Dr. Robert Needlman
Specialist in pediatric behavior and development.
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 Ask Dr. Needlman
Soymilk for Nursing Mothers | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Needlman,
My niece who is breastfeeding her two-month-old heard somewhere that a nursing mother should avoid drinking soymilk. I can't find any info about this. What's your opinion?— Helen in Seattle, WA | | | ANSWER |
April 11, 2002 | | | Dear Helen,
I have not seen this warning in the various books I've read about breastfeeding, but it makes some sense. When nursing mothers drink cow's milk, some of the cow milk proteins do come out in the breast milk, and these proteins can, on occasion, cause an allergic reaction in the baby. Since we know that many children who are allergic to cow's milk are also allergic to soy milk, it stands to reason that soy proteins in the mother's milk might occasionally cause an allergic reaction in the baby. But this must be quite rare, or one would hear about it more often.
If there were a family history of allergy to either soy or cow's milk, then it might make sense for a nursing mother to avoid drinking either soy or cow's milk. She'd need to find another source of calcium and vitamin D, however.
The foods that are most often cited for passing through into mother's milk and causing allergic reactions in children are the more common allergy-producing foods such as peanuts, fish, wheat, eggs, corn, and citrus, as well as dairy. If a breastfed child shows signs of allergies, then the mother might want to eliminate these common offenders.
— by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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