Whey vs casein content of human and formula milk?

[duchesse]

I'm trying to track down the cause of DD3' eczema at the moment. I know it's to do with dairy, and I've managed to narrow it down to a problem with casein at the moment.

I just read a couple of things online that suggest that human milk is high in whey but low in casein, whilst formula is the other way around. I just wondered this was true (one of you clever people must loads about this) and if so whether it is possible to get low casein baby milk. I'm still breastfeeding DD3 but she's 18 months now and I can't go on for ever (wasn't planning on carrying on much beyond 2). And if it is correct that the whey/casein levels are the other way round, why is that?

Most baby milks are made from cow's milk so aren't suitable for a dairy allergic child full stop. Neocate and Nutramigen are two hypoallergenic substitutes. Re the breastmilk, it will be free from both casein and whey as long as the mother's diet is also free from them.

Casein, whey and lactose are present in all milk from all animals. Obviously cows' milk casein is different in composition from goat or whale or human, but they all still contain casein. Some info. I wanted to know whether there were any cows' milk based formulas that were lower in (cows' milk) casein.

duchesse - most 'stage one' infant formulas are lower in casein than whey, but of course it is still bovine whey and bovine casein.

Human milk is lower in whey - one of the biological reasons is that we are 'designed' to feed very frequently, far more often than cows are designed to feed, because frequent contact with our mothers is necessary for brain development and for emotional attachment (as our survival is dependent on our carers being protective of us - a cow can walk within minutes of being born, and can escape danger independently, whereas we have to rely on someone bothering enough about us to hold us). Casein slows down milk transit, for the calf who does not need to feed often.

It's unlikely that any normal cows milk formula would be suitable for a baby allergic to bovine casein.

Doric - human milk has both casein and whey, and I guess you meant it will be free of bovine casein and whey if the mother's diet is free of it. This is true.

Sorry, yes - because you mentioned that it was a dairy problem I assumed that you meant bovine. :)