what have you found to be the best/most nutricious soya formula?

[mad4mybaby]

Dont want to go down the very long path of food alergies but wondering the above really. Im talking from newborn. Ive found hardly any of the supermarkets near me sell soya formula so finding it hard to go and have a selection to compare to each other!

[tiktok]

Soya formula should only be used with a baby who has a definite inability to digest cows milk formula, sorry, mad4nybaby. This is actually a very small number.

There are many drawbacks to soya formula, and there is no evidence at all that it is less allergenic than cows milk formula.

The soya formulas on sale in the UK all have to follow legal strictures regarding ingredients, so the ones on sale without a prescription are all very close to each other. Speciality formulas which are normally prescribed by a doctor may be a bit different.

If you are concerned about food intolerances, would you think about breastfeeding?

Hope this helps - you can find out more about the downside of soya formula by doing a web search on 'risks of soya formula'.

[mad4mybaby]

my ds1 is allergic to dairy, intollerant to soya. Just about everyone in my family is intolerant to dairy (inc me) on the odd occasion lately that ive had dairy ds2 has been going crazy inside me banging around and going insane. Same as ds1 did. I dont plan on breast feeding. Even if i did ds2 would be having soya milk through me, not dairy.

I have spoken to my gp about it and HV and theyve agreed if i want to that going straight to soya is not a problem. I dont want to waste time putting him on dairy to be in pain etc and dont think its fair on him to do so when i have the evidence that he is like ds1 to dairy (not necessarily allergic but i think def intollerant)

I was also told by people not to give my ds1 nanny goats milk when he was little, 'not nutricious enough blah blah' but i did because there was no other milk for him and i dont regret it for one minute he is a very healthy little boy.

[tiktok]

I can understand you don't want to 'try him out' on cows milk formula in case he is in pain . Nevertheless, there is no evidence that soya formula is better for reducing the chance of allergy than cows milk formula, and some concerns about the risks of its use with infants who actually don't need it. Maybe your HV and GP are not aware of this.

The advice on goats milk formula is that there is insufficient evidence that it meets the needs of babies under the age of a year
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Maternity/Maternalandinfantnutrition/DH_4099143

is the link. You sound a bit dismissive and impatient with this view - and I expect you see your healthy toddler and it's a powerful counter-argument But the people who advised you against it were not saying anything wrong.

There's clearly a family tendency to allergy/intolerance in your case, so it's certainly possible this coming baby would share it. But if you are not planning to breastfeed to reduce the chances of this happening, I just think there seems to be no evidence that using soya formula will do any good - and it has definite risks, specific to soya, and over and above the risks of not breastfeeding. Would you be able to speak to a dietitian and get an expert view on how to judge/balance these risks? If your HV and GP seem unaware of them, then maybe they are not the right people to help?

[dannyb]

YOu really should not be using Soya milk as a first option. It is high in sugar, not nutritionally complete and may be high in oestrogens. Again goats milk formula is not advised for the reasons mentioned by ticktock.

However, given the history of your previous child then you should ask to be prescribed a hypo allergenic milk such as Nutramigen or Pepti junior. If they refuse to prescribe these it is likely to be due to cost and I would argue your case most vehmently.

I would also ask for a preferal to a paediatric gastroenterologist who will give you excellent advise and will also try your baby on cows milk and cows milk formula in controlled conditions to assess if they can tolerate it.