When to Switch to Soy Baby Formula

Some babies are not tolerant of baby formula. For these babies, breast milk may be best. If you cannot breast feed or have chosen not to, there is still a solution. Soy baby formula can be used in place of breast milk or regular formula. How do you know if your baby needs to switch to soy formula instead of using the regular formula or breast milk?

Your baby or your pediatrician will let you know when to switch to soy formula. If your baby is having problems digesting breast milk or baby formula, your baby is going to let you know about any discomfort. Some babies are allergic to milk and milk products. Other babies are just intolerant to milk products such as formula. The good news is that, as your baby gets older, he or she may outgrow intolerance and be able to drink milk.

My daughter was on formula as soon as she was born. Not long after I got her home and was with her after her feedings, I knew something was wrong with her. If you ever had a "colic" baby, you know they usually scream at a certain time every day. It was like that, only worse.

My daughter would start screaming 20 minutes to one hour after she ate. The child would stand up in her chair, or wherever she was at, and scream like someone was hurting her. Her little body would get so rigid that I could not bend her at any of her joints. Forget about bending her at her waist, she was not moving. It turns out she was intolerant to lactose and needed to switch to a soy baby formula.

Some children spit up after every feeding. Sometimes this is caused by overfeeding or by not burping your baby. If you are feeding your child as directed and burping him or her, and he or she is still spitting up frequently, you may want to talk to the pediatrician about changing your baby's formula to soy.

Some pediatricians do not like parents switching formula. They feel switching formulas is rougher on baby's digestive system than "sticking it out" in hopes baby adapts to the current formula. However, it is your child, and if he or she is suffering in pain, you will want to do whatever you can do to make them feel better.

Once we switched to soy formula from milk based formula, with our pediatrician's approval (although the doctor still had hesitations), my baby stopped screaming after each of her feedings. I was so happy to have a full and content baby. So, if you are wondering if you should switch to soy, listen to your baby and your parental instincts. If your child is responding poorly to milk-based formula, it's time to give soy formula a try.