Milk and Soya Free Diet for Babies: What Can My Baby Eat?

If you’ve been told your baby needs to avoid both cow’s milk and soya, it can suddenly feel like everything contains one or the other.

Milk turns up in obvious foods like yoghurt and cheese, but also in plenty of packaged foods. Soya can be even trickier because it appears in bread, sauces, processed foods and lots of products you might not expect.

The good news is that a milk and soya free diet can still be varied and nutritionally balanced.

The important thing is making sure your baby actually needs both foods excluded, choosing suitable milk or formula alternatives, and replacing the nutrients that milk and soya would normally provide.

In this guide, I’ll explain what your baby can eat on a milk and soya free diet, what foods to check more carefully and when it’s worth getting individual support.

Does every baby with CMPA need to avoid soya?

No.

Having cow’s milk protein allergy does not automatically mean your baby is allergic to soya too.

Some babies with cow’s milk allergy also react to soya, and this can be more common in children with delayed gastrointestinal symptoms. But removing soya unnecessarily can make an already restricted diet much harder to manage.

So I would not recommend cutting out soya simply because your baby has CMPA unless there is a clear clinical reason or you have been advised to do so.

If your baby’s symptoms are not settling on a milk-free diet, or you are wondering whether soya could also be involved, this is where looking at the full symptom history and diet becomes really important.

If your child is already avoiding soya and you have been advised to reintroduce it, you may also find my Soya Ladder guide helpful.

What can my baby eat on a milk and soya free diet?

There are still plenty of foods your baby can eat without milk or soya, and most meals can be built around naturally milk and soya free foods.

Depending on your baby’s age and stage of weaning, these can include:

• Fruit and vegetables
• Potatoes, sweet potatoes and other root vegetables
• Rice, pasta and other grains that do not contain added milk or soya
• Meat, chicken and fish
• Eggs, if tolerated
• Beans, lentils and pulses, if tolerated
• Nut butters and ground nuts, if already introduced safely
• Avocado
• Olive oil and other suitable fats
• Dairy-free spreads and fortified alternatives that are also soya free

The trickiest foods are usually the packaged ones rather than the fresh foods.

Bread, crackers, cereals, sauces, biscuits, cakes and ready-made foods can all contain milk or soya, so checking the ingredient list is really important.

And remember: “dairy free” does not always mean “soya free”.

If you are avoiding both, you need to check for each allergen separately.

What milk or formula can my baby have?

This depends a lot on your baby’s age and whether they are breastfed, formula fed or having a mixture of both.

For babies under 12 months, breast milk or an appropriate specialist infant formula should remain the main milk drink.

If your baby has cow’s milk allergy and also needs to avoid soya, soya formula would not be suitable.

Some babies may use an extensively hydrolysed formula, while others may need an amino acid formula depending on their symptoms, diagnosis and what they have already tolerated.

This is not something I would recommend choosing based on a list online, because the right formula depends on your baby’s individual history and nutritional needs.

If you are unsure why your baby has been prescribed a particular formula, or whether it is still suitable, this is something I can help you work through.

For children over 12 months, fortified plant-based alternatives may sometimes be used, depending on the rest of the diet.

The important things to look at include:

• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Protein
• Energy
• Iodine
• Whether the drink is suitable for your child’s age

Not all plant milks are nutritionally similar, and some are much lower in protein or energy than others

What foods should I check carefully for milk and soya?

Milk and soya are both among the 14 regulated allergens in the UK, so they must be clearly declared when they are used as ingredients in pre-packed foods. Allergen information must also be available for foods sold loose, such as bakery or deli products

Even so, milk and soya can appear in foods you might not expect.

Foods worth checking carefully include:

• Bread and rolls
• Crackers and biscuits
• Breakfast cereals
• Chocolate and confectionery
• Cakes and pastries
• Sauces and gravies
• Processed meats such as sausages and burgers
• Ready meals
• Dairy-free desserts
• Margarines and spreads
• Plant-based products
• Some baby foods and snacks

For milk, look out for ingredients such as milk, whey, casein and milk powder.

For soya, you may see ingredients such as soya flour, soya protein, soy sauce, tofu, tempeh, edamame or textured vegetable protein. Soya is used widely in manufactured foods, including bread, cakes and processed products.

The most useful habit is to check the ingredients every time you buy a product, even if you have bought it before. Recipes and ingredients can change.

What about soya lecithin and soya oil?

