Cow's Milk

[GwenRaiden]

I know we have a few fellow mummies, mommies and daddies on the board - so I was hoping for some advice. From anyone who has any knowledge in the subject I suppose, not just parents.

My LG just turned one. I haven't weaned her off formula milk yet and onto cow's milk, as 1-years-old being the recommended age by health visitors in this country.

Two main reasons; 1) she had a lot of issues with what we thought were milk allergy symptoms when she was born right up until about 7-8 months old. After speaking to many specialists and paediatricians at the time they decided it was severe reflux causing the issues (screaming in pain day and night, awful bowel movements (sorry), constant sneezing, constant hiccups, choking and coughing on milk and foods). She was put on medication for reflux (we tried three different meds), some of it helped and some didn't, in the end, in my opinion, she grew out of the reflux at about 8 months old. So, she's been a lot better since then, but at the back of my mind I'm still worrying that the change in milk will disrupt her seemingly healthy and happy existence at the moment. She sleeps great, eats and drinks plenty, is active and content.
2) I've heard substitute milks such as almond milk, oat milk and hemp milk, etc, may actually be healthier and greener. I'm wondering whether to try one of these instead. Does anyone have any knowledge on these cow's milk substitutes and their advantages compared to cow's milk?

I guess it could he possible the little one may have had milk allergies and grew out of those also, as that does happen, but I'm still worried about how her tummy may react to cow's milk as she's clearly always had a very sensitive stomach.

I'm also unsure about trying "follow-on" formula milks as they're apparently just a money making device by formula companies and are full of fat instead of the nutrients they need from milk. Does anyone know if this is true?

If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and thanks in advance to those who have any advice.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Do you have a preference towards plant or animal based? Kefir is awesome (but expensive), goat's milk is good as well, but again, it becomes a price issue. But I can make more arguments FOR cow's milk than against; especially if you are talking plant-based milk.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Is lactose intolerance the problem? Milk is not the wonder food that dairy farmers have pounded into our heads. A lot of people are lactose intolerant (remember Chao-An the potential objecting to Giles taking her out for ice cream?).

 

[Blaze]

I have no experience as a parent, so obviously take my opinion with a grain of salt 😛 But as someone that is lactose intolerant, I would suggest that unless your child has the intolerance, stick with cow milk. Lactose intolerance is one of the only intolerance that can be developed, but also that can disappear over time. But it's not rare for people that don't consume lactose to develop the intolerance, and well, as much as almond milk is awesome! Ice cream is also awesome, so I wouldn't want my kid developing that lactose intolerance.

But if the kid is lactose intolerant, than yes, almond milk (or other) is a great substitute. Not sure how healthier it is though, I've heard Soy milk is bad for you, but I really don't know anything on the subject.

 

[GwenRaiden]

it becomes a price issue

From what I've seen in the supermarkets here a litre of almond or oat milk is roughly the same price as a litre of cow's milk.

Milk is not the wonder food that dairy farmers have pounded into our heads

I kind of agree, when there are so many somewhat healthier substitutes available. My daughter eats regular dairy in cheese and yogurt form, and of course (once you start reading ingredient lists like a maniac like I used to) there is lactose in many, many food products.

I'm still not dead certain she isn't lactose intolerant. I think she either shows some symptoms of it or if maybe it's just reflux symptoms flaring up due to teething, etc. I can't tell anymore! The doctors haven't been the best help and they basically didn't do any tests as it's "too difficult to test for" as the results aren't always exact. After she was 6 months old I tried her on soya formula milk (soya isn't recommended until after 6 months old, not sure why) and she was like a different baby. She was a joy. But the soya formula was discontinued and I didn't want to move her onto something else completely lactose-free as she was getting older and the doctor wanted her to keep trying dairy.

But as someone that is lactose intolerant, I would suggest that unless your child has the intolerance, stick with cow milk.

