Soya formula, did I see somewhere here its not recommended for babies ?

[bensmum4]

I'm sure I have read a thread or two here discussing soya milk shouldn't be given to under 1's ? Does anyone know if that is right and if so why ?

thankyou

many babies are allergic to soya. also some believe the phyto-estrogens in soya can lead to later hormone imbalances.

Saw a watchdog years ago about a little kid who had black stumps for teeth - he had been fed soya formula for years - scared the pants off of me!!

Ok, I believe dd (6 m) is intolerant or at least sensitive to milk, what can i use as a stand by if I cant express enough when I return to work soon ?

my doctor prescribed a hypoallergenic formula called Neocate. there are several others. they don't taste great though - dd hates it. i would go and talk to your gp or hv. neocate can be bought without prescription but is £32 a tub!

agree with artichcoke..if you have concerns about milk / dairy allergy or intolerance, get a medical diagnosis and a prescribed formula if neccesary

think my dd has cows milk allergy; has developed eczma since he had it at 12 months and really bad griping pains in middle of night, all stopped since i've cut out dairy. am using dairy free cheese and either soya or rice milk, going ok so far

Why do you think she's intolerant?

When do you go back to work? Can you start expressing now to build up a supply in the freezer?

What hours are you doing? Perfectly possible to leave not much breastmilk (if any) and just bfeed when you're with her.

hi all.. a newbie. I'd agree- health professional could refer to an allergy clinic. It seems a shame to have to exclude such an important dietary group and important to be aware that many who are milk intolerant are soya intolerant. Allergy clinics often have specialist paediatric dietician allied which can be helpful.Testing can be inconclusive but it can be good to have the support of health professionals when wanting to rechallenge with milk products,which should be done as many children grow out of this.

I think she is intolerant because both ds's were, before I stopped taking anything dairy myself a couple of months ago, she would scream after every feed, sometimes for a few hours, at first I put it down to colic, but when I tried dairy free for a week she was like a different baby. I had a couple of occasions when I forgot or didnt realise something had milk in and we were back to the screaming.(also very runny poo)
I don't think my GP or HV actually agree with me. with ds2 they sent him for reflux tests that proved negative, but didnt take it any further, so I did dairy free diet , bf for a year then gradually introduced things with milk in. he is nearly 4 now and tolerating milk.

I go back to work in april, 5 mornings a week. Iam trying to express, but feel I need to have something as a back up in case I cant get enough, and some support would be nice.

Do you mean some support from MN?

It's worrying going back to work, but I really don't think you have anything to worry about from an expressing enough for her while you're away POV - as I say, if you do a little bit when you can now, you should have enough for the initial transition week or so - but babies are very, very adaptable and she will soon learn that you will feed her when you see her in the afternoon and she will have other arrangements in the morning - be it a drink of water whenever she wants, or a yoghurt and a banana mid-morning.

It's hard to imagine them getting nutrition from other sources when you're solely bfeeding, but I honestly don't think you need to worry about formula for her while you're away. Having said that, if it makes you feel better to leave her with something, do, as has already been said, take her to the doctor and ask about prescription formula or soya formula (which I think - but don't quote me - you can also get on prescription if she needs it).

I understand how hard it is to go back to work and worry about milk for your baby though - have a hug too x x x

i had the same worries as you bensmum. there is a long article called 'suck on this' which states that soya has a lot of estrogen-like compounds and no studies have been done to indicate what those chemicals may do to the bodies of small babies - what are the likely long term causes. of course, i think they were talking more about babies who drink only soy formula.

true about it rotting teeth. my cousin was fed soyformula and it damaged her teeth badly. i have other cousins who also had it but it didn't do that.

i also expressed at work (till dd was 18 months ) so if you want support and tips, i'll look out for your posts. its true about building up a small stock before you go back and also about them eating complementary foods. (dd otoh refused all food till 10 months and gagged on ever lump and morsel to 13) which is why i became a dab hand at expressing.

