Worried About 9 Month Old Not Getting Enough Calcium from Soymilk

M.,
My daughter also went from breast milk to soy based formula and now drinks rice milk (not beause of an allergy though.) If you compare soy milk and regular milk you'll probably find they are very close in their calcium content. There are a lot of foods that are high in calcium too, broccoli is one that my daughter loves. Do a search for foods high in calcium.
Good luck.
M.

Our son had milk allergies until he was about two. He's allergic to soy too! That kept us off soy fomula, which is good because there are a lot of studies about it causing problems. It is illegal in Austrailia and New Zealand and parts of western Europe. There are several hypo allergenic formulas, some over the counter like Nutramagen, and some your doctor can prescribe. They are both more expensive than regular formula, but if you can get the RX formula, your health insurance will pay for it. You may have to try a couple to see which she digests best. We had our son on Elecare + after he turned one, it's a specific formula for older children. Also, goats milk is great, but good luck getting her to drink it--it's awful. There are some rice milks and almond milks out there too--just for something different once in awhile. Hopefully she'll outgrow it soon--most children do by 1 or 2. Good luck!

Calcium in dairy products is not well absorbed. Better sources are in dark green leafy vegetables (romaine, spinach, kale) and fish. My trick for getting greens into my grandson is to blend spinach with frozen bananas and water, if you want to add dates, honey, berries, vanilla it gives variety, but he loves his "green smoothies". Floridix has an excellent liquid supplement you might try. Many children are allergic to dairy and are better off without it. Some tolerate yogurt later. I'm sure your formula is fortified. Vitamin D is important too (sunshine!) Good for you for nursing!!

Formula has everything your baby needs although breast milk is the best some kids just can't handle breast milk. All 3 of my girls were on soy formula and they are perfectly fine. I wouldn't be so concerned.

M.,
Firstly, I have to recommend that you research soy formula. I would never give a baby soy products. Some researchers believe that a bottle of soy formula is equivalent to 5 birth control pills. Soy is a phytoestrogen. There have been no long term studies on the effects of soy on babies. Essentially our children are test subjects and you may have read or seen girls today reaching puberty much sooner - developing breasts sooner, etc. Long term exposure to estrogen is linked with ovarian and breast cancers. In my opinion, the only people who should consume non-fermented soy are menopausal women. "Soybeans are also high in phytic acid or phytates. This is an organic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds, which blocks the uptake of essential minerals-calcium, magnesium, iron and especially zinc-in the intestinal tract. Although not a household word, phytates have been extensively studied. Scientists are in general agreement that grain and legume based diets high in phytates contribute to widespread mineral deficiencies in third world countries." Her soy formula may be blocking her calcium absorption! Go to this website and read more: http://www.rheumatic.org/soy.htm I would try a hypoallergenic formula or have her try goat's milk products. A lot of people who have allergies to cow's milk can tolerate goat's milk. Goat's milk is the most consumed milk worldwide. It is closer to human milk than any other animal milk. www.genesisorganics.com. You could try her on a goat's milk yogurt which would also have beneficial bacteria for her digestive system. Other calcium rich foods are: kale, spinach, turnip greens, collard, mustard greens, kelp (get kelp powder and sprinkle on oatmeal or mix into yams, etc. It has the highest amount of calcium than any other food, including milk) carob flour, almonds (try almond milk), wheat bran, olives, broccoli, walnuts, pecans, wheat germ, apricots, raisins, dates, celery, carrots, sweet potato. Good luck M.! Have fun preparing some new meals!
D.

Dear M.,

Are you sure that soy milk does not have calcium?

