why cant we give cows milk to infants?

happy chick

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 3:21 pm

id like to know why we cant give cows milk to infants under age 1? if its because their immune system is not ready for it, can it be dangerous? can I try with an 8 month old and see what happens? or can it be worse than just disagreeing c"v?

IloveHashem613

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 3:25 pm

happy chick wrote:

What I've heard is that cow's milk has too much protein, sodium and pottasium for an infant's body and they're system can't handle it. They also don't get enough Vitamin E, iron or essential fatty acids which their bodies need. And the fat in cow's milk is very hard for an infants body to break down. All in all, its not meant for an infant baby's body. I would not give it to an 8 month old baby just to "see what happens".

MommyZ

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 3:29 pm

Cow's milk is for baby cows not for baby humans. Breast milk is the perfect food for human babies and as a substitute when necessary formula may be used. This is from the AAP.

Kayza

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 4:37 pm

happy chick wrote:

If there is a history of either allergy or lactose intolerance in either your or your husband's family, better not. Allergy can be pretty string, so if you have a history, you should probably wait. If no history, then introduce dairy by itself (ie no other new foods that day), and you should know pretty quickly what the deal is. Lactose intolerance is much harder to get a handle on, because the symptoms are not as clear cut to start with, and it's not always so easy to know just what is bothering an infant, anyway. Also, in some cases, those extra few months can let the child's system mature enough to handle things.

spring13

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 5:33 pm

if your child is eating solids, its ok to give them cheese and yogurt. the problem is that cow's milk isnt an adequate substitute for breastmilk or formula on a nutritional level. there's a concern that people will not be careful about that, so doctors are careful to warn people not to give their kids any liquid cow's milk. its not that a drink of cow's milk will automatically harm your kid - its just that its essentially pointless, and giving it instead of breastmilk or formula WOULD be harmful.

spring13

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 5:38 pm

shnitzel wrote:

It can make their digestive systems bleed which can lead to anemia.

Whoa, slow down. A child who is milk allergic or lactose intolerant can have that kind of reaction, but it is not something that automatically happens to all kids under one. Please don't be alarmist.

Merrymom

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 6:05 pm

A mother was created with the ability to breast feed for a reason. Years ago if a women had issues she'd take her child to another breast feeding woman. There is no substitute (equivalant)for human milk. Yes, we have formula but there's no saying right now if over someone's lifetime if formula fed babies have more problems, everything from their immunity to learning difficulties. I look forward to such a study.

MommyZ

Fri, Jul 15 2011, 7:11 pm

Merrymom wrote:

*Disclaimer- A small minority of women are physically unable to breasfeed. There others who have extreme difficulties and feel that due to those difficulties the struggle is not worth the benefits. By saying every baby deserves to be breastfed, I am not attacking mothers who can not or do not breastfeed. I am simply saying what every major health organization has said based on numerous studies- Breast Is Best.

ewa-jo

Sat, Jul 16 2011, 2:43 pm

OP, do you mean instead of breastmilk/formula... or do you mean giving cow's milk and/or dairy foods in addition to breastmilk/formula.

You can't just put regular milk in a bottle and give it to your baby for every meal, *BUT* it should be fine to introduce dairy at 8 months as you're introducing other solids and drinks other than breastmilk/formula. Most doctors now say that early exposure to stuff (peanuts, dairy, wheat ..etc) does more to prevent allergies than delaying exposure.

Yogourt is the best thing to start with, because it's fermented, it's gentler on the digestive system than straight cow's milk.

runninglate

Sat, Jul 16 2011, 11:09 pm

another question on this topic. I know after a yr old a child shld drink red milk. But is it a problem to give them blue milk or just not preferrable?

MommyZ

Sat, Jul 16 2011, 11:24 pm

They say whole milk is preferable between 12-24 months since their brains are still developing and they need the extra fat. I don't give whole milk since I breastfeed for at least 24 months. When I give milk during those months I give low fat milk since I don't give much to begin with.

Kayza

Sun, Jul 17 2011, 1:23 am

MommyZ wrote:

The fat is not only the issue. The mainthing that young children have an issue with is the proteins in the milk. Verlo low or no fat milk has a higher percentage of those proteins (without the "buffering" effect of the milk fat) making it harder for their not completely mature digestive systems to handle.

shnitzel

Sun, Jul 17 2011, 2:10 pm

spring13 wrote:

shnitzel wrote:

It can make their digestive systems bleed which can lead to anemia.

Whoa, slow down. A child who is milk allergic or lactose intolerant can have that kind of reaction, but it is not something that automatically happens to all kids under one. Please don't be alarmist.

It's not alarmist or even "alternative" like the dairy allergy theory. Their digestive systems are not well developed and can cause minute amounts of bleeding which can cause anemia. We are not talking noticeable amounts of blood loss but just enough for anemia to develop, it is called occult blood loss. Things like it causing allergies are more alternative theories.

IloveHashem613

Sun, Jul 17 2011, 5:04 pm

shnitzel wrote:

spring13 wrote:

shnitzel wrote:

It can make their digestive systems bleed which can lead to anemia.

Whoa, slow down. A child who is milk allergic or lactose intolerant can have that kind of reaction, but it is not something that automatically happens to all kids under one. Please don't be alarmist.

I've also heard about the bleeding thing...specifically that there can be traces of blood in the babie's stool and obviously that's not a normal/good thing