Message withdrawn

hunkermunker, thankyou, I actually meant health professionals, Iam going to keep trying to express and like you say, she will be old enough to have a banana or something as well.

The synthetic oestrogens in the white plastic lining of tincans is far worse for you than the vegetable ones in soya - i have a friend who was part of a university-financed team which did a study on the synthetic ones and it was hushed up...

I gave my dd a little soya formula mixed with her purees from 8 or 9 mo, when I introduced cows' milk at 10 mo she developed excema. I asked in the health food shop why soya milk was not recommended for children under 2 yo and they said 'because it can upset their stomachs and because the calcium content is lower.' They also told me there is more calcium in sesame seeds than in cows' milk...
bensmum4 - if your GP agrees and you get a good soya based formula and dd doesnt have a allergic reaction to it and you continue to bfeed as much as you can then i dont see what the problem is, its not going to form a large part of her diet by the sound of it...

hi bensmum4,
my ds2 is 8.5 months and has milk allergy. i had been bf 100% while i still went back to work but after having cracked nipples and getting too sore to even express my dr prescribed him some infasoy (cow&gate) i had all these worries about it after reading things on here scaring me about using soya formula, but after talking it through with my gp and a work collegue whose son is also dairy intolerant, we gave it a go. he has now been on 2 x 5oz bottles of formula a day ( i feed him at the nursery in my lunch break). i concluded in the end that it was only 3 times a week he is getting the formula and im still bf him the rest of the time so i dont feel as bad as i did a few weeks ago.

(he had been prescribed pepti junior but point blank refused to drink it which is why we went on to the infasoy.)

DS1 was fed soya, I will be eternally grateful as it was pre- widespread alternatives and it saved his life, but he ahs had to have several teeth removed. My cousin had to have all hers removed for the same reason.

I'm casein intolerant (as are two of my boys) and soya is by far the best optin for us that we have fouund. DS3 was on enfamil alctofrree which was fine but his lactose intol morphed into a casein / lactose intol so now he's off that. Would however recommend that formula (from GP on prescription) to any baby or toddler who could benefit- it tastes nice, doesn't ong (unlike many) and he thrived on it.

Why do the soya formulas rot teeth?

Sugar content

ds2 was diagnosed with an intolerance to milk at 9months. i had bf exclusivly till 4 months then due to returning to work did both. had the most revolting poo which really was undigested milk. was put on peptid junior and was tranformed to solid 'normal'smelling poo within a few days. doesnt like it and would sell his wee soul for a proper bottle. he is now 12mths. has recent tried to re-introduce dairy to see if he would tolerated it. had some lacto - free milk form tescos but unfortuately no back to nasty poos again. have tried with soya yogurts but that has also given him the squits. you suddenly realise how much you eat that has dairy in it. going back to GP next week for assessment

Look up casein on the net, you might find that is the problem rather than lactose.

but if it is lactose, do consider the fiormula I mentioned below- much nicer than peptid imo. even I drink it

Lactose free mmilks imo are not completely innocent- they set off quite a few lactose intols I know. But the casein things sounds likely IMO.

(soory- that was for bananaloaf LOL)

consider lactase drops - conain the enzyme that digets lactase. or pepti junior. Sorry drunk so not making much sense.

If the soya formula is only a small part of your dd's diet, I presume by april she will be having food, as well as breast milk AM and PM(?) then I don't think you should worry too much about the downsides.
There is some evidence of hormone imbalance, particularly relating to boys fed soya formula from birth, but it sounds like your dd would only need a little every day, while you are at work.
Well done for keeping up the dairy free breastfeeding, it's very hard when you have to avoid eating so much that you're used to, I managed a year of this before resorting to wysoy (which we got on prescription after finally finding a gp who would dx dd's allergy) If you google soya formula you can make up your own mind, but anything is better than knowing your child is in agony because of something they ate.