Soy Milk for 15-Mo

As a mother of a child whom needed soy milk for a while, I would not suggest any other except for the unsweetned or plain. If your child grows up drinking sweetned milk, they will only crave that milk. I am talking from experience. I only ever bought the vanilla, and my daughter WILL NOT drink reg milk(now that she can have it, unless it is choc)....Ask your ped.

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Before you make the switch, I'd really advise having a conversation with the pediatrician to make sure he's comfortable with the switch.

From the few months I've been on here, I believe we're all experienced Moms, but very few seem to have a medical background, and I'd be concerned about self-diagnosing something that could be a serious issue.

If you take her off of cow's milk, you'll also have to avoid all products with dairy (cheese, yogurt, ice cream) to make sure you're not having any kid of allergic reaction.

I was really worried about how sick our whole family has been this season (especially since I'd battled lymphoma at the end of 2008 and am always worried about the cancer returning) - our Oncologist said it's just been a really bad cold/flu season. So, I'd use that as another reason to at least call and verify with the pediatrician before making a monumental switch like that.

Good luck.

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I am not a dietician or nurtritionist but there has been some controversial claims regarding the prolonged use of soymilk and the negative hormonal effect it can have on especially girls/women.

Have you ruled out any other possible food/airborne allergens/ashtma etc? I would definitely look at other forms of milk such as almond/coconut etc. Dairy can aggrivate the symptoms of ashtma in certain individuals.

I hope this helps and that you find a solution real soon, as mothers we hate to see our little sick!!!

Good luck!

My son went from soy formula to the regular soy milk with no issues at all. Trying soy milk will not hurt her. I do not recomend starting with the vanilla or chocolate ones. I have seen to many kids who will only drink the sugared up soy milks because parents assume they will not like the regular flavor. It actually tastes a little like formula, so its an easy transition at this age. Good Luck!

I don't give soy milk to my kids, but I just switched to it a few months ago. I was having the same symptoms your daughter is. I feel 10x's better since switching to the soy milk. I would do half and half and slowly switch her to the soy milk. I buy the vanilla flavored Silk. The vanilla doesn't seem to be as bitter as some of them taste. They have a ton of different brands at the store. Good luck! I hope she starts feeling better soon!

My son was throwing up every time he drank a bottle of regular milk. So I switched him to soy milk. The doctor said it was ok, and he is doing fine. Now, at 3 yo, he likes soy milk better than regular although he can drink both.

My sister gets very congested with any kind of dairy... (she's 28) She told me to try almond milk, which is surprisingly delicious! (especially the vanilla and chocolate varieties) I used to love soy milk, but it started messing with my thyroid. At least there are a couple options out there...
Good luck!

I would suggest you start by discussing this with your pediatrician. If together you decide that giving soy milk a chance then my story may be of help to you. I'll say that for me, I grew up on cow's milk and as an adult never considered switching. I did have a lot of mucus in my system all the time, and never thought anything would change in that regard. I woke and spent a good minute clearing mucus into the bathroom sink every morning. I switched to soy milk and without realizing it for a while, those symptoms completely disappeared. I only tried the soy milk because I was choosing to start my daughter free of cow's milk, but it turned out good for me too.

When my daugther turned one I went from breast milk to soy milk and never looked back. At that young age, the taste may not be an issue. There are various brands and they have various tastes, if he doens't like one, try another. As for the fat - they say don't drop the fat, and that children's brains need fat when they are developing, at least up until they are three.

Also, I personally wouldn't automatically go for the sweeter vanilla flavor. My daughter prefers it, and that's what I started on, but in hindsight, I regret it. We live in a world with too much sugar, and so every little bit more just may count. Everywhere I went I was fighting a sugar battle. The Sunday school teachers sending her with candy for good behavior, the school bus driver giving her candy for good behavior - and she wasn't allowed to eat candy! It drove me mad. Now she's obsessed with sweets - her words, and we have to fast from certain foods as we work to prevent her from becoming over weight. She's not there, but she's headed there in spite of a thoughtful way of eating.