Yeah. I mean, it makes sense to me in the long run too. I guess I'm just anxious that she does have undiagnosed lactose intolerance and that I'm going to make her feel ill and upset again, like she was when she was younger. I went through months of worry and upset when she was poorly with reflux, both her and I would cry ourselves to sleep, we even had to have her taken into hospital in an ambulance because she was crying in pain for four hours. I just can't wait til she's old enough to explain that something is making her feel ill and sore! It's so awful seeing them like that. The reflux (or intolerance) symptoms have definitely calmed down and she is a much happier one year old but it's just like, don't wanna change a good thing. Her feeding is going so well I'm anxious we'll be taking a step backwards instead of forwards.

I think I'll follow the advice of a "mummy board" I'm a member of who said I should try sticking to the same organic formula milk, or possibly changing onto the organic follow on formula, and add 1oz cow's milk to 6oz formula then gradually adding more to see how she handles it.

Babies. Total minefield. Don't have babies.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

From what I've seen in the supermarkets here a litre of almond or oak milk is roughly the same price as a litre of cow's milk.

Right, because not all (to my knowledge) are fortified. I was talking about kefir and goats milk being more expensive. From what I've seen, the only plant-based milk alternative that can match cow or goat's milk in terms as nutrients is soy; yet soy is not entirely healthy and, upon recommendation of two trainers, I've been off of that for the better part of a year.

While I love my almond milk, I still would not recommend it for an infant.

 

[GwenRaiden]

Whoops. Didn't mean to write "oak" milk. That sounds like very disgusting milk.

I read an article a while back that said soy milk can affect your fertility?! Not just yours, everyone who drinks it. Christ. I should've been drinking soy milk years ago if that is the case.

 

[Blaze]

@GwenRaiden I totally understand the worry, lactose intolerance can hurt like a b****, and well when you have a crying baby on your hands it's not very pleasant. But I think you'll be able to see pretty quickly, if ever you change the diet and suddenly the symptoms come back, than I would change to something lactose free and see if that solves it. The great thing about lactose intolerance is the symptoms don't last more than 24h after consuming lactose. So if the symptoms show up and you switch to an alternative, you should see an effect really quickly if that's the issue.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Also there is lactose free cows milk as an option.

 

[GwenRaiden]

Also there is lactose free cows milk as an option.

My brain hurts reading that.

 

[Skanky Vamp]

My brain hurts reading that.

here.. like this

It's not bad either!

 

[Blaze]

Lactose free cow milk is what I personally drink. All they do is they put the enzyme that would normally break down the lactose in the milk, so it does the job that would normally be done in our body. So you maintain all the goodies found in the milk, just without the nasty lactose.

 

[GwenRaiden]

That sounds like the best alternative so far! So it has lactase in it already for the people without lactase? Very clever, milk. Clever girl.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Gwen,
I take it your are keeping a record of what and when your little one eats. Considering what happened to my brother, he was found to be a bit allergic to the Aluminium in food containers. So keeping a record of the interior of food containers may or may not prove to be helpful.

 

[Taake]

I'm not sure if almond, oat or hemp milks are better per say, as a rule, but for what it's worth my foster sister (way back in the 80's 😉 ) got almond and soy milks instead of cow's milk and she grew up just fine in terms of health. I mean she still can't have lactose (neither can her father) but otherwise she's fine. 🙂

 

[Moonchild]

People have no reason to drink cows milk. If they like it, that's fine, although inorganic American cows milk tends to have growth hormones in it. I was a vegan for a couple of years and I went off milk and even now that I'm only vegetarian I don't drink milk much. Hemp milk, coconut milk(not what you use for cooking, comes in a Tetra Pak), and almond milk are all tasty and contain a lot of nutrients, although don't contain the same ones as milk, but are often iron fortified and any lacking calcium and iron can be easily obtained through other sources as soon as a baby is eating formulas. I would check and make sure you're buying unsweetened ones, which are typically clearly labeled as such because there's really no reason to give a baby(or anyone really) added sugars.

 

[Faith]

I'm not a parent, but I am intolerant to wheat, gluten and dairy, though these have only come on in the last few years. I have tried all the plant based milks and prefer coconut milk. From the stories my parents told me, when I was a baby I was very premature (like Christmas Day to middle October!) and very underweight. I was given soya milk as well as breast milk.

Have a word with your GP/Health Visitor and look at all the options available to you.