Cooking and vitamin loss.....

[purpleelephant]

Hi all!
Just a quick question.. My daughter Iona (21 months) is still breasfed quite a lot and consequently she doesn't have a huge appetite. Whilst I am happy to breasfeed before bed/naptime for as long as it takes I would like to try and coax her off the breast during the day. I get the feeling it is just a habit/comfort thing because when we are out for the day she doesn't ask for milk at all but when I am at home and as soon as she sees me sit down she wants breast milk.!!
Anyway my main problem is that she has never had a bottle (she never realy took to expressed milk from a bottle either!) and she will not have fortified soya/rice milk from a cup (I have tried them all!) What I am trying to do is cook with soya milk (custardy puddings, creamy pasta sauces etc) However I am aware that when you cook vegetables the vitamin content is decreased somewhat, is this the same for fortified soya milk? My main concern is the calcium content.. to what extent does this decrease when cooked?
I also sometimes use B12 enriched Yeast extract as a stock. Is this a good idea or is all the B12 likly to be lost in cooking?
Sorry, i know I aid that this was a short one!!
Take care all!
Mandy
XXXXX

[Erin Pavlina]

I'm not sure if cooking the soy milk will lose the vitamins. Hopefully someone else knows.

But as to the more basic problem... make her fruit smoothies and add soy or rice milk and then let her drink it with a straw. Would she go for that? My toddler will drink anything if there is a straw sticking out of it.

[Bette]

Hi Mandy,
I can't help you with the vitamin thing I'm afraid and I know you said you've tried all the fortified 'milks', but my 20 month old son refused to touch loads of them too, until we tried 'White Sun' by Plamil. He guzzles this by the cup load and can frequently be found hanging around the fridge just in case a passing parent fancies getting him another cup of it. Sorry if you've already tried it out, but when we gave it to Joby it was like a miracle so I thought I'd pass it on just in case!

[SeattleVegan]

Mandy,

My 20 month old loves Silk Plain Soymilk. Have you tried soy yogurt with her? There are also some really great yogurt drinks out there. My daughter just tried the Trader Joe's Strawberry Soy Yogurt drink, and she ended up drinking the whole thing!!! Also, have you tried giving her sips from your cup/glass. In a toddlers world whatever mommy and daddy are drinking is somehow better then what is in their cup. (Even if it is the same thing!) You might want to try a small 3 oz dixie cup. It might make her feel independent that she can have a big person cup. Just make sure you sit with her. :)
About the breasting feeding at home thing. My daughter does the exact same thing!!! I am with her all day at her School, and as soon as we get to the car its "Leche" (we are teaching her spanish) I think it is a comfort thing. She had a hard day working, and now she needs some snuggle time with mom. :) Sometimes if she has nursed quite a bit at night and wants more, I tell her that the milk is all gone, then a offer her Soymilk, and she is fine. So try the milk all gone trick, and offer her food or a cup. She might get mad the first couple of times, but it will all be better in the long run. Good luck to you!!!

Amanda