Milk and soy protein allergy is a common enough occurrence in the first year of life that all three of my children encountered some level of both when they were infants. And because they were breast-fed, this required my wife to avoid food/beverage products with either milk or soy protein in them or else we’d have a 2-3 tough days where my child would be quite irritable and fussy secondary to the stomach discomfort from the offending milk or soy protein.. But for most with a milk and/or soy protein allergy during the first year of life, by the time the first birthday rolls around, they have outgrown these allergies. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case.

And so the question becomes, what milk choices are there when the allergy continues into the toddler years? Well, certainly there are more, but the three I discuss include:

Rice Milk: Often used as a replacement just because allergies to rice are rare. Although not a great source of protein, because it is fortified, it does have a decent share of vitamins and calcium. It is a bit high on the calorie intake, and unfortunately, there isn’t much taste to it.

Almond Milk: On the plus side, no cholesterol and not a whole lot of calories and total fat in a glass and there may even be a reduced risk of heart disease in those who drink almond milk. Unfortunately, its calcium and protein levels are on the low side (some almond milk brands don’t even have any calcium). And even though almonds are a great source of Vitamin E and omega-6 fatty acid (that is good), some almond milk brands have minimal content of these ingredients. So user beware and please read the label as variance often occurs.

Goat’s Milk: Actually, this is probably not an option if a true milk protein allergy exists because if one does, there is quite a high likelihood of having a goat milk allergy as well (above 90%). Furthermore, it is high in the calorie, cholesterol, and saturated fat categories, but despite all the above it is becoming more popular here in the U.S. And to be fair, it does have calcium and Vitamin D level comparable to cow’s milk.

So what do I recommend? Typically a mix of the milks that are tolerated and where no allergy exists. None are perfect but all have some strengths…enough of which mixing it up seems the best option.


Dr. Jeremy