Goats milk in preference to cows milk

[QD]

I breast-feed my 4 month old but would like to introduce the odd bottle of formula. However when I did a few weeks ago, on 3 consecutive days, he became quite unwell. He was sick, very farty and very miserable. The thing is he also had a horrible cold and all his mucus went straight into his stomach. My gp thinks it was probably the cold not the formula that made him so unwell but I'm not sure. How do you know if your baby is allergic or sensitive to cow's milk. There isn't any family history of sensitivity. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you. Maybe I should try the goats....

[QD]

PS it was only one feed on each day.

[Pupuce]

QD - I can't answer your direct question about how do you know but I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with giving goat milk versus cow's milk.
We are in a societey where we all drink cow's milk, it's almost like water : it's good for you.... if you know what I mean. BTW I drink almost a liter a day.
Having said that there are plenty of nutrionists (and also some pressure groups) who don't think we should be drinking cow's milk in the first place. WHat do you replace it with then ? Goat is an alternative as it is from a far less intensive sort of milking/farming as cow is. But others will give rice, soja or sweet almond (very common on the continent) - milks
But even I who drink milk do question why we drink any sort of white drinks in the first place ???? You can get all the "good" stuff of milk in other foods.
As your baby is not weaned that doesn't necessarily apply
IMO there is no danger in giving Nanny (that's the goat milk formula) to your child. DS had it and DD who is still breastfed has in the past 2 days had some because I didn't have enough milk in the freezer (I was late coming home).
DS had eczema but DD is absolutely fine so there is no reason for me to avoid cow dairy for her - I just thought why not give her nanny as her brother was absolutely fine with it.

[JJ]

I was also explicitly told not to substitute soya for dairy because it is a common allergy. If my son is predisposed to it at all, giving him soya (via my breastmilk as well as in his food) would put him over the edge. Soya allergies generally aren't life threatening, but they are a $& pain. My eldest was allergic to it. It was hard to avoid and bad when he would accidentally get some.

Also, there are similar proteins in cow's milk and in goat's milk. Some people who are allergic to cow's milk can tolerate goat's milk, especially if it's not a severe allergy. If you really think he's allergic to dairy, I'd find that out first and then try the goat's milk.

If you'd like to find out for sure if your son is allergic to milk proteins, you'll have to do an elimination diet. As well as no formula, you'll have to eliminate dairy in your diet. It takes a few weeks for all of the proteins to get out of your and his systems, so it's a large commitment and it's necessary to avoid every last trace of dairy (eg no whey, casein and other pieces of milk they put in food for who knows what reason). If you'd like to try, I can let you know what's involved, but you should talk to your GP and let her know what you're doing.

[Faith]

my dd was exclusively breast fed until 4 months, and had no other dairy produce until 7 months, when I gradually began to introduce formula and yoghurt, and she appeared to tolerate this. She then had booster polio, tetanus and diptheria immunisations; the following day she came out in a horrid 'nettlerash' type rash all over her back, chest, neck and arms. When this subsided shee was left with patches of eczema on her back, wrists, elbows and behind her knees. This was very sore, itchy and persistent. Her twin sister had already developed eczema (whilst still being exclusively breast fed). I discovered that the second dd to develop eczema showed a clear worsening if she had formula, yoghurt, cheese and citrus. If I gave goats milk or yoghurt she did not react in the same way. There were no apparent dietary links for her sister. At the age of c. 14 months I took them to see a Homeopath. Following the first tratment the baby who had had eczema first started to clear up. The dd who had shown the apparent reaction to cows milk did not respond to any homeopathic treatment for a number of months. She continues to drink goats milk in preference to cows milk, which she dislikes, although she has cows milk and yoghurt. Fortunately both now seem to have 'outgrown' their eczema. Goats milk sold in supermarkets has to be pasteurised.

[robinw]

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[florenceuk]

JJ, would the soy avoidance thing be true for soy sauce and tofu products as well (if you are breastfeeding)?

[SueW]

robinw, my dd has also been complaining of a problem with swallowing recently and has suffered from reflux for a couple of months now. I thought it might be that she wasn't chewing her food properly as she has a few loose teeth but watched her carefully over a couple of days and ended up taking her to the doctor's where I thought we would be fobbed off.

Far from it - we have a referral to a specialist. In other words we are on a waiting list.

[JJ]

Florenceuk, tofu is almost pure soya, so that's definitely off limits. Soya sauce is a bit of an unknown. It's important to avoid the protein and there's probably not a lot of it in soya sauce, but if you're doing an elimination diet, you should avoid it. Then reintroduce (after the initial test) and see what happens. Also, soya lecithin is ok for all but the most severe soya allergies. It's made from the oil (which is also ok, as long as you don't get the fancy cold filtered stuff.. if there is such a thing). My son could handle both of those. As I said, his allergy wasn't severe.

I had that discussion with my baby's allergist. It was in relation to my eating sushi, which I love, but need the soya sauce/ wasabi mixture to dip it in. She said it was ok, but don't overdo it.

Someone else who knows how soya sauce is made might be able to tell you if there's the protein in there.

Robinw, my guess is that they'll do skin tests (or blood tests, they're both about as accurate) and then go from there. If it comes up positive, then they'll either tell you to avoid it completely indefinitely or avoid it and then try it again after a few weeks. I think it depends on what the reaction on the skin is like. If you are testing for a lot of things, just know that there are many false positives, so don't be alarmed if something she eats every day comes up positive. Good luck! (And, just fyi, we're brushing with the xylitol toothpaste now and I've got the xylitol containing teething granules for my son-- thanks for the tips on that!)

[robinw]

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[Key]

New to this so forgive me. I have an 8 week old son who has big problems with winding. It takes until his next feed to get rid of the wind from the last one. This is causing him great discomfort and pain. I have seen an osteopath who has recommended goats milk, but I don't know enough, I know my doctor and health visitor will tell me not to give it to him. I suppose I am looking for some help and guidence.

[robinw]

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[percy]

Key, I haven't time to write much now, and haven't really read other posts properly so apologies. As a qualified nutritionist I would say that if you are bottle feeding then I would strongly recommend Vitacare goats milk (Nanny) in preference to cows milk formulas - easier to digest, more bioavailable nutrients in better ratios etc.

Another thing is to perhaps try different bottle - I had a friend whose child had such bad windy problems with feeding that she used a bottle especially designed for children with cleft palate even though her child didn't - she said it changed her life.

[robinw]

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[pupuce]

I used Nanny as well - no problem for DS

[bundle]

I would be very wary about embarking on this without proof that the formula was what was causing the problem.

[Enid]

I agree with bundle, why not try a different type of cows milk formula first, it's cheaper and easier in the long run than goats milk formula. Which formula is he on (I presume its formula)?

[bundle]

dd only had formula from 1 yr, so had had cows' milk in cooking by then, but we used Aptamil.