Soy Milk Alternatives - Please Help

D., my daughter is lactose intolerant and she's also allergic to soy, nuts and eggs so I had to find an alternative for her also. I use rice milk for my daughter but another one that is really great that has a good amount of protein and calcium in it is Hemp milk. I used it for a while but it is kinda pricey and couldn't keep up with it. I met with a nutritionist and she's the one that recommended it to me. Good luck to you as I know what you're going through!

I think you are doing the right thing by going to rice milk. Rice is often the first type of more solid food given to babies when milk just doesn't fill them up any more. Another alternative would be oat milk. It tastes pretty good and has nutrients (like vitamin E and fiber) in it that are necessary for health as well. Oat milk can be made at home (there are plenty of recipes on the internet for it), so it is also inexpensive.

Hi D. - I can't help with the ilk issue, but I have had my own concerns about protein for my daughter who is 17 months. I was told not to give her peanut butter because of family allergies, but was given the ok for sunflower seed butter. My daughter loves it and eats a Sunbutter and jelly sandwich at least 3 times a week for lunch. It has 6 grams of protein for 2 TBSP. I found Organic Sunbutter at Health Basket in Mt Dora.
http://www.healthbasket.net

My daughter also eats beans of all kinds. She loves kidney, black, and great northers the most. I buy organic canned beans and rinse them well to remove as much sodium as possible. Very high in protein and fiber. Hope this helps!

Why not lactaid? My daughter drinks that because she got really loose stools from the regular milk. It is regular milk with extra enzymes to make is easily digestable. You have not cause damage, please don't think you have hurt her! However 30oz is way too much, even if you go back to regular milk. My doctor said one to two glasses a day and no more. They can then get a iron defichency from too much milk. I know! it is always something! We found this out at a well child visit when we told him how much milk my son drank. The key to life and children is really very simple, everything in moderation!!!!!!!! People tend to be hard core one way or the other, but you don't have to be. You love her and want what is best, everything will fall into place. Thank God all the children of everyone who posts here has that! Read the news, some children don't get that basic love. We are all good mothers, I don't want you thinking you have done something bad to her, that's all.

I don;t know id anyone else has suggested it yet but ALMOND MILK! MMMMM! I personally never liked milk except to cook with or in cereal, but I love Almond Milk....I will say its mot great for some things but as a whole I like it much better than rice or soy milk....and I can find it at both Publix and Walmart!! Just make sure to either get the original(Not vanilla or chocolate-while yummy too much sugar for the wee one!) or the unsweetened one!! Good Luck!!

I've only heard of soy milk being a concern with boys. Soy mimics estrogen, and naturally a lot of that is not good for boys! Also, I heard from someone who uses soy a lot that as long as you are using organic soy, and not just regular soy, you should be fine. I wouldn't panic, mama! She's fine, you haven't done any damage to her. :)

I don't drink regular milk, and I switch off between soy and rice milk mostly, and use almond milk ocassionally. I don't think you should be upset at all about giving your daughter the soy milk. ANYTHING that you go overboard on is not good for you. If your daughter will drink one or two, or all 3 of those milks (unless almond milk can aggravate a peanut allergy?), why not switch off between them?

D.,

Try rice milk. My son is allergic to the protein in cow milk which is also included in soy milk. This is something that many people are not aware of. The same protein that is in cow milk is used as a base to soy milk. Rice milk comes in chocolate, vanilla, and regular flavor. You can find it in the organic section (if organic is important to you) or you can find it in the same cooler section as things like Yobaby Yogurt. My son never liked the regular flavored rice milk - only the vanilla. Personally, I would buy a small thing of the regular rice milk and see if she will drink that. If she doesn't like it, then try the vanilla. The reason I say that is because I have been to publix at times when they don't have the vanilla flavor and then you are out of luck! Also remember that many kids don't drink milk at all. As long as you supplement with a calcium vitamin and a daily vitamin she will be just as healthy.

We use rice milk. (Walmart sells the organic rice milk much cheaper than Whole Foods) Almond milk is a good option as well.

