confused about milk

[dobbin]

Hi, everyone,
My ds is now 7 months and happily scoffing 3 meals a day, mostly finger foods but also porridge, cereal etc. which he loves. I have been happily making porridge and cereal with small amounts of full fat cow's milk and thought that was okay but a health visitor last week said to avoid it til he's a year. Have others found it to be a problem and if so, what else could I use? I can't express enough to use ebm and I don't want to use formula.
He has been sleeping really badly since weaning and was doing 12 hours at night. I've suspected some tummy ache (along with teething - the usual suspect) and wonder if the milk is too much for him.

[peachandpear]

I thought you were allowed to use cows milk in cooking and on cereals from 6 months. Only to drink after 12 months. Or have I been doing it completely wrong? Can I ask though, why you are not happy to formula but are happy to use cows milk? (not a go by the way, just curious)

[dobbin]

Er, laziness mainly. Well, really I just thought, as you did, that cow's milk was okay as a mixer so would never need to formula feed. I may just have been letting him eat too much and he's got indigestion... Or it's just another phase of sleeplessness.

[AwayInAMunker]

Cows milk's fine in cooking and on cereal from 6 months, just not as a main drink until they're a year old because it doesn't contain the right balance of fats and contains too much sodium. But it's FINE to use on cereal.

And I'm holding back on commenting on HVs who give out of date or wrong advice. How am I doing?

[spidermama]

I think it's best to hold off for the first year simply because so many people seem to be allergic/intolerant to dairy these days.

My baby is ten months and I must admit I use the odd bit of cow milk in his food though. I try to keep it to a minimum as his brother is dairy intolerant and so am I.

[PantomimEDAMe]

Munker's right (as usual).

[Pagan]

Bad old me ....DD was opn FF cows milk from about 10 months and DS is now the same. DD has shown no ill effects because of this so I'm fine about doing the same with DS. I'm sure all kids are different and I can't see why on the stroke of 12 months it's suddenly OK to give cows milk. It is just a guideline afterall and like you, I'd been giving both DD and DS food made with cows milk for ages and also their meals were just what me and DH had had but whizzed up. So I figure that their innards are pretty much OK to deal with cows milk if they eat what we eat.

[dobbin]

Thanks, everyone. I do feel reassured and happy because I like sharing his porridge, although I heap the sugar in my portion. He loves water and seems to breast feed as much if not more than ever so no need to supplement with cows' milk as a drink. I shall keep going as I am and hope the sleep returns.

[sazhig]

Just to add to this - LLL also reccommend not giving cows milk at all until after one year. If there are allergies in your families (not just food, things like hayfever, asthma, eczema etc) then some do say it is better to avoid potential allergens until after one year. If you are concerned about allergies & want to give cereal why not just mix them with water. We tried porridge made with water as we were avoiding dairy with my ds & we loved it so much we have switched permanently! Ds has his plain & we add things like golden syrup, jam, honey etc to ours.

[tatt]

If you suspect the milk is a problem a drop or two of infacol may help. It contains lactase which helps to digest the lactose that can cause some problems. Some live yoghurt might also help as it contains bacteria that help digest the lactose - but it has to be given daily.

[dobbin]

Thanks, Sazhig and Tatt. I've always made my porridge with water and never thought of doing so with his. I add fruit to it anyway so it should still be tasty. I'll also try the yoghurt, I eat loads of it myself as well. We do have allergies in the family but have never found any kind of food exclusion has helped. Ds was born with mild eczema which also seems un-diet-related I'm hoping he'll grow out of it too.

[tatt]

if he has mild eczema definitely do the live yoghurt as probiotics (the healthy bacteria) help a lot of children with that. Worked well for my son. I suspect a lot of "colic", wind and other similar problems in babies are actually related to immature digestive systems. The problem with trying food exclusion is that you have to be very good at it and its easy to miss a bit of skimmed milk powder (maybe in bread) or whey protein.