My child is 1 now and ready to start whole milk. My family and I drink soymilk and I am wondering what I can give my 1 year old to supplement the fat of whole milk for brain development and whatever else they need that fat for. The ped says things like peanut butter, but she is not ready to be eating peanut butter. Also how much is enough? Surely there are kids out there who have milk allergies that HAVE to be put on a different milk. What do those parents do for thier babies for that fat supplement and how much? Any advice would help.
I wouldn't give soy anything...it's all genetically modified unless otherwise specified. It interferes with a child's hormones. Almond milk is fine and she is old enough for peanut butter. Most kids allergic/sensitive to cow's milk are cross allergic to soy. I would not use either of them considering they both cause so many problems for children.
My son has a milk allergy and has never had cows' milk (or any other non-mama, animal milk), and he is 8. My younger son also has never had cows' milk, because we are now a vegan household. My kids eat avocados, we cook with olive oil, coconut oil and canola oil, I bake a lot, and we use sunflower seed butter and pumpkin seeds and coconut milk in our cooking. We have lots of dairy-free recipes on our website, www.welcomingkitchen.com. Both my boys are (in my opinion) very smart and growing well. Also, there is some information from other parents about vegan (so dairy-free) eating on www.spawnbetter.com. Good luck!
My daughter drinks goat milk, goat butter/yogurt/cheese.
Soy imitates the estrogen hormone and I was not comfortable flooding her developing systems with an artificial hormone. She gets enough soy simply from foods made with vegetable oil--I don't need to be giving my DD 16 oz of it too!
My children have cow's milk allergies and are also allergic to soy milk. We used rice milk, but had the same concerns regarding necessary fat (& protein) for development. We now use goat milk and rice milk. My kids under 5 get goat milk almost exclusively and the older kids have it whenever they want. Myself and my 11-year old girl prefer the rice milk. I do use goat milk in cooking, though. It works much better than the rice milk! It is expensive- we dilute ours with water in equal parts. Goat milk is also fattier than cow's milk. It's usually around 4-5% fat, so mixing it with equal parts water gets it to about 2%. Hopefully your kids can do goat milk. The canned stuff is nasty, but you can probably find some regular goat milk in a carton at your grocery store or health food store.
If they can't do goat milk- look into fatty natural foods. Avocados, olive oil, other oils, meats, nuts (later), etc.. Did you nurse her or use something else? There's no need to start whole milk if there are allergies, you can still use whatever you were before, and start adding in the regular foods.
I'm vegan, my daughter is vegan, she's been vegan since conception. She's had no problems with brain development and actually advanced educationally. Your child isn't a cow or a calf therefore doesn't need to consume cow's milk. Also we are the ONLY mammals to consume the lactation of another mammal (in NON emergency settings). Some people mentioned avocados and coconut oil, those are good choices. Why isn't she ready for nut butters? I don't suggest peanut anyway as it's not a nut and it's not really healthy. Almond butter is MUCH more nutritious. Go for raw as it's more fresh. Are you still nursing? If so, just go with that till she's ready to wean by herself.
There is no reason she has to have a milk whether it be soy, rice, almond, oat or hemp. BUT those are the choices. I think it's really funny that people jump on the 'bash soy bandwagon' so quickly without realizing that most food they are eating is genetically modified and harmful, they are eating cows milk, cow flesh, chicken flesh and all sorts of dyes and chemicals and other unnaturally processed foods but bash soy. I am not a soy lover in anything but fermented soy and of course organic. Miso is soooo good for you, great digestive enzymes, great strengthening factors. Tempeh is chock full of vitamins, minerals and protein. Got fermented soy products? Consume them!
My son started on whole milk, but ended up having to switch to soy for about a year because he couldn't tolerate the milk. He's always been somewhat of a picky / poor eater. We had to supplement with Pediasure (or another nutritional drink) 1-2x a day and also did 1/2 packet of Carnation Instant breakfast in the morning. He is now almost 3 1/2yrs and is developmentally doing great!
Good luck with your little one!
My girlfriend would mix avocado into her food to add the extra good fat.
I am with Karen N. on this one, I would keeps kids away from soy due to the estrogen. Go with rice or almond milk.
I would be very careful about giving soy to a little girl-my granddaughter started with secondary sex characteristic at EIGHT- on soy- taking her off it gave her several more years before starting her period- it has made us VERY careful about soy exposure.
best, k
I dont know about fat, but I hear that coconut milk is VERY good for you, and tasty too, and you don't need a lot of it to get all the good nutrients. (1 cup cows milk might be equivalent to half a cup coconut milk)