This is where things can become a little confusing, because not every ingredient derived from soya contains the same amount of soya protein.

Soya lecithin is an emulsifier that is often used in foods such as chocolate, spreads and baked products.

It contains very little soya protein, and many people with soya allergy can tolerate it. However, whether your child needs to avoid it depends on their individual allergy and the advice you have been given.

Refined soya oil is also different from whole soya protein.

During refining, most of the protein that causes allergic reactions is removed. The Food Standards Agency considers the risk of an allergic reaction to fully refined soya oil to be negligible. Cold-pressed or unrefined soya oil can still contain soya protein and should be treated differently.

So if you see soya lecithin or soya oil on a label, it does not automatically mean your child needs to avoid the food.

This is one of those areas where I would avoid making the diet more restrictive than necessary.

If you are unsure what level of soya avoidance your child needs, it is worth getting individual advice rather than removing every soya-derived ingredient.

How do I make sure my baby gets enough calcium, protein and energy?

When both milk and soya are removed, the diet needs a little more planning.

Cow’s milk and dairy foods can provide a significant amount of calcium, protein, energy, iodine and other nutrients. If soya products are also excluded, you lose another useful source of protein and energy.

The nutrients I pay particular attention to are:

• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Protein
• Energy
• Iodine

The exact balance will depend on your baby’s age, how much breast milk or formula they are having and what foods they are eating.

Fortified dairy-free alternatives can be useful after 12 months, but it is important to compare labels because their nutritional content varies considerably.

Some drinks are very low in protein or energy, even if they contain added calcium.

For babies and young toddlers with several food exclusions, I would look at the whole diet rather than trying to replace one food with one substitute.

For example, protein can come from meat, fish, eggs, beans, lentils and nut butters where these are tolerated. Energy can be increased with foods such as avocado, olive oil and suitable spreads.

The aim is not simply to find foods labelled “free from”. It is to make sure your child is still getting what they need to grow.

What if my baby is breastfed?

If your baby is breastfed, you may be wondering whether you need to remove milk and soya from your own diet too.

That depends on your baby’s symptoms and diagnosis.

Some babies with suspected non-IgE cow’s milk allergy may react to cow’s milk protein passing through breast milk. In that situation, a temporary maternal elimination diet may sometimes be recommended as part of the assessment.

But soya should not automatically be removed as well.

Cutting out both milk and soya can make your own diet much more restrictive, so I would only remove soya if there is a clear reason to do so or you have been advised to.

If you are breastfeeding and avoiding milk, it is also important to think about your own calcium, vitamin D and overall nutritional intake.

This is especially important if you are avoiding more than one major food group.

If your baby’s symptoms are not improving, or you are unsure whether soya is also contributing, it is worth getting individual advice rather than continuing to remove more foods.

When should I get help with a milk and soya free diet?

If your baby is avoiding both milk and soya, it is worth getting extra support if:

• Symptoms are continuing despite the exclusions
• You are not sure whether soya genuinely needs to be avoided
• Your baby is struggling with weaning
• They are eating a very limited range of foods
• Growth or weight gain is a concern
• You are unsure which formula is suitable
• You are finding it difficult to meet calcium, protein or energy needs
• More than one food group is being removed

A milk and soya free diet can be managed well, but the more foods that are excluded, the more important it becomes to look at the overall diet.

The aim is always to keep your baby’s diet as varied as possible while making sure they are safe and getting the nutrition they need.

If you are worried that your baby may be reacting to both milk and soya, or you feel stuck with what to feed them, I can help you look at their symptoms, current diet, formula or breastfeeding history and next steps.

What should I do next?

If your baby has recently been advised to avoid milk and soya, start by keeping things simple.

Focus on foods your baby already tolerates, check labels carefully and avoid making the diet more restrictive than it needs to be.

If you are not sure whether soya really needs to be excluded, or symptoms are continuing despite removing milk, speak to your allergy team, GP, health visitor or dietitian before cutting out more foods.

And if your baby develops an immediate reaction such as swelling, breathing difficulty, repeated vomiting, becomes floppy or very unwell, seek urgent medical help.

Further information

• NHS guidance on food allergy and weaning
• Allergy UK information on cow’s milk and soya allergy
• British Society for Allergy & Clinical Immunology guidance on cow’s milk allergy
• Food Standards Agency information on food allergen labelling

Updated September 2026 to reflect current guidance on cow’s milk and soya allergy in babies and young children.