how to transition my daughter

[cassidy]

I have a 15 mos old daughter. I have been incorporating a lot more raw into her diet... But she still thrives on cheese, milk, yogurt, chicken. Does anyone have experience with this? She is currently drinking organic cows milk - which I want to get her off of? Any advice? She is very attached to her milk. She likes rice milk, but it just doesn't have as much nutrients in it. Any advice is welcomed!
Thanks!

[wyjoz]

You state: "She likes rice milk, but it just doesn't have as much nutrients in it." Change her to banana milk, almond milk, seed milk, give her 1/4 c Green Smoothie to start then increase to twice a day then to 1/3 c and then to 1 cup. Give her coconut milk and make puddings from it. Give her fruits, more fruits, and more fruits. If she's full and content she will not want milk. Give her less and less and if she does not ask for it don't give it to her. check out Gosia's website: http://www.rawgosia.com/enter.html

Let me just say this Cow milk is nutritious for cows. not for humans. Determine for yourself ; read a few links and then there's thousands more.

The NOTMILK Homepage! (MILK is a bad-news substance!)
MILK is a deadly poison. Each sip contains growth hormones, fat, cholesterol, allergenic proteins, blood, pus, antibiotic, bacteria and virus.

http://www.notmilk.com/
Milk Sucks!
Cows— like all mammals— make milk to feed their own babies— not humans. ... And not only is milk a waste of energy and water, the production of milk is also ...

http://www.milksucks.com/
Milk, Doing Your Body Good?
Moreover, humans do not drink human milk, but drink the milk of other ... According to a list proposed by the "Not Milk" campaign, milk contains less ...

http://www.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue3/features/lee_and_wei.html
LiP | Feature | Not Milk: The USDA, Monsanto, and the US Dairy ...
On average, in one year, each of us consumes about 420 pounds of milk and cream, 70 pounds of various milk-based fats and oils, 30 pounds of cheese, ...

http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featgreen_172.shtml
No Milk Page
Robert Cohen's site is notmilk.com. Probably the most vocal opponent of dairy consumption. JoAnn Betten of the PaleoFood mailing list has collected many ...

[wyjoz]

cassidy; here is Milk info from Dr Benjamin Spock!
web resultsenhanced by | page 1 of 887 Dr. Spock recommends milk-free, meat-free diet in posthumous editio...
Dr. Spock recommends milk-free, meat-free diet in posthumous edition. Copyright 1998 Associated Press. June 20, 1998 ...

http://www.junkscience.com/news2/spock.htm
How Dr Benjamin Spock lived to 90
None were as hot as his latest: milk. Dr Spock, the childcare author, not the man from Star Trek, appeared on US television advising parents not to give ...

http://www.richardseah.com/macrobiotics/macspock.html
Ask Our Expert - Soy vs.Cow's-Milk Formulas
While Dr. Spock agreed with other child-care practitioners that breast milk is the preferred food for babies under one year of age, he recognized that soy ...

http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,4095,00.html
AR.net >> Dr. Spock, AntiDairy Coalition take aim at milk
Dr. Spock, AntiDairy Coalition take aim at milk. Advertise on Animalrights.net. Visit the Bookstore. |related_|. Related Articles. AntiDairy Coalition ...

http://www.animalrights.net/archives/year/1998/000026.html
AR.net >> Discussion Forum >> Dr. Spock, AntiDairy Coal...
Dr. Spock, AntiDairy Coalition take aim at milk. 6/18/1998 ... For example, take the AntiDairy Coalition’s claims about milk’s ability to cause allergies. ...

[dreamrawalwz]

You say she can't let go of the cow milk...food sensativities can present themselves as cravings and addictions to those certain foods. I know that was the case for me with: milk, grains, corn, soy, and sugar.

[cassidy]

Wow... thanks for all the links. I didn't really see any alternatives to milk for BABIES though. I'm wondering if maybe I should get some soy formula to mix with the rice milk. But now soy is controversial... toxic? What did you give your toddlers? I deffinantly agree that she has developed a love affair with sugar and refined carbs. I know I should have started earlier. But better now than never. We are doing a lot better with food... I love watching her eat fruit with a big smile! We are having raw lentil soup tonight. I turned out really delicious.
wyjoz - can you tell me how to make banana milk? My daughter would LOVE that!
Thanks for all the help! This is so improtant to me! It is a lot more difficult (with my daughter) then I would have thought.

