Should We Switch to Soy Milk??

[Anonymous]

Nate has had issues with constipation off and on his whole life. I thought we had licked it, until we switched to whole milk. I switched him very slowly over a 3-week period, until he is now finally accepting it straight with no problem. During the transition the constipation started to get worse again.

I have an Rx for Lactulose, which our new GI prefers to Milk of Magnesia, which we’ve been using as needed (up to 2.5mL 2x per day). I haven’t started the Lactulose yet, b/c right when I was ready to, he had 2 beautiful (LOL) poops in one day. Two days later his poops started getting hard again. But I wonder if rather than treating the constipation, we should try to see if the milk is what’s causing the problem after all.

I hesitate to switch to soy for a few reasons. First, he doesn’t accept new things very readily at all. Second, I’m not a big believer in soy being good for you (even though I eat it myself), as it raises estrogens in the body especially if taken in large doses. I might be willing to try rice milk, but I think the nutritional profile is very weak, as compared to cow’s milk. Third, he eats very little variety, and yogurt and cheese are 2 of his favorites so I’m not sure I’d be able to completely eliminate dairy anyway,

The nurse at both the GI and the ped told me he will likely outgrow the problem, as his GI tract adjusts to the milk. He also got a cold about 3 weeks ago, and is still very mucousy — I also wonder if that’s from the milk b/c he otherwise seems to feel OK. Finally, he’s had a little more gas than normal lately, which seems to be bothering him slighly more than normal also (ie, during the night).

He only takes about 10-12 oz of milk per day anyway in about 2 bottles, occasionally 3. I’m hesitant to try the soy, although I bought some today to have on hand just in case.

Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I think soy can be constipating in and of itself. So that may not work.
Although I guess if it were a milk intolerance causing the
constipation, a switch to soy might clear it up.

IMO if he seems otherwise comfortable and happy and is sleeping well,
I’d continue with the cow’s milk for now. Have you tried 2% instead of
whole? It still has a good amount of fat and some babies digest it
easier before going to whole milk.

[Anonymous]

I have a lot of the same fears about soy formula that you mentioned and I’m going to try to get my son off of it soon.

I think I’d try other things to help the constipation first. Flax seed oil works great for my kids. (Just get the kind without LINGANS as that comes from soy). If he’s willing, adding some water to his diet also is quite helpful. My kids always do great with a little prunes or prune juice each day when they are constipated.

Rice milk is very, very binding!! I give it to my kids when they have diarrhea and it binds them right up.

What about Goat’s milk?

[hellbennt]

what about potato milk? add flax seed oil to it? investigate avocado oil? there have been recent discussions: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4755&a mp;a mp;a%20mp;a%20mp;a%20mp;a%20mp;KW=potato

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine did 1/2 regular and 1/2 soy milk for her toddler and this worked perfectly for his constipation problems. If this works, do it for 3-6 months and by then his constipation issue may have gone away and you could go back to regular milk.

I also like Karen’s idea of trying 2% milk, not sure if this would help with constipation but it’s worth a shot. That would have more fat/calories than the soy milk. We had a lot of luck switching right to 2% milk instead of whole.

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