switching to nutrimagen at 20 months - crazy idea?

[lilisuze]

dietician wants us to switch from soy to nutrimagen now. She is concerned for the phyto-estrogens in the soy.

tried it last night - total disaster - as expected it got spit right out! How hard do you think i should try to get him to have it. Has anyone had sucess changing at this late stage?

Lilixx

[Mashi]

What about flavoured Neocate?   I know that once DS hit 1 year the paed said that the Nutramigen (stage 2) might not be the best thing for him nutrition wise, and preferred for us to move on to a formula meant for toddlers and not babies.  The other paed shrugged it off and said to keep him on Nutramigen if we wanted though, so that's 2 totally different opinions. 

For me, I would not try so hard to get him to take it because I think you could be fighting a never ending battle at this age creating more frustration for the both of you than it's worth.  Calcium fortified rice milk and orange juice will get the calcium into him and other sources for his fats - coconut milk, olive oil, etc.  Might be worth asking the dietician about that (though if she did not suggest that it sounds already like she may be against it...)

[MLK]

I had stopped BFing my MSPI son at 14 months and had the option of switching to Elecare. I decided against it because I had heard so many stories of the struggle to get toddlers to take it past the baby stage. I ended up making my own "formula" from rice and cocnut milk, my son loves it.

Does he have a very limited diet otherwise? If he is eating a wide range of foods I'm not sure it's worth the struggle to get him to take it?

[Mom to M&M]

Agree with PPs. Rice milk mixed with coconut milk is a great (and tasty) option instead!

[MLK]

I forgot to mention I make an eggnog with the rice/coconut milk for extra vitamins/protein and flavour it with vanilla.

[lilisuze]

He is fine having the soy formula TBH. He eats a varied diet otherwise, I try to include fish and some high fat foods. He has juice (watered down) each day and soy milk popsicles sometimes. He eats proper dinners, sandwiches, fruit and vegetables (but not pasta!)

He is now 20 months. I intend to start a proper milk trial again when he is 2 years (so  only 4 months from now). He has been having soy milk fine since 7 months old, and its only now (after a 5 month wait to see a dietician) that they have said it is a danger for him to be on it.

I dont know if this is a random NHS health scare again (like dont eat peanuts or any nuts while you are pregnant, then 2 months after i give birth, suddenly its fine again!) and I do not know, nor can i find out anywhere, the actual danger from the higher levels of phytoestrogens in the milk he is having.

I do not have an appointment again with the dietician until november, so not quite sure what to do now. Up until now, the small risk from the phytoestrogens have been far far outweighed by the benefits of the nutritionally complete soy. When i read the back of the elemental formula packet, and see that really its just glucose syrup, vegetable oil and chemicals, I'm not sure i really want him having that either.

All for the sake of 14oz milk a day!

lili xx

[MLK]

I didn't want to go the soy route with my son because of the phyto-oestrogens. But he is soy intolerant anyway so a moot point. You can make yummy coconut popsicles!


As for the risks of soy, well the problem is they will be clearer in about 10/20 years time.

My mum is Asian and she said they never gave soy milk to babies or toddlers in place of milk when she was young.

[Mom to M&M]

TBH soy milk freaks me out a bit. I think some has a good place in diet when more like miso, bits of tofu, etc but it seems way overused in our society lately with milk and soy protein nuggets, etc...

[lilisuze]

flavoured rice milk? or just plain with calcium. Do ANY of them taste nice?

[Mom to M&M]

IMO enriched regular rice milk with coconut milk added for fat (I would do 2 ounces coconut for every 7-8 ounces rice) tastes much better than soy formula!

[Mashi]

I don't think that anyone really can say about the reality of phyto-estrogens in soy milk.  IMO it does not really matter WHAT you do there are dangers in it  and there is a lot of bandwagon jumping in various different health issues (especially in the nannying NHS) that suddenly dies out when something new comes along, or funding runs out for whatever the previous danger was. They would do a lot more for people's overall health to stop worrying about things like soy that they are unsure about and tell people to throw their car keys away, start walking places and spare the environment while at it. Kwim?  As Lan said in 10-20 years they will know more.  (Though I have to say the time I spent in Korea and Japan, soy milk (and everything soy in general) is is very popular, pregnant women and kids especially have it shoved at them as much as they can take!)

I would go for the rice and coconut milk if you can - better than HA formula for sure, unless you can get a flavoured Neocate.

[lilisuze]

ok so help me here, I'm novice at this!
coconut milk out of a can? mixed with watery plain rice milk from a longlife carton? no flavouring?

[MLK]

Well in my eggnog I use vanilla essence an a bit of honey for flavouring. I use about 50:50 rice to coconut milk, heat it, add it to beaten eggs and cook on low heat on the stove. Then add the vanilla/honey. Cool in fridge.

If you don't want to do the egg route then just add the flavourings, or to make it easier you coudl see if he jsut drinks it straight!

Traditionally (like when my Mum was a kid) SE Asian countries didn't drink soy milk. Tofu in various forms, soy sauce, yes, soy milk drunk like we drink milk, no. I believe soy milk as a drink was introduced from the West. As a kid I remember drinking it as a treat when out at restaurants but at home we used condensed milk! I still like the taste of the Asian style soy milk (can't bear the Western UHT stuff) but don't drink it on a regular basis.

I asked my mum what happened if women couldn't breastfeed and she said when she was a baby (so over 70 years ago now!) they would use a wet nurse first then introduce buffalo milk when the baby was old enough.

[Mom to M&M]

I also like the eggnog idea - good way to get protein in too!

[lilisuze]

can you make up a whole batch of this milk, or should i mix it up in a beaker each time?

I have calcium and vitamin fortified rice milk and coconut milk, oh and vanilla essence.
Mom to M&M - i am going to try the non cooked version first, and see how we get on. Any advice welcome