[wyjoz]

cassidy: before you get soy formula or producs to mix with rice milk? Why do you want to do that? Do you feel that she'll be missing something? All the soy gives us is protein and 'estrogen' like product so basically (as posted in Something About Soy) you will be giving your young daughter 'birth control' think about it. Reconsider the soy factor and zereo in on doing 'healthy' RAW Lifestyle for her. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to start now.

The banana milk idea I got from Rawkinlocs post. I'll look up the instructions. Give her Coconut Milk instead. at her early age don't give her too much nut milks. I'lll post it for you in the morning.

[wyjoz]

P.S. my son was left with a 1 y/o daughter that he got custody of. Her mother left just when she turned one! for a bar/drug/strip dancing lifestyle and we raised her with no milk, no soy formulas, no baby formulas and no rice milk. she's doing great. Went to a pediatritian for her 3 y/o check up and he has no clue that this child had no milk for 2 years and he told us that she's up there on a % level and doing great ! He told my son to change her milk to 2% now and he looked at me and I signaled him to ZIP UP!!!!!! do not get soy anything even the soy dream bars. I attended a lecture where a Naturopath presented it, and he said that the 'worst' product made or invented by man was Soy/Dream Bars ! there you go!
Look up value/vitamins/protein in fruits! check out all that fruits contain and they are a 'wonderful' food for mankind. Make a melon/little orange smoothie. It's posted here. Give her watermelon as much as she can eat! Give it to your daughter with pleasure and health benefit in mind.

ie. mash up a slice of avocado with 1/2 banana and increase it to more if shes a bigger eater. Do mango puddings. Do fruit smoothies add a little hemp seeds (little!) add a little flax seeds ground up. (little!) etc

[Rawkinlocs]

Cassidy,

The milk she's drinking has nutrients that have been added to it...the words "fortified" or "enriched" let's you know it's something that had to be added to the milk.

Dairy products are a big factor for many when it comes to allergies, ear infections, constantly having colds, eczema and a whole host of other "childhood issues".

My 3-year old never had cow's milk...I nursed him for 3 years but even when he was around the age of your little one and was drinking from a cup, I didn't give him cow's milk. I "used" to give my kids soy milk with their cereal (they were never really milk drinkers who drank it as a beverage) but then I stopped buying it. Now they drink nut milk. With a blender you can make delicious, flavorful nutmilk using almonds, cashews, brazil nuts, etc.; a little non-alcoholic vanilla (Frontier brand has one and is found in most natural food stores) and for an extra calcium boost, add a tablespoon or so of sesame seeds (though that is an acquired taste...but my kids like it in their smoothies).

I agree also with green smoothies...you can make them thinner and not-too-thick and THAT is where she will get her BEST source of calcium...from the greens.

She's a baby, yes; but if she can handle eating cheese, whole milk, and chicken, she can handle having nut milk and green smoothie. If she is getting fruits and veggies, she will get (assimilable) nutrients and you won't have to depend on the milk for it. Also, keep in mind that our society is very pro-milk, yet we STILL have high instances of osteoporosis...the animal protein in milk actually robs the bones. So, she can get all of her nutrients from other, healthier sources rather than milk.

While she is young, it will be MUCH easier for you to get her on a raw diet. Trust me on this...I have various ages of children from 15 to 3 and I only WISH I had started them out when they were 15 months old or so because right now (and Joz can attest to this with me) I am having a battle getting my kids to eat what is right. I mean, they eat much, MUCH better than they used to, but it's very challenging trying to switch them over when they're older. My 3-year old is doing extremely well because we got into eating raw when he was around the same age as your baby give or take a few months. But he LOVES most raw foods and loves the cashew-almond milk I make, the nut cheese, etc.

So please, try and get your daughter to start eating as much raw as you can now, while she's still young and impressionable. You can gradually switch her over if you don't think she'll like the nut milks like maybe doing half and half rice milk with nut milk and then less and less rice milk until she's drinking ALL nut milk...but she might even actually LIKE/LOVE the nut milk if she likes rice milk. Again, don't worry about the (so-called) nutrients you feel she is missing out on by not having the organic cow's milk...she can get that from other sources that her body will actually be able to use and absorb.

But one of the things I've been doing to help transition my kids over is to also make raw recipes YET allow them to heat it a little in the oven. Like today, my 7-year old daughter made a "pizza" using wheat pita spread with (raw recipe) marinara sauce and (raw recipe) nut cheeze) and she put it in the oven for about 5 minutes and ate every drop and LOVED it!

