No to cow, yes to soy

I was having lunch with some colleagues who are new mothers just like me. Amongst us, there was also an experienced father of four boys. The topic over lunch was baby’s food intake. We were comparing notes on what our babies were consuming in terms of milk and solids. Then the experienced father informed us that cow’s milk is not as healthy as soy based milk. He mentioned something about cow’s milk lacking in iron and that it has a higher chance in causing eczema in babies. We asked more but he said it’s best we do our own research rather than take his words for it.

So I googled and read whatever articles that showed up on the result pages. To sum up my little research project, it is found that cow’s milk doesn’t provide sufficient vitamin E, iron and fatty acids. Instead, cow’s milk provides too much protein, sodium and potassium. Cow’s milk is also harder to digest in a newborn’s system.

The best milk for baby is obviously breast milk. Second to that, apparently, would be soy based milk. The concerned father was recommending Isomil as an alternative to cow’s milk but all of us mothers are concerned about switching formulas after our babies have been used to what they’ve been consuming.

Has anyone heard anything similar or do you have a contradicting view on this? Do share with me, if any.