Soya milk instead of dairy

[teamholly]

Hi All,

We are moving our 22 month old daughter off advanced formula and onto Soya milk instead of dairy milk for the following reasons:-

1. Because dairy has not agreed with her in the past
2. When comparing cartons, the soya milk seems to contain a lot more vitamins and goodness, although a lot of these are specially added.

My questions are:-

1.  Is this safe, as we have heard conflicting reports?
2.  If the soya milk is OK, should we be using a 'light' version with less sugar content (but also has less calories etc.)?  Currently we are using the normal Alpro soya milk version but we note that one of the ingredients is raw cane sugar.

Would appreciate anyones views on this.

Thanks for your help.

J x

[Mamoushka]

Hi, I don't have any advice but had to post to let you know that we're doing the same. My Lo is 11 months and has had issues with milk. Me and DH both have issues with milk and so we drink soy milk. We are planning on putting Lo on soy after 12 months.

[crazycanuck]

I put my DS on Soy Milk from 12 months to around 18 months - around 18 months he was able to tolerate it - you can still give yoghurt and cheese and other items if they sit well and if your really worried you can give a fish oil supplement.....Soy is fine for kids - reports of hormones are out there - but they are sooooooo little its nothing to worry about...........you can give the omega soy as well if you wish.....it is more expensive but worth it if your lo isn't in pain iykwim?

Sarah

[maggie2]

There is a ton of controversy about soy unfortunately   It's tough when our lo's can't tolerate dairy - IMHO, if it were me, I would try something like rice milk instead - but I am by no means as expert.  I've just read too many disturbing things about soy to feel comfortable with it.

Here's an excerpt from the FDA website that I found particularily disturbing

The National Institutes of Health is sponsoring a long-term follow-up study on the safety of soy infant formula. The study is a "longitudinal retrospective epidemiological" assessment in which young adults who consumed soy formula as infants will be compared with young adults who consumed milk-based formulas as infants. They will be evaluated for any adverse effects from infancy into their childbearing years

Makes our kids sound like guinea pigs.  Here's the full article:  http://www.fda.gov/Fdac/features/2000/300_soy.html  It reviews both the benefits and risks of soy - it's from the FDA so it should be unbiased., but if anything it will be leaning more towards encouraging soy.

Here's a more biased perspective on the dangers of soy: http://www.mercola.com/article/soy/index.htm

I don't want to sound like a jerk bringing all of this up - I know that a lot of moms give soy milk to their kids (we also gave soy formula to ds)
but it sounded like you had some concerns, so thought I would share

Hope you find something that works for ya

[TJ & Stephy's Mommy]

I've given DS the occassional soy milk since he started to not want to drink regular whole milk.  I think when we switched to the sippy cup it messed us up with the whole milk.  But anyways, I've asked my pediatrician if it was ok to give soy milk and she was ok with it.  Have you asked your pediatricians opinion?

We have given DS the organic soy milk and he likes drinking it.  I can't remember the name of the brand that I buy but I think it's by YoBaby, it's usually in the same place as the organic stuff.  There's also a soy based baby yoguart that DS also likes to eat as well.

[Mamoushka]

I've started to replace one of my ds bottles with soy milk instead of soy milk formula. I've tasted both, and there's not much difference. He seems to not notice either, although, he is alot hungrier some next meal time   Maybe now he'll be more interested in eating his food instead of just waiting for the bottle! Anyways, just to say that we've done some replacing, with no side-effects, or reactions, so I will continue to wean the formula to soy milk. And I read the articles about the dangers of soy, and in my opinion, a bean can't be worse than milk from cattle that has been fed god-knows-what (including cow and pig parts) and injected with growth hormones. 
 

[crazycanuck]

The National Institutes of Health is sponsoring a long-term follow-up study on the safety of soy infant formula. The study is a "longitudinal retrospective epidemiological" assessment in which young adults who consumed soy formula as infants will be compared with young adults who consumed milk-based formulas as infants. They will be evaluated for any adverse effects from infancy into their childbearing years

Why is this so disconcerting to you?

All it is medical jargon to say they are doing a study comparing kids that drank soy and kids that drank milk up until their childbearing years........just curious.........


Both articles I read and find biased........but each to his own........and I agree to what the other lady said re: what the cows are being fed and the processes in which its cleaned.........i am a tad against milk though - it has never sat well with me - give me headaches and aweful stomache trouble........

Sarah

[maggie2]

Well, the reason it bothers me a little bit is that soy is marketed to us as one of the healthiest things that can be consumed, and parents assume that it's been proven safe and healthy for their children, when it obviously hasn't (hasn't been proven dangerous either).  I know that there are always going to be ongoing studies on a lot of different things, which is good, it was just a segment of the article that stood out to me, that's all   Maybe it was because I had already skimmed the full article and was already aware of the ongoing controversy of consuming soy products

I guess I was thinking that if it's as safe as the infant formula companies tell us it is, why the need for a study to determine if there are any adverse long term effects   Could you imagine if they found adverse effects, how upset and angry parents would be?  Anyway, maybe this is a topic more suitable to the debate board

I agree about the awful stuff in cow's milk as well - we get ours from a farm where we know the family who owns it   I'm a little crunchy, I know