Ped suggested putting DS on soy... some questions

[megan973]

So, DS (13 months) was having a lot of digestive trouble after we switched him to milk (about 12 months). He does fine with small amounts of cheese and yogurt, but milk was causing his stomach to tightening, harden and he was having painful stools.

Ped suggested soy, rice or almond milk. We tried our local grocery store brand of organic soy milk. Of course, now I'm wondering what to do when we go to a restaurant, go on vacation (Disney World), or just other places where it used to be very easy to mix up formula or order a glass of milk.

Also, does anyone know why some soy milk is refrigerated and some is not? Our grocery store has some in the baking aisle which is not refrigerated and some in the dairy/cooler section.

Silk seems easier to find... is that the same thing (i.e. soy milk)?

Have you had any luck ordering soy milk at restaurants?

[megan973]

p.s. We did not dicuss anything being allergy-related, nor was he officially diagnosed as having an intolerance to milk/milk proteins (I know that is very rare).

[wellyes]

For cow milk alternatives, I think almond milk is a LOT tastier than soy milk.

Stuff in aseptic packaging doesn't require refrigeration --- even cow's milk can be packaged this way (Horizon makes popular milk drinks with straws that are the milk version of juice boxes). Very handy to keep a case of no-fridge-needed drinks in the car for use in restaurants and traveling. But I prefer to buy the perishable stuff for day-to-day use since it's a bit less of a processed product.

[egoldber]

My younger DD drinks soymilk. At home, she drinks the Trader Joe brand of soymilk in the half gallon containers from the refrigerated section. I generally pack her a "box" of soymilk to restaurants. Silk is by far the most readily available brand. Honestly, she also drinks a lot more juice in restaurants than I would prefer. Now that she is older and I am less concerned about fat content, she also drinks a lot of water.

She has completely outgrown her intolerance to cow's milk, but she now prefers soymilk. She will sometimes drink cow's milk if it is chocolate-y enough. :o

FWIW, some Disney restaurants have soymilk available and most Disney resort food courts carry it in their "Grab N Go" sections. It is the Silk brand.

[Katigre]

So, DS (13 months) was having a lot of digestive trouble after we switched him to milk (about 12 months). He does fine with small amounts of cheese and yogurt, but milk was causing his stomach to tightening, harden and he was having painful stools.

Ped suggested soy, rice or almond milk. We tried our local grocery store brand of organic soy milk. Of course, now I'm wondering what to do when we go to a restaurant, go on vacation (Disney World), or just other places where it used to be very easy to mix up formula or order a glass of milk.

Also, does anyone know why some soy milk is refrigerated and some is not? Our grocery store has some in the baking aisle which is not refrigerated and some in the dairy/cooler section.

Silk seems easier to find... is that the same thing (i.e. soy milk)?

Have you had any luck ordering soy milk at restaurants?
I personally would not do soy milk as milk replacement for a toddler b/c of the estrogenic properties and GMO issues. I'd go with Silk Coconut milk instead (comes in both shelf-stable cartons and refrigerated). So Delicious also makes coconut milk to consume. If that is not an option, I'd go with Almond Milk (again, either shelf-stable or refrigerated cartons). It's just a packaging difference AFAIK.

[megan973]

I personally would not do soy milk as milk replacement for a toddler b/c of the estrogenic properties and GMO issues. I'd go with Silk Coconut milk instead (comes in both shelf-stable cartons and refrigerated). So Delicious also makes coconut milk to consume. If that is not an option, I'd go with Almond Milk (again, either shelf-stable or refrigerated cartons). It's just a packaging difference AFAIK.

Do you mind sharing why you wouldn't go with soy? I know you gave answers, but I don't really know what they mean. Neither DH or myself have allergies, so I'm not in tune with terminology relating to intolerance and allergies of foods.

Our ped said soy, rice or coconut milk was fine. They even suggested flavoring it (with apple juice!) if he wouldn't drink it.

I don't mean to sound lazy, but I would like to go with the most readily available option (all else being equal).

[sunnyside]

p.s. We did not dicuss anything being allergy-related, nor was he officially diagnosed as having an intolerance to milk/milk proteins (I know that is very rare).

I just wanted to mention that having an intolerance to milk protein or soy protein is actually quite common.

[wellyes]

Here is a well done write up of the soy concerns: http://www.womentowomen.com/healthynutrition/soycontroversy.aspx
And to echo the PP, lactose intolerance is quite common, especially among Asians and African Americans.

[AnnieW625]

Do you mind sharing why you wouldn't go with soy? I know you gave answers, but I don't really know what they mean. Neither DH or myself have allergies, so I'm not in tune with terminology relating to intolerance and allergies of foods.

Our ped said soy, rice or coconut milk was fine. They even suggested flavoring it (with apple juice!) if he wouldn't drink it.

I don't mean to sound lazy, but I would like to go with the most readily available option (all else being equal).


My younger DD drinks soymilk. At home, she drinks the Trader Joe brand of soymilk in the half gallon containers from the refrigerated section. I generally pack her a "box" of soymilk to restaurants. Silk is by far the most readily available brand. Honestly, she also drinks a lot more juice in restaurants than I would prefer. Now that she is older and I am less concerned about fat content, she also drinks a lot of water.

She has completely outgrown her intolerance to cow's milk, but she now prefers soymilk. She will sometimes drink cow's milk if it is chocolate-y enough. :o

This is my DD1 also, although she was never allergic to milk in the traditional sense we just noticed that she would have a constant runny nose if she drank 24 oz. of regular milk at about 18 months old. We tried rice milk and she wouldn't drink it at all. Had I known about almond milk I might have tried that one prior to soy but 4 yrs. ago it wasn't as readily available as it is now. We tried it with her a couple of weeks ago and she didn't like it. We usually buy the Costco Organic in the cartons (it's a little under $1 a carton), Westsoy Organic, Silk (regular silk is GMO free too so you don't have to buy Organic) or Trader Joe's organic in the box or in the refrigerated section (just depends on how soon we'll be at Costco again). We started off using only plain soy milk as I was worried about the sugars (Trader Joe's Essentials has the most sugar though), but now she drinks vanilla.

I think that everything in moderation is okay.

[Indianamom2]

Just as another thought, have you tried something like Lactaid? Maybe it's just a lactose intolerance, although your little one sounds a lot like mine. He's just now starting to outgrow some of his milk protein intolerance at age 2. He's now able to eat cheese and ice cream without any big problems, although we're still limiting how often he eats those things.

I've tried rice, soy (silk), almond and coconut milk. Rice was my least favorite as far as taste. I've also heard good things about goat's milk, but haven't tried it.