Why do I have to wait a year before I give my baby cows milk?

Question

My daughter is 10 months old and she is eating solid foods, drinking water and breast feeding. I have only heard that I should wait until she is a yearold before giving her cows milk but I just dont understand why. She, takes sips from it from her dad at dinner and it doesnt upset her stomach or anything. So would it be really bad to give her a sippy cup of it?

By the way, I dont give her formula, strictly breat milk and I do plan on breast feeding until she is a year old maybe longer.

Answer 1

Basically, the concern is that using milk instead of formula or breastmilk means the child will not get adequate iron, which affects lots of things including calcium absorpbtion. Also, infant kidneys have difficulty processing cow's milk because of its composition.

There are some other ideas floating around out there, too, (see http://home.coqui.net/myrna/milk.htm for a blurb about possible links between cow's milk and diabetes) but the iron absorption is the biggest thing.

This isn't to say that the sips at dinner are necessarily going to hurt anything, so don't get too freaked out. Some research suggests that certain ethnic groups (the Irish and Kenyans, for example) which were traditionally cattle-raising societies process cow's milk differently than groups that weren't - lower incidence of lactose intolerance, etcetera, so if your family is in one of these groups she may be drinking gallons before long (we went through tons of milk when I was a child, probably drank two pints a day). And in these days of pasteurization, the food-borne illnesses that used to be of concern aren't as prevalent.

After a year, the AAP does okay cow's milk, but does caution that only whole milk should be used. The research behind this points to fat & protein content - the fats are needed for nerve/brain/myelin development, and the protein balance is shifted when we process lower-fat milks. Yogurts, cheeses, that sort of thing are fine too - as long as they meet nutritional requirements and are pasteurized.

Answer 2

Because up until 12 mos the baby needs all the nutrients she can get. Cows milk does not hold the same nutrients as breastmilk or even formula. It won't kill her to give her cows milk now, but she'll be missing the stuff she still needs at this stage. BTW, when you do start giving her cows milk start gradually: a little in her regular bottle, then more, then 1/2 and 1/2 until she's drinking it alone. And good job on the breastfeeding!

Answer 3

Honestly, I don't really agree with many answers here. Of course, it is best to give your daughter breastmilk or formula until she is a year old. And that is because it has more nutrition than cow's milk. BUT~ that doesn't mean that it will harm her digestive tract or anything like that. You give her yogurt and cheese I'm sure, right? That has the same kind of composition. Any pediatrician will tell you to make sure you don't supplement the breastmilk or formula for cow's milk~ but that is because it's the BEST thing for her. I have a friend who strictly pumped milk and bottle fed it to her son. She had frozen so much, that she decided to stop pumping and use up her supply. It ran out when he was 10 months old. So her peditrician told her to just start feeding him cow's milk. She said, "It won't hurt him, I promise. But if pedatricians said that you could feed a baby cow's milk, I'm sure many mothers would choose that *cheaper* option rather than invest the small fortune it costs to feed a baby formula for a year." I'm sure a little here and there is just fine.

Answer 4

If she is already eating a variety of solid foods and the times you have given it to her and it didnt upset her stomach I think she is fine to drink whole milk now. It has to be homogenized milk till they are 2 because their bodies need that extra fat regardless of how big the child is. Watch her stools they may become hard and you may find that she will be a little constipated at first. I have three children and they all started drinking milk before they were 1 year. I would continue to breast feed until she is drinking it regularly.

Answer 5

I waited until my son was 11 months and then slowly weened him off formula and onto Cow's milk. With my daughter, I know it's bad but she is only 8 1/2 months old and just starting drinking Cow's milk. It wont hurt your son to start getting use to cow's milk. I would start him with 4oz. for a couple of weeks and then see how his poop is doing. As long as he doesn't have diarrhea to bad then after the 2 weeks go ahead and give him 8oz. bottle of regular cow's milk.

Answer 6

Cow's milk does not have the nutrients that your breast milk has. Sure it's a great source of calcium and vitamin D but there is no iron, a very important nutrient. Also your doc will probably recommend whole milk once she does take it. Whole milk has the fat content needed for brain growth and development. After 2yrs of age she can drink the milk the rest of the family drinks.

Answer 7

My pediatrician allowed us to put my daughter on whole milk when she was in her 10th month. She had us start with half whole mile half water to be sure that her little belly could handle it. Then we did 3oz milk and 1oz water for a week. After that she could have straight whole milk. She is not almost 11 months and is doing great. She gets two 8oz bottles of formula each day (one in the morning and one at night) and two 4oz cups of milk each day. One with her dinner and one with her afternoon snack.

Alot of people freak out about putting a baby on whole milk before 1 year old, but it is really not that big of a deal. I would not completely switch from formula or breast milk until they are 12 months, but whole milk as a supplement is fine.

Answer 8

Why would you bother... it's only two more months, and it's for her own good.
I think the big concern is switching a child to cow's milk only... and no longer breastfeeding/formula. The other concern is that the proteins in cow's milk is difficult to digest, even for adults.
Giving her small amounts is probably no big deal... it is okay for her to have yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese... but those have a lower level of lactose in them, so they are easier on her system.

When you do decide to give her cow's milk, make sure it's whole milk (4%), until she is at least two years old.

Answer 9

You shouldn't give your baby cow's milk because her digestive track is not quite ready to handle it. Also, it lacks the nutrients found in breast milk and formula that she still needs at this age.

Answer 10

Yes, it is bad. I started giving my daughter cows milk when she was 9 months old and she seemed to take to it fine.Then, on a routine doctor' visit, a few days after we started the milk, he told us that babies can bleed, very little, internally (why? IDK). Another main reason is th fact that she will be more suceptable (sp) to allergies later on. Just wait until she gets her one year shot..it won't be much longer. There are good reasons dr's tell us to do certain things, best not to mess with that... especially if their reasoning is unclear.