Talking Allergies

My sister's child actually has been told that her son has a milk allergy since he was ~6weeks old. Now that she is switching him to soy milk to drink she is confused as to which one to put him on...what is the best for a child his age (13 months old now). What is equivalent to whole cow's milk?

She wants to ensure that he still receives everything he needs including the fats....

Thanks so much for your replies!

I kept my son on the soy formula for quite a while longer than usual, because there are no soy milks that have enough fat in them! I discussed it with my doctor / ped and they agreed - there was no need to switch off formula at the "usual" age due to his milk allergy. I think when he was closer to 2 I switched him to So Good. It is the closest in terms of the calcium / Vit D, and has among the highest fat contents. Silk and Sensational Soy (not sure if it's still on the market) are also OK, but So Good is just so readily available that it's the one I'd choose. My ped also suggested that I try to include a few extra fats into his other food (like breading his chicken, etc) to try and boost his fat intake. Not getting fat from dairy really cuts out alot of fat! My son is 9 now, still anaphylactic to milk, and although he is very skinny, his height is above average for his age. There have never been any concerns about his growth or brain development (proud mama ... he's at the top of his class!)

We were told to keep our daughter on soy formula until 2 as well to make sure she had all of the nutrients she needed. I would really recommend picking a soy milk that is readily available at 2 also. Our daughter got hooked onto PC soy and she will not drink anything else. Unfortunately it is only available at PC stores. Switching brands of soy is not like switching brands of milk. There is a very distinct taste to each brand or so my daughter thinks anyway.

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11 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, eggs and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
9 year old son - no allergies

I did post a thread on this topic a while back. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4123

I hope it helps.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

My pediatrician advised us that we should keep our daughter (1 year) on soy formula until 2-3 years, depending on her weight gain, but she suggested also that I feed her more fatty meats like pork to make up for th fat. We are allowed to give her soy milk, but I prefer to keep her on formula, just in case she prefers the soy milk and stops drinking the formula. The only way she will drink the formula is out of a bottle, I do what I have to do to get her to drink it.

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Daughter 3.5 years) - Dairy, Eggs, Peanuts, Sesame, Beef; asthma and eczema
Daughter (2 years) - Peanuts Eczema
Son (7 months) - Contact allergy to something food undetermined

I wouldn't put him on soy at all. There are some concerns with soy as it contains estrogen.

We have our daughter on potato milk. We have tried all of the milks and it is the most palatable. It is called DariFree and comes in a can. It's a powder you add water to. There are a ton of different milks, though, so you could try different ones until you find the one he likes. We have tried oat, hemp, rice, almond, potato and soy. Our favourite is the potato, followed by almond. Rice isn't bad either.

Monchhichi, are those milks fortified with vitamins? I know that soy is fortified to bring the nutritional content up to that of cows milk but I thought most of the others weren't.

Just wondering.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I just grabbed the can from the potato milk (it's the only one we have on hand).

It contains as much calcium as milk (30% per serving). It is lower in vitamin D (15%). Everything else is very similar, though it is much lower calories, fat, and carbs.

Here is the website: www.vancesfoods.com and it's the Vance's DariFree that we use. It is dairy, gluten, casein, fat, soy, rice, MSG, protein and cholesterol free.

Good to know.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

I've spoken with a few dieticians about having my son on soy, and was assured that there were no issues. Soy contains plant "estrogen-like" substances, not estrogen, and they haven't found these substances to cause any femininization in boys at all. So while on paper it may be a concern, in reality it is not. Numerous studies have confirmed this. One of the dieticians was a friend of mine who is a Korean male, and he just smiled and told me that his entire continent of boys were raised on soy, and there certainly aren't any issues for them! Good point, I said!