The combination of nutritional soy milk for children

According to the proportion of "60% basic beans + 30% functional ingredients + 10% flavor adjustment", avoid high-risk operations such as adding honey and beating whole nuts directly for children under 1 year old. There is no need to pursue a universal formula. The best combination is to adapt to the child's eating status and taste preferences of the day.

I am not making this up. My child started drinking soy milk when he was 2 years old. He learned the ropes after almost a year of trying and consulting friends in the pediatric nutrition department several times. Last week, Sister Zhang complained to me downstairs, saying that in order to supplement calcium for her baby, she added half a cup of walnuts, half a cup of sesame seeds, and two large pieces of rock sugar to the soy milk. As a result, the baby pushed it away after two sips and became bloated all afternoon. It is typical to stew soy milk as a tonic, which misses the point.

Why do basic beans account for 60%? This is because my baby drinks soy milk mainly to supplement high-quality vegetable protein. I just need to switch between soybeans, black beans, and chickpeas. I usually eat soybeans this week and black beans the next week. I occasionally mix in two handfuls of chickpeas. The milk is thick enough and has enough bean flavor. It will not be overtaken by other ingredients, and there will not be too much miscellaneous fiber to burden the gastrointestinal tract. By the way, if soaking beans is too troublesome, you can just use freeze-dried cooked beans. The nutrition is not much different. Wouldn’t it be nice to get ten more minutes of sleep in the time saved?

I have also struggled with the issue of whether to add cereals before. I read about health bloggers who said adding quinoa and millet to supplement dietary fiber, and I read about pediatric bloggers who said that children under 3 years old have weak spleens and stomachs, and adding too many cereals will cause indigestion. Later, I tried it myself for more than half a month, and found that there is no standard answer to this matter: If your baby usually eats meat all the time and gets constipated every three days, add 10% of quinoa or steamed millet, and the pulp will be moist and make pooping happy; if your baby is prone to bloating and farting a lot, then just add beans and don't make trouble for yourself.

The 30% of the functional ingredients are more flexible. If the baby ate too much the day before, add some pitted hawthorns and steamed yams. Recently, he is a little iron-deficient and his face is yellow, so add two handfuls of red peanuts and a few pieces of pitted red dates. If he uses his brain a lot at school, add two less walnuts that have been soaked in advance. Don't add too much, otherwise the baby will not like to drink it if it is bitter. A word of caution, never throw in whole nuts and beat them directly. Even if they are broken, there may be small hard residues, which may make your child choke when drinking. Either grind them into powder in advance, or use nut butter without additives. Safety is the most important thing.

The remaining 10% of the flavor adjustment is to coax the baby to drink. For babies over 1 year old, if the pulp is tasteless, you can put 1 or 2 rock sugar, or throw in a few dried blueberries or raisins. The natural sweetness is enough, don't add white sugar and honey, especially for babies under 1 year old. Honey may contain botulinum spores, which the baby's stomach and intestines cannot handle, so it must not be added.

There are two types of parents around me. One type believes in the origin of traditional medicine and food. They like to add poria and gorgon seeds to soy milk, saying it nourishes the spleen and stomach. The other type believes in modern nutrition and like to add chia seeds and DHA algae oil to supplement Omega3. In fact, there is no conflict between the two. Use whichever one you believe in, as long as the baby doesn't feel uncomfortable after drinking it. There is no need to argue with each other. I sometimes mix the two, as long as the ratio does not exceed 30%, there is no problem.

Oh, yes, some mothers asked me before if I wanted to buy those ready-made soy milk packets that come with a matching package? I have also bought two boxes. It saves trouble, but many of them contain crushed rock sugar, and some have old beans, which taste astringent and my children don’t like to drink it. If you have time, you can make it yourself for peace of mind. If you are really lazy, just pick the one without any additives and check the ingredient list before each pour.

My family’s soy milk combination last week was pretty random, soybeans + peanuts + red dates on Monday, and the baby drank a full cup; on Tuesday, I tried black beans + walnuts + a small amount of oats, but the baby found it a bit bitter, so next time I reduced the walnuts in half and added a red date, and I loved it on Wednesday; on Thursday, I used chickpeas + quinoa + dried blueberries, which was beaten out with a fruity flavor. The baby took it to the kindergarten to share with his friends, and many mothers came to ask me for the recipe.

In fact, there is really no need to search online for fixed formulas for "children's height-increasing soy milk" and "iron-supplementing soy milk". Every child's taste and digestion situation are different, and your child may not touch the good ones that others use. Just remember the ratio mentioned at the beginning, safety comes first, taste comes second, and nutrition comes third. It doesn’t matter - after all, nutrition is only when the baby is willing to drink it, right?