The plant-based milk market has absolutely exploded in recent years, as people turn to dairy-free alternatives either due to allergies or personal preference. I am often asked by parents “which is the BEST plant-milk alternative for my child?” It’s a really tough question, and the truth is, that there is no ONE perfect alternative that’s going to work for every child, in place of cow’s milk. There are many things to take into account, and I’ve written more in detail about this in my blog about plant-based milks for infants and toddlers.
Which plant-based milk alternative is best for my child?
In this blog, I wanted to share some comparisons to help parents and caregivers navigating the question of “WHICH plant-based milk alternative is best for my child?” The plant-based drinks market is a MINEFIELD and something that lots of parents (those with dairy free babies and others) want to know more about.
If you’re not familiar with milk recommendations in the UK, you can read about those in my Milk Recommendations Blog. Otherwise, a couple of important things to consider when it comes to choosing plant-based milk alternatives include:
- Remember to consider the rest of your child’s diet in terms of their overall balance of food groups and nutrient intakes. They ideally need to be getting sufficient energy, fats and protein from the rest of their diet if you’re considering offering a plant based milk.
- You also want to consider their weight and ensure that they are growing and developing well, currently.
- Cow’s milk provides protein, fat, energy, calcium, B vitamins and iodine in a child’s diet and so it’s important to look out for milk alternatives that at least go some way to replacing these nutrients. You can read more about why these are important on my blog about milk recommendations or my blog about vegetarian toddlers.
- For children with allergies, breast milk or a hypoallergenic formula are the only suitable options as MAIN drinks for the first 12 months of life (unless an alternative is recommended by a GP or allergy specialist). Many health care professionals will also recommend that after 12 months of age and even until around 18 months to two years, breast milk or a hypoallergenic formula may still the best option for a baby, dependent on their growth and how many different food allergies they have (the more foods they are avoiding, the more at risk they are of having nutrient deficiencies).
- However, the NHS do recommend that plant based milks (except rice drinks) can be used in cooking or mixed with food from 6 months of age and can be offered as a drink from 12 months alongside a healthy, balanced diet.
- Organic versions of plant based milks are not fortified with any of the important nutrients needed (e.g. calcium, b vitamins or iodine) and so aren’t recommended for young children.
As the graphic shows, generally plant milks are lower in calories, protein and fats than most other plant milks. There are also a few other things to bear in mind when choosing a milk-alternative for your family:
- Oat milks tend to be quite low in protein, and aren’t ideal for young children. If you are offering oat milk as a main drink, ensure the rest of the diet is varied in protein sources – e.g. contains meat, fish, eggs, lentils, pulses, nuts and seeds each day or with most meals.
- Soy milks* are generally the closest in calories and protein to cow’s milk but are lower in fat than cow’s milk. If offering soya milks, include other sources of healthy fats, including oily fish, olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds regularly
- Nut milks, such as almond or hazelnut milk, are substantially lower in calories, protein and fat, and therefore are not ideal as a main drink for young children
- Rice milk should not be offered as a drink to young children, under the age of 5, due to the potential small amount of arsenic content.
*Soy is an ingredient that has caused controversy in the past. Soya is a nutritious addition to a balanced diet, providing protein, unsaturated fat, fibre as well as vitamins and minerals. Research is still ongoing, but current evidence doesn’t suggest adverse health effects from consuming soya as part of a varied and balanced diet.
In the graphics below, we’ve compared products from each different type of milk alternative. We’ve specified whether they meet our criteria, which is:
- Fortified with Iodine
- Fortified with Calcium
- Fortified with Vitamins B12 & B2
- Fortified with Vitamin D
- Doesn’t contain added sugars
At the end of this blog we’ve also chosen our OVERALL top 3 milk alternatives, across all of the varieties, to hopefully make the final choice a little easier for parents. This doesn’t mean these are the ONLY ones you can offer, just based on lots of factors including accessibility, price and our criteria above, those are the ones that seem the best, currently.
This blog was last updated in October 2024. Please be aware that these milks are changing ALL THE TIME and we’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring that these figures are right as of October 2024, but changes can happen very quickly, especially in such a fast growing field.
