Moving to Milk

I haven't tried goats milk personally, but my friend has been giving it to her 6 month old daughter instead of formula. From what I understand, it is very nutritious and easy for them to digest.

Goat Milk is a wonderfully nutritious milk that is more like human milk than cows milk, and much easily digested. I am lactose intolerant and I realized my daughter was too when she was about a year old. I started giving her goat's milk and all of her reflux disappeared. Meyersberg is a good brand and can be found in most grocery stores. Good luck!

Have you thought about Rice, Soy, or (if you can afford it it is better nutritrian than them all) Hemp?

After breastfeeding all 3 of my kids were transitioned to raw goat's milk and then later to raw cow's milk. They are all extremely healthy. Pasturized anything is very lacking in nutritional value. Whenever possible, try to serve fresh whole organic foods from local, reliable sources, meat, milk & dairy products included.

For local milk and dairy products, check out www.realmilk.com
For local produce, go to www.localharvest.com
For grassfed meats, go to www.paidom.com (they deliver every 2 months to D/FW, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, B/CS and more.

You are right to be concerned here -

Try goat's milk - I tried it and my son didn't like it. He drinks soy milk - vanilla flavored and that is all he will drink. Loves it. That's all I drink too, but like you, can eat cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc...

Good luck!
Alli

FYI... for those who posted that they cannot stand the smell or taste of goat's milk, you must have only tried the store bought, which is pasteurized. Fresh goat's milk tastes just like cow's milk, even better. We used to buy it from White Egret Farms. Once it is pasteurized, it loses all of the nutritional value and enzymes. Same goes for cow's milk which is why a lot of people cannot tolerate dairy.

I also have stomach problems when drinking regular milk and when I combine several dairy products (i.e. cheese and butter and sour cream on baked potatoes), but when I became pregnant I obviously needed good sources of calcium. I started drinking Promised Land milk, which does not contain hormones. It is a little more expensive than regular milk but I have not had any problems since drinking it. You may try that for yourself first and depending on your reaction - decide to give it to your daughter. Is also more healthy for her anyway...since it does not contain hormones.....
Best Wishes!

Whereas I would encourage you to nurse your baby for as long as possible, if you'd like to switch over to a milk product, then goat milk would be the way to go! My daughter was nursed until her 3rd birthday and then we switched her over to goat milk. She's 4.5years now, and has always loved it. Plus, it's easy for her to digest. Goat's milk is far closer to the consistancy of human milk than cow's milk. This makes it easier for humans to digest. You can get cow's milk at HEB! No special grocery store trips needed. My daughter has skin allergies to cow dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. We eat plenty of goat milk and cheese products. With Pure Luck Farms (an National award winning goat cheese) right here in Austin, there's really no good excuse not to eat goat cheese!

Goat milk has less protein than cows milk so is closer to human milk. I used it when my kids were older and drank more milk. If you have a good diet than milk does not need to be an essential part of it. There are plenty of other sources of calcium. Good luck.

I highly recommend goats milk! It's so much easier for babies to digest and so much healthier! Cows milk is frankly not too hot of an item, especially cooked to death (pasteurized) the way it comes to us. It's very difficult for the body to get whatever nutritional value it has after the pasteurization process takes place. http://www.realmilk.com/what.html
I gave my girls goat's milk and they loved it!

We have given our daughter (who is 2 now) raw goats milk since she was born and she has not had any problems with it. I was not able to breast feed and we didn't want to give her regular formula so we give her our homemade formula with raw goats milk. It is really easier to digest than cow's milk. I have tried the goat's milk that you can buy in the grocery store and it is okay, but it has a different taste to it. I really like the taste of raw goats milk.

We used it for a long time and she doesn't know the difference. If you use the milk from the grocery store then it is already fortified with Vitamin D like cows milk. If you find a farm and use fresh, make sure you provided her with the extra Vitamin D by using a supplement.

Goat's milk is really great for brain development and you will be very pleased should you try to use it. She will be exposed to too much soy over her lifetime so go for the goats milk!

Good luck.

I understand your worries, but I would definately try cows milk first. You want things to be as easy as possible unless that doesn't work. Soon, your baby will go to friends houses for play dates and stuff like that, so you should try and get her on as mainstream a diet as possible. I would try cows milk first, and if that makes her gassy or hurts her tummy (you'll know), switch her to soy milk. I would use goats milk as a last resort simply because it's the most exotic. Remember, always try the easy route first, adn if that doesn't work, then look for a solution. You want her to be albe to tolerate cows milk, it's just easier. That's what they have at school, at other peoples houses, etc. Good luck!

My 2 yo daughter has a slight allergy to cows milk (she was tested and confirmed to be allergic to the protein in cows milk... Of course, I recall my brother having difficulty with cows milk, and my MIL told us that she couldn't drink cows milk as a child... so she probably gets it from both sides even though me and my DH don't have any milk issues.) However an allergy to cows milk protein is not the same as lactose intolerance (which she isn't). My DD should out-grow her sensitivity to cows milk by age 4 (We hope!); lactose intolerance is a life long allergy to lactose (which is in all milk, goat and cow).

