Good Fats For A Dairy-allergic Toddler

Dietary fat is a critical nutrient during the earliest years of life because it helps the brain and nervous system develop correctly, according to Kids Health. For many toddlers, a large percentage of daily fat intake comes from milk and other dairy products. But if your child has a dairy allergy, you need to pay special attention to her diet to make sure her body receives the fat it needs.

Milk Substitutes

If your toddler can't tolerate cow's milk, non-dairy milks derived from soy, nuts or rice make good substitutes and offer the fats your child needs. However, non-dairy milk products are not nutritionally equal to cow's milk, so talk to your child's doctor before choosing one of these beverages. If your toddler is under 2 years old, give her full fat milks; after 2, your doctor may recommend switching to reduced-fat versions.

Nuts and Seeds

As long as your child doesn't have a nut allergy, nut and seed products are among the best sources of healthy fats for toddlers; they're rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, which provide antioxidants, help the body absorb nutrients and can help to prevent certain chronic health conditions, according to the University of Michigan (reference 3). Find these healthy fats in almonds, cashews, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, ground flax seeds, sunflower seed butter, almond butter and sesame paste.

Oils

Cooking with vegetable oils and using them to top pasta, vegetables and meats are easy ways to sneak more healthy fats into your toddler's diet. Most vegetable oils provide monounsaturated or polyunsatured fats, which are considered heart-healthy forms of fat. Offer your toddler foods prepared with olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, walnut oil, flax seed oil, grape seed oil or mustard oil.

Other Fat Sources

Other sources of healthy unsaturated fats include avocados, olives and fatty fish like salmon. Though these aren't known as particularly toddler-friendly foods, adding small amounts of them to your child's usual meals can give him the fats he needs and help him develop a taste for different flavors. Try adding bite-sized chunks of avocado to a colorful fruit salad, placing finely diced olives inside a cheesy quesadilla and stirring small pieces of cooked fish into pasta and topping it with your child's favorite sauce.