That Curious Momma

Our story started back when my toddler was nothing but two pink lines on a stick.

Becoming pregnant was a shock, but a welcomed one. She changed everything and she wasn’t even here yet. I ate better, I took better care of myself, and I even prioritized my hobbies such as crochet, writing, and art to help lower my stress to keep her safe inside of me.

Though, once it was time for her to come into the world, I had a traumatic birth. It caused me to be all the more overly cautious and careful with her health and well-being.

At just 3 weeks old, she had already developed a mild bottle aversion as she would constantly spit up every time she was fed her formula and would have severe acid reflux. We were told that was normal, but to switch to a sensitive formula and go from there.

The acid reflux? It didn’t go away when they told us it would. In fact, the more we introduced table food, the worse it got. My husband and I assumed it was because the table food was new, slightly more acidic than her formula, and that it would pass with time.

Until our daughter ate a small piece of sharp cheddar cheese.

Her skin bloomed with red marks, she scratched at her belly and face, and even her behavior changed. In the ambulance, on the way to the nearest children’s hospital, she didn’t even make a sound when they pricked her heel for a blood glucose test. That was the point that I knew it was serious.

After they had given her the allergy medication in the ER, she started rapidly improving. I demanded a allergy referral.

As someone who worked in healthcare for much of their adult life in various capacities, I recognized the signs of an allergic reaction, even a mild one. I was determined to get to the bottom of it for my daughter’s sake. Even though her pediatrician doubted the legitimacy and seriousness of my daughter’s reaction.

Turns out, she doesn’t have a true allergy to Cow’s Milk Protein (something found in all dairy). She has a non-IgE allergy, or intolerance, that causes her body to flare up with severe eczema along with behavioral changes and allergy-like symptoms.

For us? That made it all the more difficult to feed her. Much of what we ate and drank contained some form of dairy. We had to upend our entire cooking routine as well as what we kept in the house. We even switched to a soy formula when she was still on formula, and a fortified soy milk for when she outgrew formula.

I don’t want my daughter growing up thinking there’s something wrong with her just because she can’t tolerate dairy as well as most other people. That brings me to now.

After searching and searching for a cohesive catalogue of dairy-free alternatives that are just as nutritious for toddlers, I decided to create my own. I not only want to help my own daughter succeed, I want to help other moms and dads struggling with something similar in their own children succeed, as well.

So, that’s who I am.

A mom on a mission to help her daughter eat as healthily as she can while avoiding all dairy.

This blog will be updated to the best of my ability. If you’ve ever had a feral toddler, you know.