Please please stay away from soy milk and soy based foods for kids! People are so misinformed about the effects of soy on children. I work in medical research and have access to all of the medical journals and there are so many reports and studies about soy and the effects on children. It is loaded with estrogen and it is being thought to have a major effects on the hormonal development of boys and girls. I used to give my oldest tons of soy foods, thinking they were a healthier alternative...now I avoid it as much as possible. Don't worry though, I doubt that you have "caused any damage", its more of a long term use issue that you have to be worried about. My 4 year old has no problem with regular milk, but does love almond milk as well, though I'm not sure about that with your daughter having a peanut allergy, check with your doctor first. Also, rice milk is a good option and I agree with the other posting about goat's milk, it is much easier to digest than cow's milk, maybe she would do okay with that. Though it does still have lactaid in it, so if she has a lactaid allergy then it may still be too hard on her. Good Luck!

make sure she's getting all the 'good' fats she needs, too! the alternative 'milks' are great but they can lack some important 'good' fats- so bake sweet potato fries in lots of olive oil, discover avocado oil, etc.
TALK to some folks at whole foods...

as for what she can eat: beans and rice...there are so many beans to try! lentils, split peas, black beans, red beans, navy beans, cannelli beans, garbanzo beans (keep trying hummus!! this is an EXCELLENT snack/meal!), etc...

you can even make a yummy creamy pasta sauce out of beans (even fooled my very conservative father, lol!)
http://www.oprah.com/recipe/food/recipespasta/food_200209...
the recipe calls for soy milk, but use rice milk instead...

you can do this :)

You can get goat's milk pretty easily. It is easily digestible, low on the scale of possible allergens and available at Whole Foods and Publix. (Maybe other places too but those are the two places I've bought it at.)

You might also consider trying raw cow's milk at some point. Most people who are allergic to cow's milk are actually allergic to the pasteurization process or the homogenization process in store milk.

After seeing an allergist, we have discovered that my daughter is allergic to corn. She can't have corn starch, corn syrup, corn flour or the million and one other names they have for corn (dextrose, sorbitol, maltodextrin - etc.) and we use a lot of alternative foods as a result.

We like almond milk and use light soy milk, on occassion. She tolerates the almond very well.

I am not sure if your daughter can tolerate almond milk, since you say she is allergic to peanuts. The best source of info we found was my daughter's pediatric allergist. She was a great resource for dietary info.

Hi, D.
the best milk is ALMOND, tastes a lot better than rice milk. You can find it also in a fridge with all other milk. My kids love vanilla. Goat milk also not that good, it's an animal protein, so is a cow milk, not good for people.
If you are interested to know more about good food, go to that link:
http://bocabng.ning.com/video/designing-kids-spaces

Best wishes,
V..

I have been reading a lot of the bad effects that soy has on children, and noticed some things with my daughter first hand.
I nursed my daughter for a long time, and when she switched to milk, all of a sudden stopped sleeping though the night, had terrible gas, loose stools and immediate very sever diaper rash. My husband is lactose intolerant so he suggested that maybe she could be as well. I tried her on Lactaid milk and the problem was solved immediately.
The Pediatrician thought that she was drinking too much milk, but I felt badly trying to cut her back since I love it so much too, so I started "cutting" her milk with soy milk - anywhere from 50/50 to 30/70. We travel a lot, and it was becoming a real problem because you can't get Lactaid in a convenience store or restaurant so I was always carrying it with us, and stressing if the cooler was cold enough, and making sure that we had enough ice.
I discovered a product that CHANGED OUR LIVES! I buy the product for my husband and he loves it, and they finally came out with it in a children's version. It's called "DIGESTIVE ADVANTAGE - LACTOSE INTOLLERANCE FORMULA".
They carry it @ Wal-Mart in the pharmacy near the antacids and Lactaid pills. The difference is.....that the lactaid pills have to be taken 1-3 pills each time that you have dairy during the day, 30 minutes before you have the dairy. With DIGESTIVE ADVANTAGE, you take 1 in the morning and it's good for 24 hours!!!! The children's formula is a chewable tablet, she takes one with breakfast, and is good to go for the entire day! Walmart no longer carries the children's formula, and Publix never carried the children's formula, but they order it in for me. It's about $6.50 for a month's supply, and if you go to their website you can print coupons for $1 or $2 off!
I was still cutting my daughter's milk with soy @ home just to cut down on the quantity of milk that she was ingesting. After I read about the bad effects...I stopped giving her soy immediately and noticed a couple of changes right away. 1st: - we had been to the pediatrician at least 8 times this spring / early summer because she always had a boogie nose, and sounded like a freight train at night and was having trouble breathing and was really snotty sounding and congested.
2ND: - she was very emotional and had crazy mood swings and cried alot.
3rd: - she was getting a lot of really dark hair on her arms and legs.
Since taking her off of the soy back in June, her nose is free and clear, she sounds better at night and sleeps more soundly. The mood swings are fading away, as well as the hair on her arms and legs - disappearing! I don't know about the other mammas, but I don't want my 5 year old racing towards puberty any faster than it's going to happen naturally - no need to pump her full of estrogen.
Also - when I can afford it, I buy the milk in 1/2 gallons - can't remember the name, BUT it runs about $7 gallon if you buy 2, EXPENSIVE, BUT Publix puts it on sale 2/$5 frequently, and they also have coupons that you can print from their website as well. I usually buy 2% because I grew up on whole milk, and have only been able to cut myself back to 2% BUT - the brand whose name escapes me at this moment toughts itself as the skim being as creamy as whole milk - and it is! It also contains extra DHA and Omega 3 and it doesn't taste like fish oil. Wish I could remember the name, but if you look in the section where everything is 1/2 gallons and read labels you'll find it.
Good luck!