C. N.

I recently gave birth to a healthy, but early, baby boy..little tyler came in at 5 lb 11 oz....Throughout my pregnancy I was using a product called EXTREME X20...It is mostly CALCIUM and Magnesium, but also has over 70trace minerals in it...Anyway, this product, when added to the water, changes the structure of the water, so it dosnt even need to be digested, just INGESTED...Anyway, the doctors and nurses were dumbfounded on how big and healthy his imbilical cord was....He is now 3 months old and 14 lbs..I also use enfamil A+...I also found out it only has about 12 minerals in it..The body needs minerals for all its actions and development so Ive been adding the x2o to the baby formula...
What I do is take the can, pur it into abottle. Drop in 1 satchet of x2o , shake for 5 seconds and let sit for 20 seconds.....Take out the satchet, and repeat...I use 1 satchet of x2o for 3 small cans of the ready-mixed enfamil...
Tyler has developed so rapidly, He and I are going to be featured on the MIRACLE HEALTH NETWORK.com later this year...
AWESOME!
If you need more info, e-mail me, or go to the xooma website. www.xooma.ca

Hi M., my daughter also switched to soy formula because of a milk allergy. Hers was so severe she didn't tolerate my breast milk. We made the switch at 3 1/2 months. Soy formula and soy milk are both fortified with calcium. Our doctor assured me that she doesn't need as much calcium as I think and as long as she eats a balanced diet full of dark green veggies she will be okay. He urged me to avoid supplements. (To be honest, I'm now more concerned with the estrogen in all the soy products she eats.) Try talking to your doctor. Lucky for us and our daughters, most children out grow their milk allergies.

Hi M.,

Are you still giving her the soy formula? I'm pretty sure formula is reccomended for children until they are 1 year. This is probably a question you should pose to your pediatritian.

After your daughter turns 1 try giving her organic rice milk in the place of regular cow's milk. My son also has a milk alergy and I switched him to rice milk when he was about 2. The rice milk has 25% calcium while regular milk has 30% calcium, so the calcium amount is similar. You can also look into children's calcium vitamens and include those in her diet when she gets older.

I hope this is helpful.

H.

Hi M.;

I raised four children and have them breast feeding for 1 year. They're all healthy and well. Each child is different, I understand that your daughter is allergy with milk. I think enfamil soy milk is good. Would you believed that I am 50 yrs old and I love to drink the soya bean chocolate milk because the more we getting older, we needed a good soya bean milk. I feel blotted and gas every time I drank milk so I have to change with soya bean milk and I feel better. Soya bean milk is a good source of calcium also. As long as you feed her with baby's food that has calcium, I think she will be fine. When my children turn one years old, I cook them a soup with meat and vegetables on it and potato. I masked the potato with soup and cook the vegetable very well so that I could feed them with rice. They are okay and healthy. I have 25 yrs old daughter which already married and she had 18 mths old daughter. I looked after her and feed her with cook food. Because both of her parents are finishing up their bachelor's degree right now because my son-in-law was in US Army and he will be transfer to NC next year to work for his 12 more years in service so that he could retire after 20 yrs in military service. My son is 21 yrs old and lived, studied in NY with Video and Games Designer, my 16 yrs old daughter is Junior College already, my 14 yrs old son is freshman in high school. One thing I would like to share with you is breast feeding is the best milk that my children had. They're closer to me, they never get sick easily. All of them are musician and artistic. I get them involved with Boy Scout and Girl Scout. I am a housewife and during I raised those children, I volunteered in school, PTA, Soccer, Girl Scout,Boy Scouts.
Good luck and enjoy your precious daughter. She will grow so fast. Being patient and understanding with children are the greatest gift that mother have. I love children and I challenge my four children with sports,art,music,theater,dance and etc., Keep them busy and routine with everything they do will help them to be on the top of everything. We took them to the mountain every weekend because we have 2nd home in Lake arrowhead. We visit museaum,we travel with them everywhere in Asia,Europe,some parts of United States. Every Winter Break, Spring Break,Summer Vacations we travel a lot.

A.

The best way for anyone to get calcium is from green leafy veggies! This came as a surprise to us years ago as well... my sister is a health food chef and her website is www.the7thelement.com if you want to look for more info. Or just google calcium and greens... a lot should come up. Here's one: http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/osteoporosis-choose-...

Only the dairy council wants you to think the best way to get calcium is cow milk! FYI- we give our 3 year old little boy rice milk that is enriched and have since weaning. (Boys can't do soy because it contains female hormones) He loves it!

