gain despite round the clock nursing. Ped said its classic milk protein intolerance. Great. She said no dairy or soy...

Help. I've never been in such a restricting diet and have been having issues eating so as it is.

I can figure out the no dairy but need help on the no soy part. Any experienced mins out there that can give me ideas of what to eat/not to eat? Words of encouragement?