We'll be having a carbs and sugar fast for a month in May, in January the only beverage we drank was water. We are also increasing her activity, but all this is a digression - well somewhat. In sharing this I wish to also point out that our efforts within our home to keep our children healthy will be countered at every turn by the well meaning adults who are not informed about our choices for our children, and by the companies whose marketing schemes mean well for themselves. Starting off with plain (not completely unsweeted) soy milk may be a decent enough first step, and if he can't enjoy any of them, then maybe trying the vanilla would be a good next step, but my experience says, if he's being taught to be open minded, he'll just drink it like it's another beverage, not comparing it to milk, but enjoying it on it's own merits.

One more thing. I have explored the possibility that my daughter is a bit thick (she's not fat, but her bmi is getting progressively higher) because of the soy milk. Nothing definitive yet to report, but I figured I'd share that information. There's also almond milk and rice milk to consider...

Soy is all that my granduaghter was raised on and she is very healthy at 10yrs old and one of the tallest in her class. we used the light version.
From her fromula to bolttles up to age 2 it was soy.

Hi C., I would suggest before you start switching milk you talk again with your doctor. It could be that she is stuffy because of the weather, allergies, or even tonsills. My oldest was stuffy/had a cold and snored for what seemed like all the time and I finally asked the doctor to look into it. A simple xray told most of the story and she had her tonsils and adnoids removed just a couple of weeks later! The ENT doctor said she has some of the largest he had seen in years! The snoring stopped instantly, and so did the stuffy-ness. We later found out that she did/does suffer from some seasonal allergies and needs an antihistamine occaisonlly. Best wishes

Cows milk does cause increase in mucus, it also causes our normally thin mucus to become thicker and more tacky.This will affect lungs, sinus and ears.

Soy. Gosh where do I start. I gave my DD soy formula as a baby. She is now a very sick teen. I did a lot of research on soy, and I am appalled it is even still on the market! Do your research. Soy mimics estrogen. Soy formula is equivalent to 5 birth control pills a day. Soy affects the throid. If your thyroid is out of whack you are sick indeed.
Do rice milk instead. Or try RAW goat milk.

Magnesium can help the mucus membranes and so can vit A.
There is a "magnesium oil" you can buy online to run on the skin, it will increase cellular MG.
For Vit A,... a teaspoon on cod liver oil daily. Walmart carries orange flavored. (Just dont chase it with fluid or it becomes more fishy).

I've heard some concerns about soy. You may want to also consider almond milk. Almond is one of the least allergenic of any of the nuts, and doesn't seem to lead to the hormonal issues that soy can. Just another option to consider, but you may want to read up on and research the pros and cons of soy so you can decide what's best for your situation.

I have two comments about your post...
1. Our pediatrician said that this winter has been terrible for respiratory virus of all sorts. That being said, you could certainly do a dairy test to see if there is a correlation with the congestion.
2. I do not have a medical background, but my allergist told me there is only one way to check for milk allergies - completely eliminate all dairy products for several days (and see if the symptoms go away) and then flood the system with them (and see if the symptoms return). Too many people cut out dairy without doing this check, and the timing just happens to coincide wtih something else. I suggest asking a specialist for the details on how to perform this test. Good luck~

Instead of cows milk, my daughter does goat milk (goat yogurt, goat butter, goat/sheep cheese). She started on goat diary around 18 months. In fact her congestion, sinus infections, and low weight gain were so bad that I had to cut out all cows milk dairy from her diet--meaning, reading food labels and not just cutting out direct sources of diary.

There is a positive correlation with some children who are allergic to both soy and cows milk. You can google 'soy, cows milk allergy' for more info.

Soy is controversial... Some say that, because soy imitates the hormone estrogen, that its not healthy to give a child 16-24 oz of estrogen each day... They get enough soy just from food made with vegetable oil. Of course, some children can't digest goat or cows milk and soy is the only option. I would suggest that you do your research. Most grocery stores carry Mullenburg's goat milk, however there is a significant cost difference between soy (its cheaper) and goat.

My son was breastfed and hated all formula. When we tried cow's milk it was like "you gotta be kidding me" . So I just purchased soy milk. And he drinks it. He actually likes it. It is full fat, not light but I believe it is vanilla flavored. We started on Silk and switched over to 8th continent when I was approved for W.I.C.. He actually seems to like the 8th Continent better.