I am sure there is a lot of conflicting information out there, but I once read something that reassured me. It said that the body absorbs calcium more readily from a plant source than from an animal source. When they get older, soymilks are fortified with more calcium and there is always Tums for kids.

K.

Hi M.--I'm a grandmother (not quite sure why my friend invited me to join!) who raised 6 kids and breast-fed all of them for about 8 - 10 months. They turned out great--no allergies, normal immune systems, and no serious illnessses. At that time, our pediatrician recommended low-fat cow's milk after weaning from me. They did fine with that. If your Dr. can't give you nutritional advice about calcium for infants, I'd suggest you try a good health-food store. They probably have books and/or products that would help. I'm vegetarian, and get all my calcium from vegetable sources, even the supplemental tablets I take. I'm sure you can find a good solution. Have fun with your darling baby, and good luck! B.

My daughter was on Soy formula only from the time she was 2 or 3 months old until she was off formula all together and she was always very healthy!! She was off the charts tall AND strong!! And, that was based on the formula 12 years ago!! I'm sure your daughter is getting plenty of calcium! A lot of times the calcium in dairy products is hard to digest and utilize anyway so it is unlikely that the switch to soy has had much effect on her calcium levels! :D

Have a great day!

Huggles!!
~S.~

Dear M.: Is wonderful to see a mother worrying about her child getting well fed and not falling for the ready made foods that are out there for convenience only.
Good nutrition is "natural" just as we are natural (not made of artificial things or additives).And there are a lot of God-made things that contain calcium and are:Broccoli(190 mgs), cabbage(78mgs), cauliflower(26), lettuce (20), peas(19), spinach (124), sweet potato (36)buttermilk (298)(these are family of the "milk curds" spoken of in the Bible for the nutrition of the hebrew nation), cheese cheddar (133), Cottage cheese (207), light cream (90), eggs (27-30), real ice cream (175), ice milk (290), skim milk (298), turkey (23), chili with beans (98). I also know that corn tortillas are a good source of calcium, also all kinds of dry beans. *As with everything remember that our bodies need a variety of things for good nutrition, and the proper ammount.
Do not worry too much M., you are learning and growing also through the process of being a mother; enjoy your child and your life.
Milk is mainly for growing children and old folks. For some reasons some become allergic to it but it can be reversed! talk to a well informed pediatritian or general doctor that can guide you through the process. I was allergic to it but now I am not and I am glad because I am an "oldie" and need calcium desperately!

I;m actually in shock that your pediatrician recommended soy milk for a little girl My pediatrician has stopped giving her patients spy due to little girls forming breast knots. My oldest never drank soy milk but I drank a lot of soy during pg and while nursing her. She had knots until she was 2 1/2. Have you just tried rice milk or almond milk? I have two friends that had to use both of these. Their are also other types of formula for sensitive babies or try Good Start. It is suppose to be easier on with stomach or allergy issues.

Good Luck,
D.

Dear M.,

Bovine dairy foods are not the best sources of calcium (contrary to popular opinion). One reason is that once pasteurized, the dairy product loses the enzymes that we need to metabolize it and thus becomes indigestible, creating toxic breakdown products in our bodies. The milk products from cows treated with rgBH (almost all that aren't specifically organic!) are even worse because they contain estrogen-like substances that can create hormonal problems and gynecological cancers later on in life. So, your daughter is already better off without them.

Some of the BEST sources of dietary calcium are vegetables. Bok choy and Napa cabbage are the highest in calcium. You can cut up Napa cabbage finely in soup and she can eat it easily. Other good sources are canned sardines, miso soup, tempeh, dried figs, rhubarb, pinto beans, cooked kale, canned pumpkin, and cooked broccoli. Notice that we rarely hear about osteoporosis among Asian women, and they don't eat dairy!

Another "alternative dairy" source of calcium is raw milk-based goat cheese. It's intrinsically more digestible because the enzymes have not been pasteurized, and many children who can't tolerate cow's milk do just fine with goat products. Alta Dena makes a good raw milk goat cheese that is available at most health stores.

Best to you!

S. I., L.Ac.
Lotus Wellspring Healthcare
456 E. Mission Road, Suite 100
San Marcos, CA 92069
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