Hi D.,
My son is allergic to dairy and I give him rice milk and goat milk.
Usually when a child has a problem with cow's milk it is because of the breakdown of protein because cow's are so big.
Goats are much smaller animals and have less protein and their milk is easier to digest.
Also I would highly recomend starting your child on Kefir.
You can buy it at publix and even though it is dairy, it has 10 probiotics and will help your child digest dairy and has many health benefits

I think rice milk is a great alternative. There are several options for you and it's going to be a hit or miss. I really doubt you have done "irreparable harm" to your child with giving her soy. I would look at trying to give her other foods and just keep trying until she eats it. My son is picky, but we are slowly pulling him out of it. It takes time and nothing is easy with toddlers :)

If you think she is lacking on the protiens - try to blend her a smoothie with some tofu. Or give her quinoa. That is a grain pack with protien. There is a recipe on recipezaar.com that we tried that is quinoa based dessert. Or you can use it for breakfast.

Good luck!

Hi D.,
Rice milk and almond milk are great alternatives to drink instead of and/or in addtion to soy milk. lots of soy does tend to make people gassy.
:)
V.

Can your child eat other nuts? Almond milk is delicious - my son loves it. He also loves goats milk - that's his favorite. And coconut milk is good too. They are good in fruit smoothies if you want to get protein and they don't like it straight up. Rice milk is good, but has alot of carbs in it. What about seeds - pumpkin, sunflower, flax seeds. Or beans, fish, tuna? You could add some protein powder to a fruit smooth you blend at home. And have you ever tried sunflower butter (instead of peanut butter) - it's from the seed, so no nuts. It's really good. You can eat it on celery, bread, crackers, bananas.
Maybe adding protein somewhere else besides milk and then you can just have your daughter drink water.
Good luck.

D.,

Your concerns about the soy milk, as well as cows milk are very valid.... But don't beat yourself up over what has already happened.... Just move ahead with new choices. As they say, you can do the best you can with the information you have, and now you have done some research and are making new choices about what is best for your little one.

I would start with just replacing the soymilk drinks with water.... 30 ounces a day of anything ( other than fresh clean water) is a lot. She should be drinking a glass or two of something other than water each day. If you really want her having a creamy type drink, go with organic rice milk or organic almond milk. You can buy each monorganic version in a regular grocery store, but if she going to be allowed to drink the quantities that she was drinking of the soy, then I would go organic for sure.

Best wishes!

