Toddler Nutrition

[Amethyst Rose]

Excuse me if this is a little incoherant...it's past my bedtime.

I have a question regarding nutrition for my son.... Dairy products constipate him if he gets too much. For breakfast he drinks prune juice to helps balance it out, and gets a Minigo yogurt. At lunch he drinks maybe 1 oz of milk and might have some cheese, he might get cheese at a snack, at dinner he drinks maybe 1 oz, and before bed he drinks about 1 oz of milk. In between, througout the day he drinks water.

This appears to work fine for him....he hasn't been constipated in a long time. However, I am worried about the lack of dairy products (and therefore calcium) in his diet. However, I have heard that it may be the calcium that was constipating in the first place.

Do you think I should be taking other steps to get this into his diet, or do you think that this will be okay for him? He gets a multivitamin in the day, but it's just vitamins, no minerals.... any opinions?

[Ceres]

Some people believe dairy products arent nutritious at all. They are after all, made from the milk of animals thats meant for their own babies, not humans. Humans are meant to have their own mother's milk for the first few years of life and then get their calcium from food.
The way it goes it this: even though dairy is high in calcium, its also high in protein, which inhibits the absorbtion of calcium. So while vegetables have low levels of calcium, its better absorbed. Provided you arent combining them with protein, which is where it gets complicated!
What about soy products? The beverages are actually quite good and evehe cheese is tolerable.

[VelvetBlade]

Be careful of soy products unless necessary. There has been some concern lately about potential risks....

http://www.healingcrow.com/soy/soy.html

[Ceres]

There are some good points raised, but some of the assumptions I find inaccurate. The claim that second generation Chinese-American are taller ignores the fact that they are eating growth hormones along with their meat in America. Everyone is getting taller from these. Also Chinese have far less problems with obesity than americans have. I am not saying I disagree fully or that I think soy is a fantastic food - it is after all, highly processed, I just think its not all bad.
But here we have hijacked the milk/constipation thread and made it soy/non-soy ;)

[Rhianna813]

Some people believe dairy products arent nutritious at all. They are after all, made from the milk of animals thats meant for their own babies, not humans. Humans are meant to have their own mother's milk for the first few years of life and then get their calcium from food.
The way it goes it this: even though dairy is high in calcium, its also high in protein, which inhibits the absorbtion of calcium. So while vegetables have low levels of calcium, its better absorbed. Provided you arent combining them with protein, which is where it gets complicated!
What about soy products? The beverages are actually quite good and evehe cheese is tolerable.

I have also heard this. In a health class I took in college the teacher talked about how the ions in milk calcium are the same charge (either positive or negative, I can't remember) as the ions in our bodies that absorb it. So it is much harder to absorb. However, the calcium in leafy greens and other plant material (like soy) was the opposite charge and easier to absorb. So yes a little goes a long way.

I am not sure about vitamins and mineral supplements. I try to get what I can through food, herbs, and anything that is not a hard pill. I eat a lot of soy and diary and broccoli too! Thank goodness my DS inherited my love of broccoli!!

Does your son like broccoli or any other dark green? You also might want to browse some vegan diet websites for ideas. You might find some creative solutions even though your son is not vegan. Ooh ooh one more idea - goats milk is closer to humans than cows milk so you might want to check that out.

Rhianna

[Amethyst Rose]

I give my son vitamins for the sole reason that he IS a toddler, and is very spurratic about what he'll eat on what days. He doesn't like very many vegitables, unless they're in in vegitable soup. I also have to be very careful about how much iron he gets, cuz that's constipating as well.

I hadn't considered goats milk.... the thing is, I don't think changing what he has would make a difference, because he simply won't drink it. I give it to him 3 times a day, but unlke other kids who will drink an entire cup (or so I've heard), he'll only have a couple sips.

Like I said before, I have heard that it might be the actual calcium that causes him constipation, rather than the cows milk proteins. I donno....guess I should ask a doctor. :)

Thanks everyone!

[Ceres]

I have found that my kids dont know the difference between spinach and lettuce, so they have that in salads. Almonds are another good source of calcium - how about giving him almond butter instead of peanut butter - its expensive but so yummy! My kids all eat brocolli because we always said "now be a good dinosaur and eat your trees"