On Friday 14 January 2005 05:56, LACTNET automatic digest system wrote:
> Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 01:09:05 EST
> From: "Jacqui Gruttadauria." <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: ACK! straight soymilk use for infant!
8< snip >8
> she was unsuccessful at bfing her previous children and i recall that
she had
> a very strong urge to get them off formula and onto straight soymilk
at about
> 6 mos. i thought i went over thoroughly why this was a bad idea but i
guess
> not b/c she just emailed me that she is now giving it to her 3 wk old
son !
8< snip >8
> however, hearing her news tonight about the soymilk has rendered me
> positively agog w/ concern. she thinks soymilk is a wonder health
food. i am
> researching specific info about why it's not fit food for an infant
even as i post to
> lactnet, but i am desperate for quick, accurate and specific info i
can get to
> her and thought of all the knowledgeable ppl here...
> i'd love to be able to tell her exactly why and how it's not good for
him &
> what the consequences to him could be if she continues. any responses
would be
> greatly appreciated.
A very similar issue actually came up on another list I was on. One of
the listmates had a friend who was successful with breastfeeding but
for some reason wanted to wean and start almond milk at 6 months. I
pulled the response I wrote and have translated it to soy milk content
instead of almond milk. I took it from an angle of the growing baby's
nutritional needs and how non-formula substitutes for human milk do not
meet those specific needs.
First of all, why is she so eager to avoid formula yet switch to a
product that is virtually just as artificial?
These sites have nutrition information for 2 brands of soy milk.
Silk brand:
http://www.soyproducts.com/silkmilk.html
Soy Dream Original:
http://imaginefoods.com/media/SDnutri_O.jpg
Soy Dream Enriched:
http://imaginefoods.com/media/SDnutri_OE.jpg
Growing babies have specific caloric requirements to meet their
nutritional needs. In addition, they need certain amounts of protein,
fat, and carbohydrates. They also need iron and calcium, in addition to
a myriad of other vitamins and minerals.
I'll start with protein. Between birth and 6 months, babies need 1 gram
protein per pound with a minimum of 13 grams daily. Between 6 months
and 1 year, babies need 0.75 grams protein per pound with a minimum of
14 grams daily. If her baby is 10 pounds, she needs 13 grams of
protein from ALL sources.
Silk contains 100 calories and 7 grams protein per 8-oz serving.
Both varieties of Soy Dream are 130 calories and 7 grams protein per
8-oz serving.
Unfortunately I haven't managed to find any of my resources that discuss
the known nutritional values of breastmilk.
At age 6 months, a baby would be consuming 2 to 2.5 oz of formula per
pound per day-- again, at 10 pounds, that's 20 to 25 oz formula per day.
One ounce of formula contains 20 calories and about 0.6 grams protein
per OUNCE. In other words, 8-oz formula contains 160 calories and
nearly 5 grams protein. Formula ALONE would meet basic nutritional
needs, both calorie and protein. Either variety of soy milk would
support PROTEIN needs but both would fall short on total caloric
content. The Silk version falls even further short on caloric content
since it has a mere 100 calories per 8 oz.
Fats are another critical nutritional component for brain development in
babies. Again, both varieties of soy milk are deficient. Infants need
about 50% of their caloric intake to come from fat. All three
varieties contain 4 grams fat per 8-oz serving. Formula contains
about 9 grams per 8-oz serving. In other words, straight soy milk would
deprive the baby of roughly half of the fat it needs for proper brain
develoopment.
The iron need for babies is slightly under 10 mg per day.
Iron-fortified formula contains 3.2 mg per 8-oz serving. The exact
amount of iron is not listed on either brand-- but for Silk, it is
stated that it is 6% of the RDA. For both versions of Soy Dream, it is
stated that it is 10% of the RDA. RDA, unless stated otherwise, is
adult. Even if you use the female non-pregnant RDA of 18 mg per day
and the Soy Dream with the higher iron content, 10% is less than 2 mg
per 8-oz serving. That means that the baby is getting only about half
of the needed iron.
Calcium requirements for babies is 400 to 600 mg per day. Silk
contains 30% of the RDA; Soy Dream Original contains 4% and Soy Dream
Enriched contains 30%. Again, those are based on adult values. Adults
need 1200 mg daily of calcium. 30% of that is 360 mg.; 4% is under 50
mg. The enriched brands with the 30% would probably meet the calcium
requirement partially- but the other doesn't come even close.
Of course there are multiple other nutrients that I haven't even started
trying to compare to formula... but she needs to keep in mind that soy
milk is NOT INTENDED to be used as infant formula-- and the labels in
the store clearly state that. The electrolyte balance could well be
completely off for what a baby needs and could result in a sick baby.
Something that she needs to consider is that if the baby is getting
inadequate calories and does not grow well, she could find herself in
an awfully hot spot with the baby's HCP. She could even find herself
being charged with neglect!
Going to straight soy milk could be a viable option once the baby is
eating substantial amounts of solids but certainly it's not a good
choice for a newborn.
Hope this helps.
--
-Elisa H. Casey, MSN, ARNP-BC
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