Help! Gave under 1 year old cows milk

[whathashapoenednow]

Please don't come at me.
I am completely sleep deprived and made some mash potatoes for my children. I made more than needed and thought oh why not give my 7 month old some.

He loved it so I kept giving him some and he ate quite a bit of it. It was only after I had fed him I realised I had put milk in the mash potatoes.

Will he be ok? On one hand I'm thinking this is ridiculous on the other hand I'm thinking oh my god what have I done

Why is that not okay?

I think I'm missing something. Do you mean he has a milk allergy?

Isn't it fine in food, it just shouldn't be a substitute for formula or breastfeeding as it doesn't have the added nutrients.

It’s fine in cooking isn’t it? It just doesn’t have enough nutrients to use as their main milk.

Of course it’s fine! You just can’t use it to replace formula/breast milk as a main source of nutrition.

That's fine, it's what you are supposed to do.

It's fine. You can put milk in anything for him. Just don't switch out breastmilk or formula for it

Unless he is allergic to it then it’s fine. He shouldn’t have cow milk as a drink until 1 but it’s fine to have in porridge, custard and other foods.

Yes, you're only not supposed to use it as a milk supplement, there's absolutely nothing unsafe about a bit of it in some food. Glad he liked the mash.

Don't you ever make porridge for him? What are you cooking with otherwise?

There is some research to show it can cause intestinal bleeding in under 12month olds but it was done for years before this. With the amount in mash, I'm sure it is of no consequence.

Thank you that's what I needed to hear that it was fine in food. I thought it was fine in food but when running on literally no sleep for god knows how long being rational just doesn't exist at the moment.

My ten month old's favourite breakfast since about seven months is weetabix with cows milk and strawberries

Most formula is made from cows milk. Of course it’s ok.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/babys-first-solid-foods/

Cows' milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from around 6 months of age, but should not be given as a main drink until your baby is 1 year old.

He’ll be fine! It’s ok to add it to food before one, just not as a drink as they need the nutrients in breast milk or formula until one.

You should absolutely be milking yourself into the mashed potato…

From the NHS website

Cows' milk can be used in cooking or mixed with food from around 6 months of age, but should not be given as a main drink until your baby is 1 year old.

Don't worry it's absolutely fine. Here's the NHS guidance to reassure you. If you scroll down it says cows milk can be used in cooking from 6 months. They just discourage it as a drink if it's replacing breast or formula milk. www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/drinks-and-cups-for-babies-and-young-children/

I use pumped breast milk for porridge etc

Hehe. Can you imagine!

My mum in the late 60s/early 70s was advised to give my older brother carnation milk in lieu of breast milk/formula. He’s a very intelligent adult, a university professor no less. I know anecdotes aren’t the best measure but I feel like we beat ourselves up as mums a lot about things that are extremely low risk. I don’t think there’s any issue with what you’ve done.

You can if you want to but there is no need. Cow’s milk is fine.

When I was a baby, there was no follow on milk. We were weaned at 3 months and cows milk was the norm for babies 6 months plus even to drink. I'm not for one minute suggesting you should ignore current advice, you shouldn't, but I don't see hoards of 60 somethings who have experienced adverse reactions so a little in mashed potato shouldn't be cause for concern.

Fine in food. Just don’t give it as a drink instead of breast milk or formula. It’s not unhealthy, it’s just not as good as bm or formula, so you shouldn’t replace it in drinks

@whathashapoenednow if you're in the UK full fat cows milk is fine in good from 6 months. It's just not advised as their main drink as it doesn't have all the nutrients needed for growth and development.

So things like cheese on toast, chicken korma with natural yoghurt mixed through, fish pie, mac & cheesee* and of course your lovely sounding mashed potatoes are all fine.

There's a great guide to feeding babies from the Caroline Walker Trust here and the NHS have some good recipes for feeding babies here.

I hope he sleeps well for you tonight, I know that I would with a belly full of lovely mashed potato