Additional ingredients in plant-milks
I know LOTS of families have questions over some of the “extra” ingredients in many of the plant milk options – for example, oils, emulsifiers or preservatives. I’ve written a bit more detail about these in my blog on plant-based milk for babies and toddlers. I do also plan to write more in depth on this topic as it’s quite complex, and I know it’s something that brings up lots of questions.
SOYA
Overall note: Soya based milk alternatives are a good first choice alternative of cow’s milk. These milks are all fortified with vitamin D, B vitamins, calcium and iodine (aside from the M&S option which just lacks B2 – Other plant-based foods containing B2 are fortified breakfast cereals, mushrooms, oats and quinoa.), and they contain no added sugar. Each of these options would be a suitable alternative to cow’s milk. Some children who are allergic to cow’s milk may also be allergic to soya milks too, however, so it’s important that there are other options available.
PEA
Overall note: These Pea milks do contain higher levels of protein when compared with other milk alternatives, and so can make a better option. None of the options we found met our criteria exactly, but the unsweetened option from Mighty meets all criteria, except being fortified with vitamin B2. Other plant-based foods containing B2 are fortified breakfast cereals, mushrooms, oats and quinoa. The other two options here are less ideal as they are not well fortified or contain added sugars.
OAT
Overall note: Oat milk is by far the most popular milk alternative on the market, and we found SO many different options. All of the above options meet the criteria we’ve specified at the beginning of this blog. However, in general, oat milks are still relatively low in protein, so if choosing this as an alternative to cow’s milk, make sure to include plenty of other sources of protein in the diet overall. Protein is widely available in a variety of foods including meat, fish, eggs, dairy, tofu, beans, pulses, nuts and seeds.
Other Oat Milk products are available (see below), but as there were so many suitable options, we decided to only include those that met our specific criteria.
COCONUT
Overall note: Whilst these milk options do contain a variety of additional vitamins and minerals beyond those specified in our criteria, they do also contain added sugars, in the form of concentrated apple juice. Coconut milks are also relatively low in protein, and, although these options do contain some added protein, they are still not ideal choices as everyday milk alternatives for young children.
ALMOND
Overall note: These drinks are very low in energy and protein and are not ideal as a daily milk alternative for young children. Only two options (Asda & Tesco) are fortified with Iodine, so these would be the best options to choose from the available products
NUT
Overall note: These drinks are very low in energy and protein, are not fortified with iodine and also contain added sugars. They would therefore not be recommended as milk alternatives for young children.
HEMP
Overall note: These drinks are very low in energy and protein, as well as lacking other added vitamins and minerals and are therefore not recommended as a main milk alternative for young children.
The Best Milk alternatives for young children?
And finally, here are our top three plant-based milk alternatives. Based on the nutritional content and fortification levels, soya and pea milks are the best overall alternative to cow’s milk. We’ve picked one from each of the oat, pea and soya categories as these are the best options and also the most widely available.
While Alpro’s “growing up” milk is also fortified with iodine and additional vitamins and minerals, it has some added sugars which ideally, we try to avoid – but it’s still a viable option and many paediatricians do recommend it. It can be a helpful addition to a child’s diet if they are particularly fussy or if there are concerns over nutrition, growth or health generally, but it’s important to discuss with a health professional if this is the case for your child.
The Tesco Grower’s Harvest option has been chosen as the top soya milk option here, as it is fortified, higher in protein and calories and it has a really low price point. Tesco and Asda own brand soya milks would be suitable here too.
We’ve chosen The Mighty Pea milk as a top choice, to ensure variety and offer an option for those who can’t have soya or oat milks. We’ve chosen a pea milk as it is higher in protein than other milk alternatives and this one is fortified with most of the required nutrients too. However, it isn’t fortified with riboflavin (vitamin B2), so other food sources should be included if this is chosen – eggs, fortified cereals, mushrooms, oats and quinoa.
If soya or pea milks aren’t tolerated, then an oat milk may be a more accessible option. The Asda option has been chosen here as it has a higher protein content than other Oat milks. It is, however, still comparatively lower in protein than other milks, and you’d want to ensure your child is getting enough protein in their diet overall if you’re substituting with oat milk!
