why can't soya milk be used as a main drink for under-2s?

[CarolinaMoose]

according to the packet you shouldn't do this and I've no idea why.

And does anyone know how much milk/yoghurt a 20mo should have each day, or at least how much calcium they need? (ok, I should prob google this myself...)

As far as I understand it, soya milk is OK for under-2s to have, but it isn't recommended as a milk substitute for them as it doesn't contain the same levels of calcium, vitamins and fat as full-fat milk contains.

I can't remember now how much they should be having at 20 months, but hopefully someone else (either with a 2 year old or a better memory!) will be along soon.

I thought it was to do with oestrogen levels and boys?

It should not replace breastmilk, or formula, as a child's main drink, as WWB says. Up to the age of two a child should be having breastmilk or breastmilk substitute (a lot of people use cow's milk as a breastmilk substitute over age 1 year) as their main drink. There are soya formulas available but there is a lot of controversy over them for various health reasons: sugar / teeth, lack of nutrients and the oestrogen thing as zippi says.

might be helpful

Dr Sears is keen on soya in general, and advises that calcium fortified soya milk is ok as a main drinkover 1 year old, I think, but in this country I don't think it's advised.

ds is allergic to cows' milk (also goats' and buffalo milk ) so soya was recommended by the paed as being the best way of getting calcium into him.

The calcium level of the one I've bought is actually higher than that of cow's milk (it is fortified).

His previous main drink was water, as I stopped bfing him a few months ago to ttc, so this has to be more nutritious .

that's a great link, thanks Franny

I would go for it, personally, and keep a close eye on his diet in general. I have friends whose children stopped drinking milk alogether - having some fortified soya milk has to be better than not having any milk at all. I would choose an organic brand, though, as soya is heavily sprayed and often a GM crop too.

We use this one , but be careful about teeth as it's sweetened with apple juice.

Here you go , Dr Sears says do it too

franny, you are a mine of useful links.

The one I bought is GM-free but I agree I need to find an organic one (I only bought the first lot yesterday, don't actually know if ds will drink it yet although he very much appreciated the yoghurt this morning ).

Why do you want him to drink it cm?

because it's easier than trying to get him to eat 4 cups-worth of kale a day?

I like the provamel custard stuff

Sorry why does he need what's in kale?

Bluejelly, it's for the calcium.

DD had to go dairy free at about 4 months due to reasonably serious eczema (as did I while I was BF'ing). After a bit of trial and error we settled with soy formula. At about 16 months we switched to soymilk from cartons. My (very good) HV phoned up the peadeatric allergy team at Chelsea & Westminster to check the up to date advice on this and they said it was fine at that age but that it should be the calcium enriched version. Unfortunately the organic version that I could get was not calcium enriched, and they were adamant that that was the more important component. Oh, and brush teeth afterwards.

Provamel custard is indeed delicious! My DCs love it mixed with a mashed up banana (fair trade, obviously!)and a very small bit of dark chocolate grated over the top (known as "cheeky custard" in out house)

The one on my earlier link is calcium enriched and organic, but I have to order it specially through that website or my local organic shop, I haven't seen it in a supermarket or H+B. Delivery is free through that site over a certain amount, so might be worth ordering in bulk if you find he likes it.

But can't he just have milk ( or am I missing something, sorry)
FWIW my dd was on soya formula/ and being bf till aged nearly 2 as she was allergic to cow milk.

carolina said further down the thread that her ds was allergic to cows, goats and buffalo milks.

donkey milk is supposed to be the most human friendly, but I dont suppose you can get it on the high street

oh yes sorry, must read more carefully

s'ok bluejelly

lol @ donkey milk

interestingly (to me at least), my soya milk (alpro) has less sugar in it than cow's milk.

DS2 is three next month and still gets a formula on prescription for his dairy intolerance; as he is low weight anyway (stuck on the 9th centile) they don't recommend sya due to lack of fat content.

I also am wary of soya as DS1 lost teeth from the sugar content, he's only lost one with another borderline but my cousin (sot the genetics) lost all of them.