Soy milk

[Jude's Mama]

Does anyone give there babe soy milk? I am currently giving my little guy tofu and I thought maybe soymilk would be good for him as well? Someone also told me that goats milk is good too. He is still breastfed as well. Is it too early to give him these kind of milks?

TIA,

[Jude's Mama]

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

I have read in several places not to give soy milk to babies under 1 year, but I think they mean as a substitute for formula or breast milk. So, I would think that soy milk would be okay as an occasional snack for a baby who has proven tolerant of other soy products, but not as a frequent food which could displace breast milk in the diet. If you do use soy milk for your son, maybe you could try the unsweetened kind. Never having tasted sweetened soy, he won't miss the sweetness. The sugar in soy milk is often added in forms such as cane juice, barley malt, or rice malt, so just because the label doesn't list sugar doesn't mean it's unsweetened.

I don't know much about goat's milk, but do have friends who have chosen it over cow's milk for their children. Maybe someone else has more info about this. Again, I would be careful not to replace formula or breast milk with any kind of not-specially-made-for-babies milk, except as an occasional treat.

HTH

[gabner]

Soy is one of the most common food alleries and you should wait until after 12 months. Soy foods also contain something that acts like estrogens. You might want to do more research on this before giving your baby very much soy.

There is no reason to give your breastfed baby any milks. For more info, go to www.google.com and type in kellymom delay solids.

[danaalex]

Our oldest daughter will only drink soy milk, but she is 21 mo....... When she weaned I was opposed to her having cow's milk and therefore weaned her to soy. Our ped is okay with that. We did a lot of research on the subject because soy contains isoflavones which can mimick estrogen. ' A baby strictly fed soy formula for the first year of life will ingest enough isoflavones that it would be the equivalant of taking close to 5 bc pills a day!!!! ' NOT GOOD!!!! We limit our daughters' soy milk intake to two 6 oz glasses a day, but most days she won't take more than 4oz. She is not a milk fan!!! IF you are still nursing, stick with that! Do your research before weaning in order to make the best decision for you and your child. Good luck!!!!!

[fluffernutter]

FYI, Soy is used in several hormone replacement meds. I wouldn't give a lot of it to an infant or child. If your child is still bf-ing (s)he shouldn't need any other milk. But if you really want to give him/her something other than momma milk, try rice milk or almond milk.

[Jude's Mama]

Has anyone read the article in Vegetarian Times on soy milk? I believe it was in the April issue. They were saying that the estrogen levels in soy were safe in ther milk form it was the pill form thaat had higher consentation levels.

I give my DS a bit here and there. He still is BF and is very happy with that. Thanks for all the info ladies!

[TrinitysMama]

I've never given Lily soymilk in a bottle, but I do use it to mix with her cereal and oatmeal. It's a lot better than cow's milk, IMO.

[layla]

I'm a nutritionist, and I do give my children soy milk/products, but I try to balance them with a lot of rice products as well. Too much of any one thing is not great, so try some rice milk, rice products, as well. Also, if your baby is breastfed, you don't have to give her anything else. The tip about allergies is a good one. Unfortunately, soy is a high allergen, so keep the soy intake to a minimum before 16-18 months. Goos luck and stay away from those icky dairy products!

[gardenmom]

Why is everyone so neg on the dairy products? I understand not wanting hormones and antibiotics in your foods, and limiting fat intake, and waiting until baby is old enough to avoid allergy/digest properly--but if you're using organic products, what's the objection to dairy in moderation?

just curious...would love to hear more on this...:

[danaalex]

for us it is just something we stay away from. our thoughts are...... why does anyone drink milk? because someone told them to, not because it's what humans are supposed to drink or eat. if we were supposed to drink cow's milk and eat food made from cow's milk we would have all been born as calves instead of human infants.......... that's why we don't drink it.

[gardenmom]

more about milk...

That's a valid point, but the same point could be made about almost any food, right (I mean who decided that humans should eat something like oysters, for example--they look so gross, but someone tried them, and now they're an expensive delicacy)? And soy or rice 'milk' is certainly not something that is found in nature, either--it's manufactured food. Aside from it being from a plant source, both crops are human-controlled, heavily cultivated (and now, GMO) crops.

I've never liked milk, anyway...although I can't stay away from ice cream , and we eat a lot (too much) cheese, yogurt, and I bake for gift-giving at the holidays with butter. My personal theory (based on NO scientific information) is that if they really studied it, the hormones in our milk supply would be the most important link to increased rates of breast and prostate cancer.

Personally, being a Horticulturist, I'm much more frightened of the GMO farming and foods than the dairy (until the cows are all GMO, of course--ick).

I'd still like to hear more about why others stay away from dairy...any other thoughts out there? Any comments about my theories...

[Plaid]

Ask the Experts

Here's a link to the "Ask the Experts" section of the website which has some interesting info about health problems associated w/cow's milk:

http://mothering.com/experts/palmer-...shtml#cowsmilk

[zombiemommie]

www.notmilk.com

[danaalex]

gardenmom-- that's just our take on milk and dairy products....... my dh's favorite thing to say in regards to cows milk and bf is-- no where else in nature does a mammal drink another mammal's milk by choice. of course there are circumstances where baby animals are raised by others, say humans, and then ingest something other than what they would've gotten from their mother.

i by no means think that our reason for avoiding dairy is without flaws, we obviously cannot apply it to most foods humans eat these days. we are by no means the strictest of vegetarians, my sister in law is a vegan and some of the stuff she eats is so not found in nature it is not funny!!! her cookies have crisco in them, sooooo not good for you !!! we just do our best to stick to foods we "think" we should eat ")!!

[layla]

any one of a good thing does not make it great or better. there happens to be a lot of problems associated with dairy, but if dairy doesn't bother you, why not have some in moderation? everything in our world these days that we ingest is questionable-even organic food. pesticides/herbicides travels on the wind and via insects and wind up in what we believe is pure food. produce takes so long to reach us from harvest that many, many of the nutrients are lost. if you aren't growing your own, you really have no way of knowing. with dairy it's the same-who knows what those poor cows are being fed, and it's my personal belief that anything that is nutritionally correct for a baby cow is way too much of a good thing for humans-that'd be like giving a mouse brest milk-way too many nutrients for it. again I stress balance-it gives your body a variety and allows time for recovery if something doesn't agree with you.