Since you said your daughter is allergic to peanuts, almond milk is probably not going to work for you. Also, considering it is made from nuts, it is surprisingly low in fat and protein (at least the kinds I have bought), which pretty much defeats the purpose of giving milk in the first place. It was actually recommended to me by my doctor as a milk substitute when I was trying to lose weight (almost no fat, no sugar, etc.). Soy milk is also somewhat low-fat (compared to whole cow's milk), and part of the reason milk is recommended for young children is that the fat is good for brain development. I've never used rice milk, so I'm no help there.
We thought my daughter was going to have issues with lactose intolerance/milk protein allergy, so our pediatrician recommended lactose-free milk (like lactaid brand) first. She said if she wouldn't drink it to try soy, but that the lactose-free is better. It turned out my daughter's sensitivity was outgrown fairly quickly. We just mixed whole cow's milk with formula for awhile and gradually increased milk while decreasing formula until she adjusted to it. It took more than a month, but now she can tolerate milk just fine.
As for other sources of protein, could you try beans, lentils, or tofu? Tofu is soy-based, but in moderation is fine, especially if you are stopping the soy milk.

Soy has been shown to bring sexual maturity early, but no you haven't had her on it long enough to cause permanent damage, from what I have read, and seen.
The dairy industry has done a great job advertising a product that isn't even used in many cultures. And cow's milk, when homogenized, and then pasterized is so difficult for anyone to digest. Have you tried goat's milk- good fresh goat's milk tastes great.
Check WestonPrice Foundation-Dr. Weston Price was a brilliant researcher and they have wonderful data on what really works- they are not promoting for anyone, and I have seen the best w/ their program.
Also you can make barley milk- w. barley perals and water and a slow cooker- barley is such a nutrient dense food- the roman armies were on barley!
Good for you for taking the time to do the checking things out for your child. I always know we each do the best we can with the data we have at the time we are doing it- if we learn more later well then we just improve.
I have a picture I cut out that I look at - it says look forward- there are no regrets there,
Best of luck-k

Hello D.!
My daughter can't have cow's milk either and it's not the lactose, it's the protein "casine" found in cow's milk that she isn't able to digest. We switched her to Rice Milk (I buy the Vanilla Enriched from Rice Dream) HOWEVER, you need to be conscious of the fact that these milks; Rice Milk, Almond Milk, Oat, etc. do not have nearly the vitamins & minerals these little growing munchkins need. That said, I add a supplement to her milk to make up for that. I went to our local Vitamin Shoppe & bought a Rice based powder full of vitamins & minerals. For their age its recommended a teaspoon per day so I break out the teaspooon in each of her 3 feedings since it does have a taste to it and I didn't want her to simply refuse to drink her milk. I hope this information is useful to you. Best of luck to you.
M. T - Miami, FL

There's all kinds of stuff out there, things that you would never even think of that she could drink. Obvioulsy there were tons mentioned here, ie rice, goat, almond--if you like the almond taste. I just wanted to advise you to check out a yahoo group, it's called foodlab. It deals with all types of food allergies/sensitivites/intolerances. The members can give you ideas of what to do/replace, recipes, etc. they're a good bunch!

try almond milk, pretty good stuff

rice milk is watery and lacks substance. Try hemp milk or almond milk.

Lactaid or lactose free milks.

Goat's milk is more digestible than cow's milk. It was used when I was young (I'm now 65.) for babies who had trouble with milk. One of my dad's friends milked goats, and the milk was delicious. Now, it is available pasteurized, and probably sold in organic form, too, though I haven't checked on that. A friend gave me a half gallon not too long ago, and it was just as good as I remembered.

Please don't worry. The damage, if any so far, is not irreparable. I know almonds are a healthy protein. Almond milk might work best for her. Also, if she likes them, almonds are a great snack. Blue Diamond is a great brand because they are peanut free. My daughter has allergies to peanuts, beans, soy, and eggs, so I have to be careful too.

Also, you may want to try some Yo'Baby organic yogurt. Even though she has a milk allergy, the yogurt should not bother her system. It may actually help her develop the ability to break down the milk protein. I'm no doctor, so you may want to verify that, but I've been giving it to my kids since they were about 5 months old, and they transitioned to cow's milk very well.

Good luck, and please don't feel guilty for having given soy to your daughter.

The soy milk contains a lot of plant estrogen. For boys it's worse off than for girls.

My son has been taking soy since he was around 3 months old. I supplemented with it, and then after 7 months I switch to a soy based formula, and now that he's almost 19 months old. He's taking half soy, half rice milk. I'm going to start to introduce other milks like the almond milk. My son has an intolerance to the protein in cows milk.