I made tacos for them once with Ezekial sprouted grain tortillas but everything else was raw vegan...the cheeze, the nut meat (seasoned with cumin, chili powder, etc.), and the veggies. They loved it (the ones who tried it...my eldest son did not). So those are some of the things I've been doing to get my kids off of soy-based analogues and into eating healthier choices (though still cooked) and eventually because I'm using raw recipe items, they will get to eating that stuff withOUT heating it (I hope)!

[juliebove]

I would avoid the soy milk. I just don't think soy is good for anyone! My daughter is allergic to both dairy and soy. We didn't find this out until she was 6, almost 7. I breast fed her until she was 10 months but had to quit because she was biting me hard enough to draw blood. And because of a thyroid problem (seemingly from soy), I wasn't producing enough milk. I had to supplement because I wasn't producing enough milk. Yet no matter what formula I tried, she had a problem with it. And now I know why!

After changing her diet, she no longer has chronic ear infections (from the dairy) and her weird skin rashes (from wheat and soy) have cleared up. She also thought she was hungry all the time. Turns out she was having stomach pains because she was eating something she was allergic to at every meal! I couldn't figure out why it was she'd start complaining of hunger before she had even finished the meal. She'd start demanding something other than what I gave her. Poor thing! And more recently after giving her a sample pack of gluten free crackers that I thought were safe for her to eat did I discover what an effect soy really had on her. After three tiny bites, her nose began to run and then stuffed up. And before she had finished the third cracker she was doubled over with stomach pain! That's when I knew something was wrong.

So what does she drink now? Mainly water. I do allow her a serving of juice per day, 2 servings if they are a juice that is mainly vegetable with a little bit of fruit mixed in, but she usually doesn't want the juice. I do allow her to have diet sodas, but she rarely takes more than a couple of sips. She wants them and having them seems to satisfy some need in her. But she doesn't really drink them. I've tried nut milks. She doesn't like any of them. She does like rice milk a little bit and will have it occasionally, but most of the time the carton goes bad before she gets anywhere near finishing it. She will have it occasionally on cereal, but most of the time she prefers it dry.

So how does she get her calcium? I try to include plenty of dark leafy greens in her food. She is only just now getting to where she'll willingly eat a tossed salad, but she has always loved baby Swiss chard. We used to make a game of it. I'd make a big salad for myself and she would poke through it looking for the Swiss chard. Every time she'd find a leaf she'd get all excited and eat it. But if I gave her a plate of swiss chard, she wouldn't touch it. She also takes capsules of sea vegetables. These are high in calcium. She is old enough to swallow pills. For younger kids you can get the powder and mix it in juice.

[cassidy]

OK so here is what we are going to do. Today I made my daughter rice milk - but instead of using water I used coconut water. It was SO SO SO delicious. I did 1/2 and 1/2 with the milk and rice milk. She drank it all up. SO slowly I am going to do less and less milk. I've read that coconut water had a lot of the same components of breast milk?! I have just been bombshelled with soy information. I have heard a little - but until I started reading posts on this site have I actually believed it. With the whole milk thing... it just scares me to NOT give it to her. I realize now as she is getting older it is "OK" to not have it and to supplement it with other nutritional sources. It is hard to step out of what society and family has tought you for so many years: milk does a body good. I feel that at least the milk I have been giving her is organic - no hormones, antibiotics etc. But we will do our best to transition away from it. This morning we shared a green smoothie and she snacked on cashews and pine nuts. OH - and some banana! We are going to try a new raw food resteraunt for lunch today. I managed to convert two friends so it will be a nice treat for us!

[wyjoz]

Victoria Boutenko in her Green For Life book has a story of a 4 day old baby Zender p 131-2 that was adopted. They gave the baby goat milk and some milk from a wet nurse and then introduced to, and was raised on, Green Smoothies! Amazing! It's on p 131-2 you can write to the lady Clare clare@classictouch.net she gave permisssion to use her name and gave her e-mail
It would be interesting to hear from her and what she does with Zender as he's growing up??

[fiddle80]

I tell myself this all the time as I shop and re-organize my brain and family to all raw: I am the adult, I make the decisions and I buy the food. If I buy crap, then crap will end up in the cupboard. If I buy raw, then raw will end up in the frig!!

