Soy Milk for 18 Month Old?

Yes, it does affect hormones. Soy has a plant-based estrogen that increases estrogen within the bodies of those who consume it.

Milk certainly does and can cause constipation. I know it does for me. When people are intolerant to lactose (a milk sugar), it causes gassiness, loose stools, etc When it is an intolerance to casein (a milk protein), it can cause constipation, upset stomach, etc.

My son and I are intolerant to any form of milk. We do not use soy in the house, especially as we lived for a while in Japan and saw some of the effects of large consumption of soy-based products. We drink unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened coconut milk, both of which are absolutely delicious!

I had always understood soy based formulas should only be a last resort for babies as the hormones in there can really mess with an infant. I don't know if that rolls over into the milk arena though. One thought, Is your child getting enough produce?

I would start swapping out small amounts of dairy products at a time and see what the outcome is. Does your child take in a lot of iron? That will lock up a child in a heartbeat. My DD had low iron at one point so we have prescription multi-vitamin w/ iron AND an iron supplement. We had a lot of constipation issues but have finally gotten the hang of finding that balance. Best of luck!

You can try the lactose free milk first. Cub even has a generic of it so it tends to be cheaper than soy.

My granddaughter was having trouble with milk also. She was put on a soy based formula and when she was old enough, a soy milk made for children. It is in the milk section at Walmart. She drank that until she was 2 and then she could handle cows milk. She wouldn't touch cows milk at first so we put it half and half and worked it down to where she would drink the milk. It doesn't help constipation though. She had trouble with that and we blamed it on the soy. One thing we noticed with my granddaughter is that when she was stopped up, we would give her teddy grahams and they always loosened things up. My granddaughter is a healthy, very active 5 year old (6 on the 27th of this month) and I don't believe it caused any hormonal problems for her other then she acts like she is 16 rather then almost 6!

Soy is not safe for anyone. My doc told me that cheese and apples can cause constipation so I would eliminate cheese. Add fresh fruits (besides apples) and veggies. It doesn't sound like a milk intolerance if the only symptom is constipation.

My son is 19 months old and has been drinking soy milk since he turned 1. I never even tried him on cow's milk because when he was a newborn, if I drank milk, it made him gassy. And when he was about 11 months old I let him try yogurt twice and it upset his stomach. For him, and most people I've come across with lactose intolerance, it causes gassiness and loose stools, not constipation. But I've heard that cheese can cause constipation. If you do let her try soy milk, it is probably best to get the full fat, but non-flavored versions. It's probably not necessary to get something formulated specifically for children. I don't know anything about it affecting hormones, but it can't be any worse than typical cow's milk.

Yes, soy affects hormones. My daughter was allergic to milk, and the only thing I was told by a Pediatrician to use was soy for her bottles (I was unable to breastfeed). I am SO UPSET that I didn't know better at the time. I would have used goat milk or something else, ANYTHING but soy. Thank goodness, she didn't have precociousness/early development, which I was very concerned and worried about.

If your child has a milk intolerance, then you need to stop feeding your child everything and anything that has (cow) milk in it. You'll need to read labels; that means anything with caseinate or whey in it, too.

Have you tried giving your child goat or sheep products? Our family cannot have cow products, but we are able to eat goat and sheep. I buy a really good, mild goat cheese from our local co-op and a mild sheep cheese from COSTCO. We all love them. I love goat milk, but no one else in the family really does, so I don't drink goat milk much. I know your 18-month-old is still quite young, but when able, there are lots of milk alternatives, like: rice, almond, hazelnut, hemp, oat, coconut. All of them taste good. We like almond, rice, hazelnut, coconut, in that order.

No matter what age you are, I would strongly encourage most people--especially women--not to fall into the "soy is better" category. No, soy is NOT better for you. In fact, flax seed and chia seed are vastly superior to soy.

There are many and I do mean many studies and opinions on milks other than breast milk. Like everything, the breast milk people will tell you there's nothing better, the cow people will tell you there's nothing better and so on. Most say you should be careful about the nutrient content and feed a formula that has all the right nutrients, some say not to feed straight soy as it does not have any nutrients and too much manganese. Not too sure on the hormone issue. Talk to your pediatrician to arrive at a conclusion, he can answer your questions best. My youngest was breast fed and soy milk formula fed, she spit up alot on regular formula, and she is beautiful.