for cakes & custards, coconut milk is a great substitution, and it adds a nice taste & texture. I recently tried it and it's pretty great stuff !

I was diagnosed with this exact intolerance as a baby. My favorite as a kid was english muffin pizzas with goat feta. They're kid sized and the feta, tomato sauce and crisp muffin are frankly more salty and delicious than if you made them with mozzarella. Just toast the muffins, top with sauce and cheese and broil until bubbly.

Also, I will warn you, your kid will hate not being able to eat pizza and ice cream. I hated it so much that I started introducing bits of it into my diet when I was 12 and now I can eat just about anything with cows milk in it except: ice cream, yogurt, skim milk, or an entire pizza (which is a bad idea anyway.) Even if I do eat ice cream, it only goes about half way down my throat then just comes right back up. And sometimes, you know what, it's worth it.

Not suggesting your kid try this, just saying they probably will.

Having found out last year I was lactose intolerant, I've found that sheep's milk yogurt tastes the most like cow's milk. Almond, soy, rice and coconut (the kind in cartons, not the canned kind) can all leave hints of their taste in recipes, and are thinner and a different texture.

If you look into the vegetarian cheeses, make sure you read the labels. I found out the almond cheese I had still had milk products in it (casein I believe). Reading the labels would be key, since most breads are made with milk, but bagels are not. And not all feta cheeses are made with goat or sheep's milk. Manchego is an excellent sheep's milk cheese, but it can be pricey.

I had recently gone to my local bookstore and looked through their cookbooks for the dairy free ones, and got one I liked the best. There are several now, although they might be ones covering other food allergies (like gluten allergies).

I've had good luck substituting almond milk in baked goods.

I substitute soy milk in everything and when you're little one gets bigger, an ice cream maker for "alternative" milk ice creams (like coconut) will be popular.

I use soy milk for baking/cooking hot foods (sauces, soups, etc), and almond milk for beverages or using with cold recipes (coffee, chilled soups, etc).
I'm dairy-free in general so I can't really help you with the cheeses, but I know that almond and soy milks tend to be a bit cheaper than goat or sheep milk if you're looking to cook often.

I feel for you... my baby was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy and the first year of his life was very intense. Unfortunately, I wasn't nursing, so we had to go down a prescription-only, very expensive formula that I wouldn't wish on anyone. From what our Pediatric GI said, milk and soy protein allergies go hand in hand, so I'd bear that in mind when eating. Once you eliminate dairy, you may want to go back for another stool test/scan/whatever diagnosis tool your doc is using and see if the problem persists—you may need to exclude all animal milks and soy.

I would recommend coconut-based yogurts and coconut milk for baking, etc. Whole Foods sells shortening that is free of trans-fat and is a good substitution for butter in baked goods. For cereal, etc., you can use rice or almond milk.

Milk and soy protein intolerance is often outgrown by about one year of age. Our son also has pretty nasty reflux and, as of 20 months old, still spits up once in a while. I have often thought about eliminating dairy and soy from his diet again but so far haven't taken the plunge.

If you'd like to talk more about this, my email is ricestein (at) mac (dot) com. MSPI is not super common and is widely misunderstood, especially if it includes spitting up.

Best of luck to you!

Same diagnosis here, but currently also avoiding soy. Keep in mind that goat and sheep milks are actually similar to cow milk, so unless you have trialed them I would be careful. I use rice milk in my cereal and coconut milk in cooking.

Earth Balance is a pretty good substitute for baking and smart balance with flax is dairy free and good for spreading.

I generally don't bother with cheese substitutes because they don't add a lot of nutritional value, but Daiya cheese, which is both soy and dairy free, is not bad for pizza.

Hi Melissa,

I can't eat cow's milk protein either. As soy protein is built in a very similar way, soy is not an alternative for me - I don't know about you of cause.

I substitute butter with a good dairy free margarine or goat's butter if I need that buttery taste like in croissants oder make brown butter, it's pretty pricy though.

I like to drink goat's milk, the fresh stuff beats just about everything. It might taste a little odd to you at first, but you will get used to it, believe me, after some time, cow's milk will taste strangely cowy to you. Although is smells pretty strong when heated, most people can't tell the difference once it is coolerd and is part of desserts like pudding.

You might also want to lay your hands on a copy of the incredibly good cookbook "Goat" by Marc Scarborough and Bruce Weinstein. They present great recipes and also tips where to buy all the lovely produce they are using.
Some of the recipes have been presented on their blog: www.bruceandmark.com/we-cook
Make the goat's cheese blondies. Like now!

That problem is not as bad as you would think and will enlarge your culinary palate!

New mom with the same story- my baby is soy and dairy. 50% of babies with cow's milk sensitivity also have soy- keep in mind if issues continue. I scoured the web- here are the most helpful things I found.

http://www.beanmom.com/nomilk.html

http://www.nursingmomrecipes.com/

http://www.foodallergy.org/files/HTRLsheet_2012.pdf

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tSt1VyIgb6Li5FMjMer6xZA&single=true&gid=0&output=html

http://www.theeducatedmommy.com/?p=473

I have been cow-dairy free for a year and if you have a Whole Foods near by it is pretty easy. Earth balance for a butter substitute. Redwood Hill Farms Goat yogurt is very comparable to cow yogurt. Sorbet is good to substitute ice cream, dairy free by nature! Soy Milk, Almond, Coconut milk for liqued substitutes. Goat cheese and sheep cheeses can seem overwhelming at first and perhaps tangy but they really are great. I was resistant at first, but now I like it more than the cow stuff. The large Whole Foods by my house has goat brie, goat blue cheese, goat cheddar - there is so much more than the crumble soft cheese that most people think of. As a side note - be careful with breads especially when you go out to eat, many breads contain whey. French bread is *usually* a safe choice. Tongiht, homemade pizza with goat cheddar and basil. Good luck to you!

I second POLARBEAR12345 about the Earth Balance, goat yogurt, and sorbet. I've always had an allergy to cow's milk, and I've found my favorite milk to be Vanilla Almond Milk from Trader Joe's (the blue carton, rather than the red). It's great for both drinking and baking. I try not to rely on Earth Balance too much, since I'm sort of anti all the strange things that make it taste like real butter, but olive oil or coconut butter are marvelous substitutes in most baked stuff. There's also vegetable shortening for things like pie crusts. Goat butter is good, but quite expensive. Romano cheese (made of sheep milk) is excellent and is interchangeable with parmesan. Rye bread is dairy free 99% of the time.

Don't be afraid to quiz servers at restaurants and ask for substitutions. If you see goat cheese in any dish on the menu, the kitchen should have no problem using it instead of blue cheese in a salad or a garnish on top of pasta. Olive oil is an easy substitute if they saute with butter. You'll get the hang of it :)

I also agree with MGOODSILVER that if this continues but isn't life-threatening, your kid will definitely "sneak" stuff or take advantage of friends' parents who don't know any better. I doubt there's too much you can do about it :)

You *can* still have real chocolate! Look for good quality semi-sweet, like ghirardelli. The good stuff doesn't use milk as a filler, so you can eat those as needed!

I've got lots of yummy options on my blog, too: http://www.katesshortandsweets.com