Dairy trial update/soy question

[Anonymous]

Well, we had been really hopeful when Owen seemed to tolerate the dairy well for the first few days, but then diarreah started a few days in. We had tried some whole milk – I know, not the smartest thing but it was only 2 ozs – but it didn’t agree with him. We then switched to yogurt and gave him small amounts of that for about 4 days in a row and the 4th day he had watery stools – just really bad, smelly, gross. So we’ve stopped all dairy again for now.

The one thing that is hard is that he also had a really bad cold that he caught in the middle of this so he was really pretty miserable for a few days, and he has SIX teeth coming in, so it’s hard to know how much of the problem was from the dairy and how much was just from his illness/teeth. I must admit that we weren’t very careful about introducing the stuff to him because I honestly felt like he wouldn’t have a problem since he’s done so well with everything else. I guess I was overconfident and we might have just done too much at once.

Anyway, I talked to his GI doc who told us we could transition him to soy milk instead if we want to. Does anyone have any experience with that? I’d like to get him off the alimentum just because it’s so expensive and I really don’t think he needs to be on it since he does have a pretty varied diet, but will soy give him enough calcium or do we need to supplement? He does get calcium in some foods he likes, like broccoli, etc., but what else do I have to think about? Does anyone have any experience or suggestions? Or should I just suck it up and keep him on the alimentum?

Ugh – just when you think you’re getting somewhere…

[Anonymous]

We had the same exact problems when switching to whole milk at a year. The only thing that made all of this more difficult for us was the fact that she continued to have loose stools even off of milk, I do however feel that milk/yogurt (especially Yo baby) made things worse. We kept hidden dairy in her diet (which seemingly caused no issues whatsoever). I chose to keep her on Alimentum until 18 months and then made the switch to 2% milk/yogurt. I just wasn’t comfortable with the fat content in soy or rice milk. I didn’t think it was enough for a 12-18 month old. She’s done very well with 2% and her stools are no more loose than usual and she’s drinking 2 cups of milk a day plus 3-4 (3 oz) drinkable yogurts.

[Anonymous]

Kaelyn drinks soy milk. It took quite a while to get her to drink it, but now she loves it. It has a pretty decent amount of calcium, but I do worry about the fat content. It’s pretty low compared to regular milk. We just try to add fat to her diet in other ways.

[Anonymous]

Hi Laura, sorry to hear the dairy may be causing some issues. The same thing happened with us when we trialed yogurt although I did want to tell you that Seth also always gets looser stools when he is teething. They never smelled with the teething or dairy though so it could have been the virus. In any event, I think you did the right thing by stopping for now and maybe you can try again in a month or so?

In regards to the Alimentum, we are still on it too but only about 12-16 ounces a day. I give it in the AM and at bedtime but give rice milk throughout the day. Ped. GI was totally fine going to rice milk completely but I was sticking with the Alimentum a little while longer to make sure he gets the fat and protein he needs. He gets calcium from the rice milk and other foods. I guess you can buy enriched soy milk too? Soy does contain more protein than the rice milk so if Owen can tolerate soy, I would try it. Seth is eating so well now, that I am getting more comfortable with dropping the Alimentum but may wait a while longer. One good thing for us: I thought he was still having a problem with soy but it turns out the hamburgers they serve in the daycare have added soy and he has had those several times and seems to be fine! We go to an allergist Friday (consultation only) and hope to get some more guidance about dairy then.

[hellbennt]

have you tried rice milk? potato milk? there have been recent threads about this…I just searched, here it is: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4755&a mp;a mp;KW=potato

jonah didn’t drink milk until about 18 months but he drank tons of water and ate dairy and lots of foods with calcium…

blackstrap molasses has a lot of calcium (& iron!)

can he eat cheese? ricotta cheese has a lot of calcium and if he eats pasta there’s a lot you can do with cheese heck, cheese goes with everything- bread, tortillas, rice, couscous, vegetables, you name it!

[Anonymous]

we are doing the enhanced soy. It has 5g of fat which is pretty good for soy. The calcium is pretty decent too (same as milk)as is the protein content. rice milk only has 2.5 and has a big warning on the side about giving it to a kid under the age of 5. I am assuming because it is low fat. That being said, the reason the enhanced soy has a little more fat is because it has flax oil in it. You could add that to rice milk to bump up the fat.

We have been very happy with the soy. He has been on it for a little more than two weeks so I pray he continues to do well. We add the drinkable strawberry soy yogurt to help him enjoy the taste.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your help!

Laura, I think I’ve asked you this before, but where do I find blackstrap molasses in the store? I found flax oil the other day at whole foods but I wasn’t looking for the molasses. Is it with the sugar/baking stuff?

I think we’re going to try the soy milk this weekend so we’ll see how it goes. He’s eating pretty well so I think the only thing I need to make sure we add is fat. He’s the healthiest eater ever – always chooses his veggies over tater tots, etc. I don’t get it – but I won’t complain!

[Anonymous]

Donna ~ I have never seen “enhanced” soy with that much fat! I’ll have to look next time I’m at the store.

[Anonymous]

I saw one with 4 grams Stacey – I think it was Silk maybe? I hadn’t seen 5 though…

[Anonymous]

I think that is a decent amount of fat for soy. I would feel ok about switching from formula to that since it’s got 4-5 grams. I’m thinking whole milk has 8 grams?

[Anonymous]

You just made me feel so much better! Owen’s never going to be a big boy (his dad’s family is super thin…I often wish I had their genes) so I didn’t want to take too much fat away from his diet. I always trust your judgement though with this kind of stuff – thanks!

[Anonymous]

Laura, GI thought Seth may have issues with soy milk so we are doing the rice but his ped. did tell me if we did do soy to do the silk kind.

Check out attached link- they even make a “very vanilla” version for kids. It has 4 grams of fat and is calcium enriched. I wish we could do it. http://www.silkissoy.com/Products/SilkSoymilkRefrigerated.as px

Mom2Seth2006-3-9 13:43:15

[hellbennt]

the blackstrap molasses is at whole foods- I think by the honey and syrups…

[Anonymous]

We even have blackstrap molasses at my little hick grocery store in the health foods section. It’s in a funky bottle so you have to look closely. It’s by the pancake syrup.

[Anonymous]

Laura, did the GI advise how long to wait before you tried dairy again? I am trying to figure out a game plan for Seth.

[Author]

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