Trade in your cow for... almonds??

I posted awhile ago about goat's milk (you can read it here) and how I was planning on using this for Wesley instead of cow's milk. That was the plan... BUT, with babies, as in life, things don't always go according to plan. Wesley hated it! Like really, really hated it! I tried everything... he didn't like it warm, cold, in a new cup, old cup, in the morning... he did not like it in a house, he did not like it with a mouse, he did not like it here or there, or anywhere! So I had to abandon the goat's milk because it was like I was torturing the poor guy with every sip. I still plan to try it every few weeks just to see, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

So I spent some time looking for other alternatives to dairy milk, because the more I've read about it, the more convinced I've become that - contrary to very popular belief - we don't need to drink cow's milk! GASP! I won't get into it here, but if you're interested in learning more, google 'The China Study'. (Thanks Nichole!)

Anyway, I wasn't crazy about using soy milk exclusively because there is some research that suggests it may not be great for males in particular to consume too much soy (although he still eats tofu and soy yogurt occasionally). However, something that we've tried that Wesley is really loving is almond milk. We've been using the unsweetened variety, but you can also get it in original flavour, vanilla, as well as chocolate! It took him a few days, but he really enjoys it now. I am only nursing now in the morning and before bedtime, so he'll have some almond milk in his sippy cup with a snack after his naps. It doesn't have the calories and fat that whole milk would have, but we make sure he's getting lots of healthy fats from other sources (this boy could live off avocados!). It's fortified with calcium and other good stuff like B12 so we don't have to worry about that.

I've never been a milk drinker myself - I just don't like it - so I wasn't really looking for an alternative, but almond milk is actually really yummy, especially in smoothies and baking!

Worth a try if you're looking for a dairy alternative!