[cassidy]

Very true fiddle. That's why I don't let my husband grocrey shop! :p

[wyjoz]

Eating RAW is so simple: Blend 1 orange peeled leave some white part
1 mango
2 bananas (frozen) for thicker cold
1 spoon Agave if needed

this is soooooo delicious! your 18 month could eat it!

mesh 1 banana
1/4 slice avocado
1/2 mango
can add little lemon
agave if you must

BANANA MILK

Blend 4 banans
1-2 c water
2 + - dates

can add 1/2 c sunflower seeds

or add 1/2 c avocado

SESAME SEED MILK
1 C SOAKED SESAME SEEDS
2 C WATER
2-3 DATES Blend till smooth

COCONUT MILK
Water from w coconut
2 Bananas Blend till smooth

[cassidy]

Thanks for the banana milk recipe, my daughter will love it. Do you need to strain it? She likes to drink through her sippy cup and I think that would be a bit too thick. Maybe we could do the straw for this one though. Thanks for the ideas. We have been doing much better with her diet. This morning she had "yogurt" of blended coconut meat, 1/2 banana, rice milk and a handful of spinach. She ate the entire thing and asked for more! When I give her the delicous raw recipes she eats more than ever!
Brianna - It sounds so romantic huh? I can picture it...........

[wyjoz]

You'r Welcome. Try the orange mango banana (I call it pudding) I can swear she will love that one. You can even add a Tbsp of ground flax Omega-3 in it.

It's nice to hear that she's liking all this. Yea! To Health! Joz

[IamLoved]

I have found that the hardest part of transitioning our children is US!

Yes, US!

It is hard for US to change what we are doing. It is so easy to continue doing what we are used to and accustomed to doing. I speak from a lot of experience here. I am trying to transition my four oldest children (ages 3,4,5 and 9) into a raw lifestyle. Sometimes it is easier to just give them what I am used to giving them.

However, our youngest, who just turned 18 months, is all raw and giving her cooked fod is NOT an option. She loves almond milk with bananas, avocados, cherry tomatoes and all the other delicious food. Lately she has been going over to the cupboard where I keep our dried fruit and "asking" for figs. She loves to eat dries figs.

It is so easy to feed her this way because she has always eaten this way. It is harder with the other four because I am not used to feeding them like this. It is not because they protest, they actually love my raw food, I am just not in the habit of always giving it to them. They are about 75% raw though. So anyways my point is that the earlier you transition the easier it is for all of you.

Oh and by the way have you ever read the ariticle about how calves fed pasturized milk all died? I don't remember where I read about it but it was quite an eye opener. Even my husband, whose grandfather is a dairy farmer, does not like to drink milk anymore!

I wish you all the best! Once you get used to feeding you DD this way it will become easier and easier. And she will be soooooooooo healthy!
:)

[cassidy]

Thanks MissionaryMama - we're trying! Doing well too. She is eating nearly everything I give her. This wasn't the case before. Her favorite is avocado and carob powder. Also green smoothies are a good one. We're working on it and having fun with it too. We are learning together! Sounds like you have done well with your daughter!

[cassidy]

Wyjoz - thanks so much for the recipes! I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and am excited to try some new ones out!

[wyjoz]

cassidy check out this link, it was posted here: http://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/nutrition/cru-cru/en/home.php

like make a Fruit House? How fun for a little one? to health Joz

You'r welcome for the recipes.

[IamLoved]

Hello,

While rereading my post I realised that I may have come across sounding harsh which was certainly not my intention. If anyone took me as being harsh, I am very sorry. I am very guilty of feeding my children whatever because it is easier and it is a habit. I am slowly getting better about this.
Anyways, sorry if I sounded harsh. :)

[cassidy]

No no no Mama, I didn't get that impression at all.
As a little transition update, my duaghter is drinking in her bottle now about 75% coconut milk and 25% organic milk. We are almost there! She won't take 100% yet. Soon though.
We just went to the doc. and she got her MMR and Chickenpox shots. I wish I were stronger and could say no to them. I just can't. I can't break that far out of the box yet. I do see the benefit in them. Absolutely. But they scare me TO DEATH! A kid down the street died from a live virus vaccine about 10 yrs ago. Now I just read that the gov. is adding another vaccine to the list for the little ones. I mean, seriously how far are we going to take this? It is so unnatural. We are still vaccinating for polio?! What are the chances of getting polio? Lets start vaccinating for ebola too... just in case. OK there is a little rant but I'm all done now. I hate holding her while she cries as they stick a needle in her arm. She signs for "all done" and she kept doing it while they were giving it too her. I broke down in tears, it was awful.