giving goats milk - advice needed

[buttercup]

I need some urgent advice from other mothers with experience of goats milk. My son is 11 months old and has been on Nanny, goats milk formula. We are on holiday and all the assurances that we could buy it here have turned out to be totally unfounded!! So, we are truly in a pickle. I have tried him on cows milk formula butit seems to be making his tummy uncomfortable. He wont take soy formula. Does anyone know whether I can give him straight goats milk at 11 months. Or does anyone have any other very practical solutions for this ridiculous situation?????!!!!

Buttercup,
my children had straight goats milk mixed in their food from around 6 months onwards. (Their main drink was breast milk.) They had straight goats milk to drink from around 1 year onwards.
The advice to stick with formula for the first 12 months is based on likelihood of the child reacting to the milk isn't it? But it's talking about cows milk which is significantly less digestible than goats milk.
Personally, I would chance it and give him the goats milk, but maybe not in v large quantities if you are worried about him reacting to it.
Where are you on hols??

I'm sure if the goats milk is pasturised there should be no problem. I had the same prob last year in France. Thought I'd taken enough for the 2weeks but was going to run out with some days to go. Found I could only get fresh semi skimmed goat for some reason or UHT full fat goat which ds wasn't too keen on. Tried to spread out the nanny further by introducing some cows milk for the smaller feeds and in food. His skin (eczema) did get worse for a little while, but once home sorted out quickly back on the nanny!

My ds had nannygate from 9months when I went back to work and stopped breastfeeding and straight goats milk from about 13 months and we had no problems. We had the same situation as you on holiday a couple of weeks ago when we ran out of Nannygate, so I just gave him cows milk as couldn't find goats milk in Mallorca (which didn't seem to affect his excema at all - the London water on returning home seems to have brought it back though!) As long as the goats milk is pasteurised you should be fine.

I gave unpasturised goat milk (FRESH from the goat) - no problem !
You can also try sweet almond milk by Evernat

Where are you anyway that you can't find Nanny anyway ?

You can buy Nanny online at
www.goodnessdirect.co.uk

thanks. great to wake up this morning and find I'm not the only person who goes on holiday without enough baby-milk. We are in Maine in the US, by the way, and have tried every health food shop in the state. I'll definitely try him on straight goats milk unpasteurised, assuming I can find that!

thanks. great to wake up this morning and find I'm not the only person who goes on holiday without enough baby-milk. We are in Maine in the US, by the way, and have tried every health food shop in the state. I'll definitely try him on straight goats milk unpasteurised, assuming I can find that!

Pupuce - please enlarge on the fresh goats milk! I would love to keep goats. My father has house cows, but apart from the milk reactions, Welsh Blacks are a bit big for my comfort. I feel I could boss a goat around, but definitely not a WB - they have minds of their own, and are much heavier than me - and then there's the wide spread of their horns!!

buttercup - could you find sheeps milk?
I've heard that health foods are difficult to find in the US, also a story about going to Walmart and finding size 20 jeans for $3, but no fresh fruit... some Americans please tell me this is not true!

SML - I don't have goats myself but as DS drinks goat milk and there wasn't any at the French supermarket when we were there on holiday, my MIL asked the local cheese shop and they said : no probs !
When we went to get it the next morning (she had none in stock), the bottle was still tepid.... surprised, I asked : ????
"Oh the farmer just brought it 30 minutes ago, he had just milked the goat"...
I am sure it was unpasturised. DS probably found it "different" (stronger tasting) to what he normally drinks so after 3 evenings of that in his bottle, he gave up without a fuss (that's how we stopped bottles in the evenings for us !)

What would you like to know, I may be able to answer or find out.

Just tips really. I remember my mother making cheese in the 70s, also butter. Is making goats butter the same as making cows butter, or do the different sized fat particles make it harder to turn? How do you make those gorgeous runny cheeses? What do you feed the goats on to get mild tasting milk?

sml, it really depends where in the usa you are. Just like in england, things vary from region to region. I grew up in Berkeley, CA where finding a store that wasn't "health food" was difficult. I was 16 years old the first time I went to McDonalds. You probably can find jeans for $3 in Walmart as they are great for discount clothes etc. However, unlikely that you would find fruit there as it is not a supermarket/grocery store (a bit like doing your fruit shopping in a Boots or a Currys). The concept of the Walmart type of store doesn't really exist in England. They sell Electronics, clothes, household items, garden furniture, toys, furniture, cleaning supplies, tools, etc. and some foods (party kind of stuff like crisps, sodas, candy...). Definitely no goat's milk.

SML- you need to go on holiday in France

Buttercup - you need to find a farmer or look on-line.
He can go without milk for a few days you know .... he should eat lots of vegetables and yogourts and he'll be fine ! Good luck

buttercup, sorry I just read the beginning of the thread and saw your plea. I don't think you'll be able to find UNpasteurised goat's milk in the usa (i think it's outlawed?), but you should definitely be able to find pasteurised goat's milk. I never gave my son formula, but perhaps you could find a lactose free formula (it's probably the lactose in the cow's milk that is bothering your son's stomach). People of african descent are often lactose intolerant so I'm sure there must be some solution available for their children in Maine. You could also try getting a phone number for a paediatrician out of the phone book and calling their office, explaining your predicament and asking what the american options for lactose free formula are. I'm sure they'd be willing to help you over the phone without charging you.

sofiaames - walmart/asda's a supermarket in the uk, that must be the origin of the tale. I read a piece in one of our national newspapers last year, probably the Times, (which is not at all reliable), about searching for health foods in the US, but maybe they were just out to rubbish the states. It just goes to show that you should NEVER BELIEVE NEWSPAPERS.

Pupuce - as soon as we move somewhere with a bit more space, I'm going to get some goats...

sml, goats are brilliant fun...my mother had them whilst we were growing up. I'm not sure how they make goats butter, or even cream - because goats milk is naturally homogenised, it doesnt settle out into milk with a layer of cream, like cows milk does. I guess they may have to use some type of centrifugal separation? but I really don't know. Have you looked at www.allgoats.com, the website of the British Goat Society? Goats milk taints very easily, so it is important to avoid them eating strong flavours (I remember the time they feasted on wild garlic!), and also to cool the milk quickly, and not store next to strong smelling items in the fridge. Have fun!

Faith - that's v interesting! I read that most dairy goats are kept in sheds because the milk taints so easily. Must admit, I've never felt the same about strawberry milk shake since one of our cows bled into the milk.