Ok so dh and I are now sure that S has some form of lactose intolerance - he can tolerate small amounts of cheese but milk always gives him the runs big time and now even his organic/probiotic yogurt is giving him an issue when it never did before.

He is very skinny and all the sites I am looking at on helping your child gain weight say to use whole fat dairy which is not an option for us and last blood test showed low calcium levels which is not good for his bones/teeth. Also avoiding sugar due to his cavities, so calcium juice is out.


Sooooooo, anything fattening with calcium that is not sugary at all? I might try kale smoothies for calcium but that is not fattening enough, lol. I also need to step it up and make some rice milk.

Stuff we have tried
1) Spinach in our tomato sauce BUT have read that the calcium in spinach is hard to absorb - frustrating bec he really actually likes this

2) Calcium supplements - I would rather a natural food source of calcium - don't like these gummy vites as they are too sugary - any other chewable calcium for toddlers???

3) Almond milk - he hated it.

Keep feeding him spinach!! That's awesome that he'll eat that at least. Have you tried almond butter, or just raw almonds? He might like those, and they're high in calcium and good fats.

heres a site that lists a bunch of vegan calcium sources. http://www.soystache.com/sources_of_calcium.htm Hope that helps.

Something that's not on the list is paw paws. They don't sell them in stores because they have a short shelf life, but some grow wild in my in-laws woods. Not sure if they grow wild near you or not, but they taste kinda like banana, and they're really good for you.

Almond butter is definitely a good choice! Try using tofu, it is a good source of calcium and protein. You can use it in lasagna, or scramble it like eggs, or mix it 50/50 to stretch your ground beef.

What about fish? Salmon WITH bones, is very high in calcium.

Try checking out Trader Joe's, their prices are a lot better than many other stores. They carry almond butter there, as well as nuts, tofu, and other nutritious foods.

Here's their address and phone number: :)

Trader Joe's
www.traderjoes.com
675 Avenue of the Americas, New York - (212) 255-2106

at local health food stores too, they have vitamin blends in powder form that you can blend with yogurt or in food you make....instead of the gummy vitamins....we do this because of my son's dental work and pulling out spacers if he has chewy things....he is 6 and we've done this since he was 2. Good luck!
My youngest can't have milk products due to a protein intolerance in any milk form, but he can have cheese products and yogurt now....he is almost 4 yrs now and it has taken him building up over the years. He still can not drink pure milk in a glass though or he bleeds.
Juice IS an option if you give him a glass and then brush afterwards, say for breakfast or dinner. We have teeth issues with the oldest, so after two full oral surgeries for teeth issues, we do the same thing.

good call on the avocado, Paloma! We love it here and put it on so many things.

You may have seen it in my post about my DD, but Coconut Milk is working for us. We got the one with strawberry puree in it and it's almost like a smoothie. She loves it. She's getting calcium and a lot of the good fatty stuff. :)

You may have seen it in my post about my DD, but Coconut Milk is working for us. We got the one with strawberry puree in it and it's almost like a smoothie. She loves it. She's getting calcium and a lot of the good fatty stuff. :)


Thanks for the info - What kind of coconut milk are you using? The stuff here comes in a can and doesn't have calcium in it. Do you add dolomite powder to it or something? I just googled and found something about doing that here:
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2008/05/coconut-milk-tonic.html

Sounds interesting...

Hmmm... maybe they don't have the same product there. I know the cans that you're talking about. I've used those in making curries. Mmmmm! :)

We found the coconut milk in the same containers as soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk. I just bought more yesterday at our regular grocery store that is vanilla flavored. It's by the makers of Silk Soy Milk actually. I bought frozen strawberries too. I've mashed/pureed them and will add them to the milk. She's just not fond of the vanilla/regular flavor of any of these milks yet.

Oh, but the cultured strawberry coconut milk that I bought before was called So Delicious. And that I will only be able to find at a health food store or something similar. I wonder if they have anything similar there.

I will check and see! Making our own might turn out to be more economical, so I will see about that too. There seems to be an issue with some, not all dolemite manufactures allowing lead in their products which is not good!


I just wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions!
And Ruth that was so sweet to look up the Trader Joe's downtown for us :) You guys are the best.

No problem, glad to help! :)

I second the coconut kefir suggestion. My daughter calls it "strawberry milk."