Uneducated

You can start him on whole cow milk at 12 months. To avoid food allergies later on, I would not start it before then, and then slowly decrease the breast feeding and increase the milk bottles. You might start introducing the cup at this time, too, just tiny amounts of liquid in an open cup. You can use a sippy cup when he is ready to walk around with his own cup of milk rather than the bottle. Open cup is good practice for speaking muscles. You don't sound uneducated to me at all. What you have heard about soy is true, no more than one serving a day is recommended, due to the plant estrogens. It is good that you are not using it on a daily basis. Can you give one bottle of the soy formula and one of pumped breast milk when you have to be away?

Any amount of soy can cause hormone changes and each person reacts differently, but especially with boys, I would keep them away from as much soy as possible, since it's in nearly EVERYTHING.

My boys weaned themselves to 1-2 nursing each day by around 16 months. At 12 months, it looked that there was no end in site, but they both transitioned quickly - child led.

Goat's milk might be a better choice, or better yet, pumping.

These stats are from thw World Health Organization:

 Babies who are breast-fed for at least 6 months have fewer health problems than formula-fed babies, including:
 3 times fewer ear infections
 5 times fewer urinary tract infections
 5 times fewer serious illnesses
 7 times fewer allergies

 Breast milk is so easy to digest, breast-fed babies spit up less often, have less diarrhea and less constipation. Breast milk actually starts to digest in 90 seconds.

 For every 87 formula-fed babies who die from SIDS, only 3 breast-fed babies die from SIDS.

 Babies who are fed ONLY breast milk (no supplementing with formula or solid foods) for at least 26 weeks (or 6.5 months) are 6 times less likely to develop lymphoma (type of cancer) in childhood.

 Babies who are breast-fed for at least one year are 50% less likely to develop diabetes.

Breast milk can begin a lifetime of good health for your baby
 As adults, people who were breast-fed as infants have:
 Less asthma, allergies, and diabetes
 Fewer skin problems, including dermatitis and eczema
 Lowered risk of heart attack and stroke due to lower cholesterol levels
 Less ulcerative colitis
 Less Crohn’s disease
 Protection from certain chronic liver diseases

 Breast milk is brain food. Studies show that children who were breast-fed have higher IQs that those who were given formula.

Breastfeeding is healthy for mom
 Women who breastfeed lower their risk of cancer.
 Nursing for a lifetime total of 2 years lowers the risk before menopause by 40%
 Nursing for a lifetime total of 6 years lowers the risk before menopause by 66%
 Nursing for a lifetime total of 7 years lowers the risk of breast cancer throughout a woman’s life to almost 0%

 Breastfeeding your baby also provides protection from cancer of the ovaries and osteoporosis.

Dear AC:

We're ALL uneducated in something. That's why we're here! :)

I wanted to tell you that I had concerns like this when my kids were little and I minimized their exposure to soy as a result. BUT, I hadn't done much research.

Your question provoked me to do so and I found a pretty thorough article here http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/phytoestrogens.html
Of course, there may be better ones and there may be some bias on the part of this particular author but it's still food for thought and a good place to start. I feel it confirms MY decision but you may not agree. It's up to you to find out more until you can decide.

I was going to agree with the other mamas and say that you should just introduce cow's milk but didn't you say your son was allergic to formula? Oh, dear! Do you know what exactly he was allergic to? Did the doctors test him? Is he also allergic to cheese and yogurt?

That would be worth finding out. If he was just sensitive to the formula and it wasn't a true allergy, then he'd be okay trying cow's or even goat's milk in a couple of months.

In any case, you still have your breastmilk and you can begin your weaning process as you research this and find the best alternative.

Best wishes,

M.

Unfortunately, soy seems to be rather controversial. You can read arguments on both sides and still not be sure either way. (like me) If your son has issues with dairy and you are concerned about soy, there is always rice milk. Both of my kids couldn't handle any milk products until they turned 15 months so I used both soy and rice milk. When your son turns 1, you could offer him milk and see how he responds. If not there's always goats milk or rice milk. Good Luck!

