Long term neocate use

Looking for some advice! (and warning, it's a bit of a ramble!)

DD is 2 and a bit, and at the moment still having a (smallish) bottle/cup of neocate at bedtime, and we're finding that she is reducing how much she wants to drink rather rapidly! (A couple months ago, she would easily down 250mL+, and now we're lucky if she wants 100mL).

I'm just wondering whether we go through the whole testing/specialist appointment/neocate script cycle again (as we're due for another appointment/script), or whether we look to 'wean' her from neocate..... but what to replace with?

How old have other people kept their kiddies on the neocate wagon for?

As background:
We haven't had allergy blood tests done for a while, but the last couple tests we had showed negative for dairy (which had been moderate), and low for egg (which had been high).... however, every time we attempt to re-introduce 'pure' dairy into her diet (as in cheese, yoghurt etc - she seems to be fine with the small amount of milk solids in other foods), her allergy hallmarks (congested nose, eczema, waking hourly at night ) step up again.

My personal theory is that maybe she now has a dairy intolerance rather than allergy (as she is definitely still reacting to it when she has a large enough amount of it, but obviously doesn't have the immune antibodies there in her system - so her 'allergy' really has reduced).....

She eats pretty well, and is good with things like meat, broccolli & other veges, and we do give her small amounts of soy milk to drink, soy yoghurt and occasionally soy ice cream so she is getting a source of calcium and protein ... but I'm worried about upping the soy too much, seeing as she's still pretty young, and the research on soy as a major milk product in kiddies isn't that reassuring!

I guess I'm just wondering whether she'll be getting the full complement of nutrients she needs if we drop the (albeit small) amount of neocate she's having (and what if anything do we replace it with?) - but on the other hand, will there ever be a 'good' time to drop it?

(I know if I ask the specialist about this, the answer will always be to keep her on it, as it keeps us going back for regular appointments so just looking for other people's experiences.

Thanks Kel - maybe it is worth us going back in for a visit! I tend to be a tiny bit skeptical of their motives sometimes

But you're right - it may be worth seeing if they have some suggestions about long-term solutions/ideas.

(My head is firmly in the sand right now about #2 maybe having the same issues with allergies! This baby WILL have a completely 'normal' immune system, and WILL tolerate all kinds of foods )

My DD self-weaned off Neocate at about the same age. She still see's the specialist 3-6 monthly, as her allergies keep changing. She still has a dairy allergy, but it is getting better and she can tolerate small amounts. The specialist said to not use any substitutes (she also had a soy allergy) and she just gets normal milk on her cereal each day. If she has too much, like yoghurt and icecream, she'll get an upset tummy and we know to cut back.

I'm to go and see the specialist next mth, as he wants to put me on a special diet, to hopefully reduce the chances of #2 having food allergies. Might be something you want to look into.