Hi, this is actually a story of my nephew who I take care of a lot. Whether it be at his house or mine I have to deal with his allergy to dairy and his disorder SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder). It seems between the two it equals aggression. He will go from being a sweet 5 year old boy who says please and thank you to a 5 year old terror who throws things and screams. It’s amazing the difference.
We have noticed it even if he has had a build up of eating bread over a few days…..it keeps his diet limited. He eats a lot of ham and turkey (which he calls white ham). His favorite fruit is strawberries but also eats bananas a lot. It’s challenging just trying to get around with his pickiness about food and his allergies. It’s trying to get a balance and get him the nutrition he needs.
Right now we are talking about trying smoothies with some tofu ice cream (which we recently discovered and he loves the vanilla). Don’t get me wrong this kid craves everything that’s bad for him and its hard to get him away from it, especially when you have him going between his mom and my house who both treat the allergies differently.
So keeping the grocery bill low when I have him…
- I stock up when there is a sale on frozen (such as dairy free waffles and tofu ice cream).
- I check sales on dry dairy free baking mixes (such as pancake and cake mixes) and cereals such as Cheerios.
- Another thing I try to have enough of and get while its on sale is soy and almond milk.
There are of course things like fresh fruits that you can’t stock up on. A lot of it is repeat for him with food but a lot of it is just a matter of keeping him away from basic junk food. Basic junk food such as donuts (which he loves the chocolate ones!), he is not supposed to have cause it has dairy. We try things randomly to get a variety. One of the great things is that he may not be allergic to nuts, but he hates them! LOL! So if it has nuts in it he won’t eat it…so for instance we made German Chocolate Cake. It had nuts in the frosting. His response was, “No nuts! I don’t want nuts!” We also try to make things with Soy or Almond milk and double check for milk already in the ingredients.
I could write more, but I’ll stop at that. Thanks for letting me share…hopefully it helps someone.
Thank you for sharing your story of your nephew especially how allergies can cause behavior changes and not just physical/health ones!
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May I offer a suggestion? Try smoothies with silken tofu, frozen strawberries, his “milk”, and a tiny bit of vanilla. Since he can have bananas – that would be a welcome addition as well) I just made this for my 5 yr old and he LOVED it! (just had testing done: high allergy to oats, other allergies include: potatoes, green beans, shellfish, pecans and almonds(all tree nuts), bananas, apples, egg, dairy…. am I forgetting one?)
Also, if you are wanting to try to sneak in some veggies, I’ve grated carrots into spaghetti sauce, and I’ve been known to add beans anywhere! LOL Especially to quesadillas and taco meat (1/2 to 1/2 ratio) and my little one loves it and doesn’t even know…. if it’s a texture thing, you could use refried beans maybe? Hope this helps a tiny bit. Good luck! This is a hard road to travel…
Thanks for your ideas Kim!
Erin
I know what you’re going through. My son is the same way (he’s now 15). For years I did not know what triggered the drastic change in his behavior. It was heartbreaking and horrible.
For my son, both dairy and soy have this effect. When I first took him off dairy, I tried the soy milk, etc. and had the same behavior issues. Then I read that for many people, soy and dairy have this behavior-changing effect. He is now off both dairy and soy.
I also have to limit the gluten. It doesn’t make him aggressive, but it does make him “spacey”. Thank you for sharing your story. It helps to know I’m not alone.