Seeking Good Full-fat Soy Milk for Toddler with Milk Allergy

I'm going to go against the tide, I give soy milk to my 3 year old son (dairy allergy), I also have 2 friends whose children have life threatening dairy/egg allergies who have used soy with their kids with no adverse effects.

We use either Silk or Costco brand regular or vanilla soy milk, not the kids or chocolate stuff, they are much higher in sugar. Rice milk is even higher in sugar than the kids soy milk and has even less fat. I was also concerned about getting enough fat in his diet as he was underweight at 1 year (he had fallen from the 95% at birth to less than 5% at 1 year, now he's a healthy 50% for weight). We use Smart Balance light for butter, and silk soy yougert (the yo-baby brand uses milk proteins). He also eats soy cheese, I have to buy it at Vitamin Cottage, the soy cheese that is sold at the grocery stores and wal mart again uses a milk protein - it has to be labeled vegan to be dairy and egg free.

Hope this helps!

Hi A.,
there are several options for you and you don't have to worry about the lower fat content or the missing vitamins (calcium, A and D) There are very healthy ways to get good fats in your child's diet. Others have provided great suggestions: goat, soy, rice and almond milk; there are hemp milk products as well--most of these non-dairy milk options have versions that are enriched with calcium, vits A and D, some now even have the DHA--so you really don't lose out on the vitamins in switching from cow's milk. The non-dairy cheese options are great as well--look for the vegan versions as another response indicated, some of the soy and rice cheeses contain milk proteins (e.g. casein) which can be the culprits in dairy allergies. To ensure enough good fat, you may have to add avocados, flax oil and/or ground flax seeds, olive oil to her other foods, and/or a daily fish oil supplement. I have a masters in nutrition--please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if you'd like more food options to add to your little beauty's diet. I, too, have a 1 year old daughter.

B'well,
M.

Mom had the same problem with me and that was in 1955! She had a devil of a time. They wanted her to give me goat milk. Well, we lived in Aurora - and didn't know anyone with Goats. The commisary didn't sell goat milk and neither did the local "Millers" store.
So she just gave me regular milk and I puked it across the room until I was old enough to finally take it in small amounts.
Soy milk was not something that was available then.
Costco carries soy milk, however - Walmart caries Goat milk. It is supposed to be the closest to Mom's milk.
Good luck - there is so much more available now. Keep trying.
Sky
I am an old lady now and have to have Lactaid - but it's available and I am grateful. I didn't think to mention to try that - but it might actually work. It comes in full strength and some is calcium enhanced. It's a God-send, and there is even "Lactaid" vanilla ice cream at Walmart. YEA!

A., I too have a son who is allergic to milk products and we did not have him on soy products as most people are also allergic to soy as well. We put my son on almond milk and also purchased iron drops which included other vitamins just to be on the safe side. I know the medical world may not agree with my choice, but my son was once very sick and cronichly had a cough. Once we changed his diet and monitored what he ate he NEVER was sick after that. He is tall, smart and exceling in everything he does. Diet makes a huge difference in attitude and wellness. I would highly advise against soy milk, you can find the almond milk at any organic grocier and regular king Soopers or safeway.

I wish you luck and hope all goes well with you . Do the research and you will be pleasently surprised!

M. E.

We did goat's milk. You can get whole milk at health food stores for the same price or cheaper than the two percent at grocery stores. There is also goat and buffalo and other types of yogurt and cheese and other dairy products. I decided not to do soy for a lot of reasons after researching it. Rice milk is another option, but I would figure it's not high in fat. There are other ways to get fat into the diet, too. We've done a lot of butter and things like that. Our son never was sensitive to butter even though he was to other dairy. GL! Allergies are no fun! If it's encouraging, our son used to have severe allergies and he has outgrown a large number of them.

I would recommend giving her goat milk- many people are allergic to cow's milk but not goat's milk. Ask your pediatrician, but my older sister did this with her daughter and gave her a mixture of goat's milk and rice milk for a year or so instead of cow's milk.

Ask your doc about goat's milk. My son is allergic to cow's milk, but can drink goat's milk with no problem. It's more expensive, but much better for you than soy milk. In fact I would avoid soy milk altogether (go online and research non-fermented soy products and what it can do to you- it's not the wonderful thing it's cracked up to be). Good luck!

Hi A.,

You may want to consider farm fresh goats milk! :) Sounds strange, but it is yummy and is the closest to breast milk.

http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/rawmilk.html

Sharron Dougan
Dougan Farms
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____@____.com

I hope this helps! :)
L.
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www.DenverJuicePlus.com

I would try whole goats milk. Our bodies process it amazingly, and its is great for babies with milk allergies. My sister did this for my nephews till they were 5 and their bodies loved it!