Under 5s drinking soya milk?

[Divster]

One of my children wont drink juice or water, but will glug down milk. She has been ill with d&v and got in quite a mess through not drinking enough as I stopped the cows milk!

She is better now and is now drinking soya milk, is it safe for long term use in a child of this age, or has it not got enough fat in it?

Thankies

I would imagine that lack of calcium would be the biggest problem if you are replacing cows' milk entirely, with no supplements. Check the soya milk isn't sweetened (with concentrated apple juice or similar) and is non-GM (many of them are labelled organic to make this clear).

ok thanks, thought they were healthy?

The Japanese have weaned their L.O's on soya milk for thousands of yrs. . Most people can't access the calcium in cows milk due to a lack of B6 in it also pasteurisation doesn't leave much goodness in it.

You can get soya milk with added calcium or rice milk with added calcium.
They don't recommend it as the sole milk for under 2s. you can soya based formula with all the added vits etc.

Thanks, she is 4 in march. The ones I have been using has added calcium, but looked and is sweetened with apple juice, or that really that bad a thing?

why did you stop the cows milk?

Because she was sick and I was told not to give her cows milk.

Is she allergic to cow's milk?

but if she is better now, and it wasn't the cow's milk that made her sick then I would re-introduce it.

I'd just go back to cows milk too.

I am going too, cant afford to keep her in soya!

Doctors recommend not giving cows milk for a while after D&V (and during) because you can still have a slight intolerance to it for some time afterwards.
My DS doesn't have cow's milk now because he is still sensitive to it 3 months after a bad case of D&V, so OP i would introduce it slowly back into her diet, just to be carefull.

Thanks, will keep her on it for a while longer, main thing is she likes it just as much as cows milk.

She was in hospital on a drip, so was a bad case of vomiting. Plus with her other health issues, dont want her ill again any time soon!

Her bowels seem healthier on soya.

there is a special soya milk i think its called alpro 1 plus, it is uht and has a giraffe on the front. its meant to be better for children, has a better fat content and vitamins/calcium added. my dd ans ds have it as they are allergic to milk. it might be worth a try in the short term but if you can get back on to cows milk it is much better for children.

try half and half for a while see how she gets on

So many runny noses, ear aches, (my DH's asthma) and assorted allergies etc are due to cows milk that IMO "it is much better for children" is not correct for ALL.