I A C, You don't sound uneducated, and if someone gets offended by your question, it will only be because they are givie their baby soy, and now they are concerned. In one of my daughters classes at College, the subject about soy came up, and it was said that some believe that the soy cause gayness in some male individuals, is this true I don't know, because a couple of my daycare parents had their baby's on soy formula I decided to go on the internet and research myself, and most of what I read supported the statement that my daughters teacher made. Soy produces estrogen, which cause fiminenitiy (I know i speled that wrong)I read no where that it causes man boobs, I did read one article from a doctor who wanted soy formula off the market and was encouraging mothers not use that type of formula. Sinse your soon is almost a year old, I would take him off the bottle at one year, and start him on Organnic milk. My only other advice to you would be to do your own research on line, and then decide for yourself. You are not going to loose bonding with your son, you will bond with your son, through his who life through many ways, I bottled fed my baby's and I cradled and talked, and sang to my baby's while feeding them their bottles, and bonded me just as much if not more as any other mother who feeds their babys, one of th reasons I didn't breast feed, is because that would have cut my husband, and other family members from bonding with my babys during feeding, I felt like daddy had as much right to bond with feeding as I did, my kids are grown, my youngest turned 20 today, and my husband and I are still bonding with our grown children, you won't loose your bonding, it will just be taken to the next step, never the less, but just as important. Hope this helps. Personally if it is all true, I don't think your son was drinking enough soy, to cause those issues, but I personally would not give him anymore, that's just me. J. L.

ok this isnt a stupid question many moms ask about it. with soy you run the higest risk of having too much estrogen in your body when you are on an all soy diet (meats cheeses milks etc) basically a vegitarian type diet. i think your son will be ok and not develope man boobs :). with the cows milk i would first have him allergy tested for a milk allergy since he has shown sensitivity to milk based formula. as for weaning it helps to start out with just a little milk in with their formula/breast milk. maybe try the milk in a cup so he doesnt associate it with the bottle. anyways i would still get him an allergy test for milk (they can do by blood and request that they do it by blood). good luck!

Hi. I do not know much about the soy/estrogen issue. But i wanted to say good for you for asking, thr onlt way we can be educated is when we ask. So i wanted to tell you good job mom for looking into something that concerns you and not being afraid to ask questions.
As far as weaning, every baby is different. When my daughter turned one she really only bf for maorning nap, and at bedtime. For me it was a lot easier then i thought to wean hher. I know some babies take weeks, taking away one feeding at a time...slowly. But she was done with it in 3 days, i guess we were both ready! She never has drank milk, she only likes water. It is not a big deal (of course check with your dr.). She can get all of milks nurtrients from other sources. She is a cheese eater, and loves yogurt. Good luck! I pray a smooth transition for you!

Don't feel bad. My baby boy was on a soy formula due to a milk allergy and someone told me that very same thing. Of course, it freaked me out. I asked my doctor about it and she said that, even drinking it as much as he did, wasn't enough to cause anything weird to happen to him. If you are still concerned about soy, you could try Nutramigen. It is neither soy, nor milk. I put my baby on it when we found out he is also allergic to soy. It's more expensive than the other formulas, but I think well worth it. I found that it is cheapest at Target. Hope this helps!

The jury is still out on soy, but everything in moderation. If you were feeding him soy everything (all the foods they have like soy burgers/hot dogs/cheese/etc.. then I'd say use caution.

As for weaning, www.kellymom.com and www.askdrsears.com have some weaning tips, however, most will agree, it is easier when it is child led. Mine were a bit older so I don't have any tips for a 1 year old. One is still too young to understand what is happening.

Best wishes,
M.

It's okay to ask questions, be it unusual or not. That's what this forum is for. I would be curious too. But I'm sorry that i don't have the answer to this.

However, I think that you can start your son on regular cow milk even now. since he's about to turn 1 very soon. In most circumstances, people wait until 1 year. But in YOUR special circumstance where you need to provide a non-formula alternative to your child, giving cow milk to him a few weeks early is really not going to be harmful.

The need to provide him with milk is what's important here.

take care.

I was concerned about supplementing with soy formula, too, for my breastfed baby. I used Nutramigen formula instead. Very expensive, but not milk-based, which was perfect since my daughter has a dairy intolerance. You can buy it in the grocery store or Wal-Mart or Target. You might want to look into it.