I was hoping someone could shed some light my way. I'm a first time mom, and I'm approaching the time were it's going off formula (only able to bf for a few months :( ) I was gonna feed her combos of rice/soy/& almond milk. On another board I'm on (thats not veggie) we had some debates about this. The big thing was the fat content in dairy milk was higher, and thats what the baby needs. Well the fat content in the other milks not as high. Well I was reading my formula contents and the fat content was 5 g, whereas my soymilk was 6 g and dairy milk is much higher around 12. So whats the fuss about? I dont understand. I'm feeding her 1 g higher in soymilk than formula but if I feed her dairy milk, it's 2x as high.

My general belief is we don't need milks after a few years in life and that just water is fine later on. So I'm not worried about all this just confused and hope I can help some others that are also confused. TIA for any help

Some milks aren't as high in fat and protein (esp. rice milk locally for me). Make sure you purchase a calcium and vit d fortified soy milk (Silk is a good one).

About milks - we need calcium throughout our lives and getting it off broccoli and greens isn't easy. 3-4 glasses of a calcium-rich drink daily will keep your bones healthy from birth to death.

Check out "becoming vegan" (even if you're not vegan). It has some great information about infant and toddler health.

I understand all that but my point was the formula only had 5 g of fat? so why is it that all of a sudden we need to switch to a higher fat for the next year? kwim? the soy milk I'm gonna fed her has 9 g of fat, so to me she's getting more fat with the soy milk than the formula. So now I have moms telling me that it's all about the fat for the first 2 years. If that was the case, how come the formula doesn't have more fat in it?

I don't have a lot of infant exp, but I have a lot of toddler + exp. For reasons that no one has completely explained to me, thr child's energy needs grow a lot during this time (I believe it's because the 1 to 2 year old jump is a huge grow spurt and huge energy spurt). So, it is all about fat b/c they're stomachs aren't large enough to handle high bulk foods and maintain enough calories.

Now, with that said, you don't have to feed them a milk-rich fat diet. Both of my bf's boys were milk babies, but we also added nut butters, avocados, liberal use of oils and margarines, and coconut to their diets.

It is easier to get the fat and calories into them w/ milk b/c it is a liquid without fibre. However, you can still get enough enough using high fat/high calorie foods in conjunction with soy, etc milks.

Actually it's all about fat because fat is KEY to infant brain development. Kids can graze on lowfat goodies all day to keep their energy levels up without eating big meals. Other than that however, I agree with Kristadb. Cow milk is neither here nor there...just getting the fat they need. Hey, I was allergic to cows milk as a child, so I never had any cows fat...and it would seem that my brain works just fine ;).

B

Thanks. I knew I was supposed to do it, but I didn't know WHY :)

"getting it off broccoli and greens isn't easy"

I disagree. If little kids see you eat this stuff, they will copy you and eat this stuff. Unless you say "look, I'm eating this stuff, please copy me." In which case they won't. The have to see you eating the stuff because you enjoy it, not to set an example. They haver "radar" and can tell the difference.

I might add that you should add some almonds and sesame seeds to the mix. Unhulled sesame seed tahini, is extraordinarily high in calcium. Tho all its calcium is not quite as readily available, it is still much higher than hulled sesame seeds, which are high to begin with.

After that, you can just start feeding people agricultural grade ground limestone. It is much cheaper than food-grade calcium pills, which are essentially the same thing. A 100 pound bag of ground limestone costs about 1/2 as much as a 2-oz bottle of food-grade ground limestone. You only need maybe 1/2 a teaspoon per day, spread out in smaller amounts thruout the day.

Yea, it may not be safe to eat -- there is no guarantee -- but it is so much cheaper.

I was put on soy formula very shortly after I was born because my mom wasn't able to breast feed, and I'm just fine... It's certainly possible and is quite safe. :)

Hi !

You did not say how old your child is exactly. My girl is now almost 3 y.o.

We are lacto-ovo so she does get some "regular" dairy (mainly through cheese and yoghurt) but for "milk" drinks I have always given her soy based stuff (first some soy formula, afterwards and still now, fortified soy milk, with added calcium and other vitamins). I alternate with rice and almond milk (esp. rice milk when she has a bout of diarrhea) but these are less rich in nutrients so they should not be given exclusively.

I was able to breastfeed her for 26 months but after 4-6 months, that is obviously not enough. So we added some soy formula (1 bottle a day at first). She has very sensitive bowels so we have started giving her small quantities of pureed veggies at 4 months too (in Europe, solids are started at 4 m.o. but usually by giving pureed fruit, our pediatrician recommended starting off veggies like they do in the UK, to avoid more bowel problems e.g. cramps and such). At first we only gave potatoes and carrots. There are lists of this and the age at which you can start. The American method of starting with cereal and moving to veggies/fruit much later is not the ONLY method.

The reason I am mentioning this is that with veggies and fruit, you also have the option to add extra fat. I used and still use olive and flaxseed oil daily (in small quantities). The tahini idea is a very good one re. calcium as well. As children start munching on crackers, they will discover "dipping" and that is an excellent way to get extra nutrients in them. I use tahini, hummus and guacamole a lot (fatty acids in avocado are VERY good for growing children).

My kid is not a natural veggie-lover (even though she sees me eating huge quantities of leafy greens - which I love ! - every day) so that theory of "copying" what they see is not 100% accurate I think... She's very picky and does not always eat well. I am grateful for fortified toddler (soy) milk and I use the dipping method a lot. She has also come to like soup a lot (not realising that it is made of vegetables, although she has seen me make it... LOL !). You can "disguise" food and add a lot of stuff to it so it becomes more nutritious, without them noticing !

Good luck...

Kim

Hmm. I may not be much help here, but from my research, toddlers need 44 grams of fat a day. Infants... I don't know. I know that breast milk is high in fat, and that's what my son got the 1st 17 months. If a baby is lacking fat content, it can cause them not to thrive. They may be getting enough of everything else but stay undersized due to this. My son had this problem in the transition from breast milk to solids before I found out about the fat thing. He went from being 95% percentile to 50%. Now, since I've been increasing his fat content, he's gaining it back and is at 75%.

Dairy milk... The main problem with that is that it reduces the child's ability to absorb iron and can cause anemia. It's not recommended before about age 3 for that reason. As well as the allergy problems many have to it.

Flax oil. Balance your fats. Alpha omega 3.

I'm approaching the time were it's going off formula (only able to bf for a few months ) I was gonna feed her combos

When I first read that I thought you meant those Combos snacks with the filling in the middle. :lol: