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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

cows' milk as a one-off for 8mo?

24 replies

Maranello · 23/06/2010 12:12

I have to go away overnight for the first time since 8mo dd was born. She is bf and blw. I've expressed a good amount of bm, now in the freezer, but am wondering about back-up as she doesn't really have any pattern to her feeding so it's been quite hard to guess what she needs.

She has a very good appetite for solids and loves water, so I think it'd be quite easy for dh to pacify her with those during the daytime should she be hungry and there's no more EBM. But if she really does want milk, would it be so bad to give her a cup of cows' milk as a one-off? She's eaten plenty of dairy with no ill-effect.

I know cows' milk isn't recommended as a main drink till they're one, but is there any reason why it would be a no-no on just one occasion?

OP posts:
PrivetDancer · 23/06/2010 12:14

I would think it would be fine - it shouldn't be a main drink as lacking in various things (don't know what ) but if she's normally on bm and it's a one off it's certainly not going to do any harm, no.

nickschick · 23/06/2010 12:14

I wouldnt my ds3 has had a dreadful intolerance to cows milk if i were you id get a couple of the ready made formula cartons just in case - far better than cows milk.

Haliborange · 23/06/2010 12:15

AFAIK the reason why "they" say not to have cows' milk as a main drink is because it has less iron than babies need. Assuming this is right then a one-off feed is not going to make any difference.

PrivetDancer · 23/06/2010 12:16

nickschick - op already said her DD is fine on dairy. And formula cartons are made from cow's milk.. How on earth are they going to be better?

Original poster
Maranello · 23/06/2010 12:24

thanks all. She has had cows' milk in her food (her cereal gets dunked in it every morning), plus cheese and yoghurt, etc, so I feel fairly sure she won't have a bad reaction to it. She's never had formula, though, so I'd be more nervous about her turning her nose up at that!

Haliborange, yes, I assumed it was the iron (and poss other nutrients?) issue, too. She eats broccoli as if it were going out of fashion, so I'll stock up on that! But if that's the issue, then presumably one cows' milk feed out of lord-knows-how-many-thousand bfs won't be a problem?

OP posts:
nickschick · 23/06/2010 12:24

no the formula milk has lots of allergens removed from it and then lots of synthetic additives added .

small amounts of cows milk in per se mash may well be tolerated but 10oz of cows milk in a bottle or feeder cup is an entirely different matter.

PrivetDancer · 23/06/2010 12:29

oh well that's ok then nickschick some synthetic additives please!

nickschick · 23/06/2010 12:30

Better than an allergic reaction to cows milk - trust me .

Original poster
Maranello · 23/06/2010 12:34

oh, ok, i'm not being anti-formula here . it just seemed better to give her something she's had before (if not as a drink as such) rather than try formula. hopefully she won't get through all the EBM in the freezer but i'm minded to go for cows' milk as the back-up as a bad reaction seems unlikely (but sorry to hear about your ds3, nickschick).

BTW i wish she'd take 10oz sometimes! she's very much a little but often feeder - from previous experience with EBM she's tended to take about 4oz a time. I've thrown away a lot of good breastmilk . I've expressed a few 6oz feeds for bedtime/night feeds, though, as I figure those are the ones where distraction with broccoli won't help .

OP posts:
abdnhiker · 23/06/2010 12:35

I disagree with Nickschick - my son had dairy intolerance too and formula was equally bad for him. If she's having it daily in cereal, and there's no problem, I think it's fine.

nickschick · 23/06/2010 12:47

It was trial and error with ds in fact he had cow and gate until he was 7!! now his reactions have calmed although he still goes into overload sometimes and boy do we know it!!.

abdnhiker · 23/06/2010 12:59

nickschick - my DS1 was more severe because formula caused hives and diarrhea too but still one slip up (like when DH's brain melted and he gave DS1 an ice cream) didn't cause long term problems.

Maranello - because my DS1 could only have BM we got good at offering alternatives - if she'll take yoghurt and water and ice cream etc then she'll be fine!

CrosswordGeekWantsChange · 23/06/2010 13:01

I bet C&G love you, Nickschick!

Sure cows milk will be fine. We did it with my DD a few weeks ago. I expressed a bottle of milk, but into the wrong bottle (an unsterilised one) and it had a load of wormy things in it! Thought it would be a bad idea to give that to DD, so she had a bottle (5oz) of cows milk whilst I was out, and she was fine.

I'd much rather her have had something she recognises the taste of (from cereal etc), than a completely new (and quite disgusting) taste of something else!

Lotkinsgonecurly · 23/06/2010 13:06

I used to give dd cow's milk to supplement bf from around 9 months. Approx 1 pt per week and she was fine. I just made sure she had iron rich foods etc.

I think if they're eating a full and varied diet the odd cup of cows milk will be fine, rather than have formula.

nickschick · 23/06/2010 14:29

We called Matts the cow and gate kid lol

Supercherry · 23/06/2010 14:34

The reason cows milk is not given to children under 1yrs is because it's too high in protein and would put a strain on a baby's kidneys. Formula is preferable at this age as a back I would say.

Your baby though, your choice.

PrivetDancer · 23/06/2010 14:40

How can that be right, supercherry, if it is fine to have in cereal / general cooking from 6 months? I have never heard that before.
It's just not supposed to be the main drink, not that it can't be given as a drink full stop.

tiktok · 23/06/2010 14:40

There are no allergens removed from standard formula. You have a lot of faith in Cow&Gate, nickschick The additives in formula are (mainly) the vits that have been removed from the fat (because formula is skimmed milk) and iron.

Routinely giving an 8 mths old cows milk as a main drink could possibly risk insufficient iron, unless the baby was already on a varied solids diet with iron-rich foods.

But as a one-off, a cup of cows milk for a baby of this age who has already had it mixed in other foods will do no harm at all. 'Tis common sense

tiktok · 23/06/2010 14:43

Cows milk is indeed higher in protein than formula - though not much higher than follow-on which is used as a main drink after 6 mths. I don't see it as an issue at this age - esp not as a one off. What does your HV say?

Longtalljosie · 23/06/2010 15:08

Actually I have just asked my HV this very question, wrt my 10 month old. I didn't see the point of her having formula (which she's never had) for one day only. The HV said that cow's milk was fine just for one day - in fact if all she had was water and food for one day that wouldn't be much to worry about either...

Supercherry · 23/06/2010 15:09

Here you go, finally found a link to back up my point here

Supercherry · 23/06/2010 15:19

Also, this link explains how cooking the milk aids in the breaking down of proteins which mkes it easier for a baby to digest.

Original poster
Maranello · 23/06/2010 15:27

Thanks again to everyone. My gut instinct was that it'd be fine as a one-off, but I wanted to check in case someone said "hang on, have you thought about..." So thanks to those who said that, too!

I think I will say to dh that it'll be fine to use if (and only if) dd gets through all the EBM. Common sense as you say, tiktok . Useful nod from HV too, thanks josie.

Supercherry, thanks for the links; have only skim-read so far, but one of the objections - "The medical community worries that if Whole Cow milk is introduced to an infant prior to 1 year old, that parents would stop formula and/or breastfeeding and use Milk as the replacement" - is definitely not going to happen. I'll be back home by lunchtime the day after and she can feed all day long if she wants to .

OP posts:
Supercherry · 23/06/2010 15:38

Yeah I should imagine as a one-off it would be fine. Just wanted to point out the protein issue, in addition to the lack of nutrients issue!

Enjoy your night off

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