Soya based formula?

[Sleepybunny]

Hi hoping someone has answer to this or some advice. My dd is 11 months and I'm weaning her from breast milk to a soy formula. Although it says on the tin that it's suitable from birth, it also says 'you should seek dietary advice from your healthcare professional if your baby is on a mixed diet of soy formula and solid food'

Does anyone know why this would be? Do I need to be supplementing her diet with more iron, calcium?

is there a particular reason that you are using soya formula rather than cows milk based or even cows milk at that age?

Yes, I should have said but we think she has a cow milk allergy (had bad reflux in the past) but so far has tolerated soy milk, yogurts etc.

Soya formula should only ever be used if there is a cows milk allergy, properly diagnosed. There are several risks to using soya - if you google risks of soya formula you will find a great list :(

Some babies do need soya formula because they are unable to tolerate anything else, but it's really not something that should be used long term if not necessary.

You can also ask your HV about this. If needed, then you can have specialist cows milk formula prescribed which has the protein in it broken down, to make it easier for allergic babies to cope with it. This would be a better choice than soya, for most babies.

Agree with tiktok. Soya isn't an ideal food for young children unless there are no alternative. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/503781.stm

Thanks so much for your replies, my health visitor isn't very well informed about these things. I've asked for help before on this issue before.

I'll see the GP about the formula.

I have a DD who is on soya. She's been on it since about 10 months old (just BF before). I had an appointment with the paediatrician last week and asked him about the suitability of soya. He said there was no problem with it. She has normal soya milk now she's past one, rather than the formula.

Can your gp not prescribe a hypoallergenic formula? Some will prescribe up til age 2.

Dd2 happily went into the alpro 1+ just after a year. I am hugely thankful for this alternative.

"The Committee on Toxicity (COT) has identified a possible risk to long-term reproductive health of infants arising from the high phytoestrogen content of soya-based formulas. SACN has confirmed that there is no particular health benefit associated with the consumption of soya-based infant formula by healthy infants. It was also SACN’s view, that there is no unique clinical condition that particularly requires the use of soya- based infant formulas.
Therefore, in the light of the potential risk to infants, soya-based infant formulas should not be used as the first choice for the management of infants with proven cow’s milk sensitivity, lactose intolerance, galaktokinase deficiency and galactosaemia. More appropriate hydrolysed protein formulas are available and can be prescribed. Soya-
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based formulas should only be used or advised in exceptional circumstances to ensure adequate nutrition. For example, for infants of vegan parents or those infants who do not accept hydrolysed protein formula."

This is current advice from SACN, the official govt. advice body on nutrition, and you can get the whole PDF if you google SACN soya milk.

The paediatrician seems to be unaware of this, or perhaps disagrees with it in your baby's case, Minnie.

Interesting. I asked specifically as I have heard different things about it. I also asked a HV who said that the main problem with soya milk is that it is too sweet! DD2 was having a hydrolised formula before but a dietician advised me to change her to soya (possibly because it's much cheaper.....?) IME it would not be the first time the healthcare professionals have been unaware of something!

Fortunately my DD2 is still BF morning and evening - the soya has only been to mix into food and to have on the couple of days she is in nursery. DD1 had grown out of her intolerance by about age 2 so hopefully for me this will only be a short-term solution.

I'm sure you have your reasons for weaning but in this situation I'd be hanging in there with bf as long as humanly possible. As for your HV saying the main problem is it's too sweet???!!!!! It's only sweet if you buy sweetened soya milk... My DS is now 21 months and won't drink cow's milk, I stopped bf recently due to second pg, so I'm also fretting about his calcium intake etc. fortunately as DS can't digest milk so well and doesn't like it, he is fine with yogurt and cheese,

My dd really struggled with latching and reflux so breast feeding became impossible after 8 weeks. I had to express all her feeds, I'm getting pretty exhausted now, and I figured 11 months is enough.
I still have a freezer supply that I can use until she is a year, but only about 1 bottle per day, so I need formula to top her up.
My GP doesn't think she has a dairy allergy because there is no rash or eczema, however the dietitian seems to think otherwise.
It's been so long since I tried her with dairy, I was thinking I might try a little cup of regular formula and see what happens. Maybe that's a bit mean, I'll feel awful if she is sick

Actually, HV was spot-on about the sweetness of soya formula. There is no natural sweetness from lactose in it (the sugar in all animal milks) and extra sugar has to be included to make it palatable. This makes it very high in added sugar which can cause problems unless parents are careful about tooth brushing, once the baby has teeth.

sleepybunny it is quite possible your DD could have cow's milk protein intolerance. This is different to an allergy as it is not an immediate reaction and involves no rash, exczema etc. Children can often tolerate cow's milk products in very small amounts but if exposed to it frequently they could become irritable and have symptoms of reflux, diarrhoea, constipation etc. Dietititians, in my experience, are more knowledgeable about this than GPs. Children often grow out of an intolerance. DD1 grew out of her (multiple) intolerances by the age of 2.

You've done really well with the expressing btw.