Should I Give Her Soy Milk?

[Krystens mummy]

Hi all, I have a 12 month old daughter with gluten intollerance (no diagnosis remarkable dietary response) She has a lot of celiac symptoms including weight loss, irritability a DH like rash and atopic eczema. At 12 months I tried to slowly introduce dairy and she got diarrhoea and after two days she vomited. We thought since hearing that most celiacs are lactose intollerant aswell we should put her on soy milk. I have since read many people on this site can't tollerate soy either should we be feeding it to her???????????

[Ursa Major]

Besides being one of the most common allergens (and you are right, many people with celiac disease can't tolerate soy or dairy, either) it is not only devoid of nutrition, but one of the worst things to give a young child.

If you think she needs milk of some kind (which she doesn't), see if she likes rice milk (not Rice Dream, it is not gluten-free). We use it for cereal and cooking in place of dairy, and like it fine. But nobody needs milk for proper nutrition after the age of weaning.

You get more calcium from greens than you would ever get from dairy. If she doesn't like green leafy vegetables, make sure she gets a good multivitamin (liquid if she is too young for the chewable ones).

[JennyC]

I gave my son Silk soy milk for about three years. (Prior to his celiac diagnosis I thought his symptoms were due to a milk allergy.) My son loved Silk Very Vanilla. It is true that soy is one of the top eight allergens, so I would introduce it to her slowly. If she gets worse and her symptoms continue I would take the soy away. At that point you may consider allergy testing.

It is true that many people with newly diagnosed celiac disease are lactose intolerant, because they have damaged villi. It is unlikely that your child has "permanent" lactose intolerance, since this usually does not occur until at least age five. After she has been gluten free for 6-9 months and her symptoms have improved I would try introducing dairy again. I recently did this with my four year old and he has done well.

[Offthegrid]

I personally think rice milk tastes better than soy.

[Ursa Major]

Soy is highly toxic. The only method that takes out the toxins and renders it edible is fermenting it. And I mean slowly, over the course of years, which is the ancient Asian method of doing it. Soy milk is not made from fermented soy, but is rather a waste product.

Also, soy is high in phyto-estrogens. It has been shown to bring on early maturation in girls, and will hinder the maturation of boy's testicles, making them less fertile (or sterile) when grown up. Not something you want to do to a child.

Rice milk is your best option as a replacement for dairy, not soy. I'd be avoiding it like the plague, even if I wasn't intolerant to it.

[vanillazeis]

My daughter is 3, and she was just diagnosed 6 months ago. We removed dairy right away, and after only giving her soy milk occasionally for the last month she has formed a soy intolerance. I wish i would have limited the soy better, and only given it to her when it was an ingredient in something rather than letting her eat soy yogurt and drink soy milk. Now i'm having a much harder time finding snack foods, baking, etc., which i think could have been avoided by just not giving her soy directly.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I had problems with dairy from the time I was old enough to have any. Due to that I never put milk on my cereal or needed milk in any other "normal" way as a result I think it weird that people use milk the way they do! If your daughter does not need a milk replacement (as many people who are used to milk need) then why get her started? The only time I use soy milk now is in cooking and sometimes I use a potato based replacement instead. Since she is young you should be able to get her to enjoy healthier food that she will like forever.

Good luck!