Most of nowadays’ parents know all the advantages or breastfeeding a child, instead of simply giving them pre-made formula. There are, however, cases when a mother can not breastfeed, or simply doesn’t want to breastfeed. The problem is that with the forever increasing types of “specially designed” formula that are available on the market today, parents can be easily overwhelmed while standing in the aisle, wondering which formula is best. One of the increasingly popular choices today is soy formula, given that many people think soy=healthier. Despite the fact that this is universally true for adults, soy formula can sometimes be unnecessary and even leading to repercussions on the baby’s health if administered improperly.
The main thing that must be considered before giving your baby soy formula is whether your baby has an allergy to cow milk. Apart from this, there are really no other symptoms of babies switching to soy formula. If your baby is allergic to cow milk, he’ll show diverse symptoms: diarrhea, excessive gas, fussiness while eating, vomiting, etc. If such is the case, it is still important to take into consideration that a vast majority of babies who are allergic to cow milk will most likely be allergic to soy milk. This involves 30 and up to 50% of the babies.
What’s also important to know is that when you’re exposing a baby in his early months of life to soy milk, it will make him more susceptible to developing allergies. The main allergy that they are likely to develop is, of course, soy. Knowing how soy is employed in so many types of food, this tiny detail could easily escalate to a very big problem. Ironically, if the baby is not allergic to cow milk and he is given soy milk, he’ll probably end up with an allergy to cow milk.
Since soy has so many wonderful effects on adults – balances hormonal levels, thus reducing the risk of cancer appearances, lowers cholesterol levels, etc., its prestige has grown so much that people started to believe it was good for infants too. Instead, the total opposite is true. It can actually increase an infant’s predisposition to some types of cancer.
Lastly, what’s important is that parents fully understand everything before taking into consideration a soy diet for their baby. They must know all the differences between cow milk and soy milk.
So, is soy indeed better for infants ? For a few, just a few, it may be. But for most of the babies, it may not even be the second best choice you could make.
Tags: soy, Soy for babies, soy nutrition