So, I guess the first question you need to determine is whether you/your DD has a cows milk protein allergy or a lactose sensitivity or lactose intolerance.

Anyway, yes, my DD's diet is based on goat milk, goat butter, goat yogurt (she will not eat goat cheese); we avoid as much cows milk ingredients as possible (not only direct raw diary products but I read labels too.) Be prepared that goat products are much more expensive (although they are also organic).

Goat milk products are comparable in nutrition, except for fat content (e.g., goat milk icecream is not as creamy.) If you compare goat milk/yogurt with cows milk/yogurt, the nutrition labels and protein content are about same (cow's has more phosphate but she gets a multivitamin and I call it even!).

My husband and I can't drink goat milk or goat yogurt. It definitely has a noticeably different taste. However, our DD has only known goat milk (introduced after formula) and we don't have any preferance rejection issues. HOWEVER, parents I know who have first introduced cows milk or soy milk have difficulty then trying to get their child to drink goat milk due to the taste. So if you are considering goat milk, my suggestion is to introduce it before regular milk.

I personnally am not comfortable with the estrogen hormone associated with soy to be feeding large amounts of soy to my child. (Heck, she gets enough soy in her diet just from eating foods made with vegetable oil! I don't need to be pumping her full of 16 oz too!)

I'm not sure what topics you want to discuss: brands, feeding tips, grocery costs, etc... Message me directly and we can chat. Otherwise, this post will be quite long!

As a kid I NEVER had problems with milk or milk products. However...when I started college I started having problems...and I still do. As we age the enzyme we use to break down milk sometimes disappears from certain people. It is just a factor of aging. Not all people are affected...but a LOT of people are. My 3-year old has NO problem with drinking milk or consuming milk-based products. I was worried too in the beginning...but I tried it...and she was fine. I would say give it a shot...if she reacts...switch over then. Good luck!

I would definitely ask your doctor first. I know that some goat milk is not pastuerized, and of course that could be a problem. You just want to make sure they are getting all the nutrients and fat they need as well--calcium, etc. maybe a lactose free milk?

My boys just don't tolerate cow's milk well. We tried a gradual transition from formula to cow's milk, but they got so gassy that we switched to goat milk. Problems solved! We buy it by the case at Whole Foods for the 10% discount and freeze what we don't need right away. I use it for cooking and baking too - we pretty much don't have any cow's milk in the house right now. When they are around 2, we will try cow's milk again but I won't be too upset if we end up having to stick with the goat milk.

You can add 1/4 tsp of Karo syrup to one bottle if giving cow's milk. It helps with digestion. You can also add natural enzymes to the milk. I've never tried goat's milk. But, other cultures use it exclusively, so I know it would not be harmful.

I never tried goat milk, because I myself can't tolerate the smell... I tried regular milk with both my boys and I knew it upset their stomachs because they would have many loose stools a day. My older son who is 7 tolerates it a bit better now, but I give my 3 year old rice milk, he doesn't seem to mind it. Not a bad idea to try goat or rice milk.. good luck.. J.

My oldest son was lactose intolerant. He was on formula til age 2, yes, 2...Cow's milk gave him horrible diarreah. As he has grown older he has become more tolerant, but He now knows what can and cannot hurt his stomach. All else fails as her DR.

My daughter had to have soy formula, so my dr suggested we start her on soy milk. It's worked out great and she loves it. It's not that much more expensive than regular milk. You might want to try that, since the other readers said that goat milk is expensive. Good luck and congrats on your baby turning ONE!!

You can delute the milk with water to start her on it. I deluted half and half.

my kids do rice, almond, goat and soy milks...my son doesn't get the soy milk b/c of the hormone controversy.
we do goat yogurt, soy ice cream....
cow milk cheese is, i think, the only dairy they get from that animal.
most people i know are wary of allergies - and don't intro cow's milk until 2yrs...if then. At this point in time, soy, almond, rice milks are cheaper per ounce (shelf, not frig variety) than cow's milk....my family is dropping cow's milk completely as a result of the price difference.

sorry, no time to write more
hth

K., mama to
catherine, almost 5y
samuel, almost 2y

We get raw organic goat milk from a local farm and it's great! Goat milk varies in taste depending on how the goats are fed, what kind of goats they are, and what is done with the milk when it is taken (when it is going to be unpasteurized they are supposed to immediately chill it, then filter and freeze it.)

I would not recommend soy milk, there's too much concern about the hormone imbalance warnings. Just look on Mercola's website for lots of info.

Rice milk is good, as well as the nut milks if she doesn't have a nut allergy. It's my opinion that children don't need animal milk. She can get her vitamins from other sources as well as the fat. Be careful about that because we live in a very low fat society because of the obesity rate(at least, my family eats that way.)

S. (mom to 5)

My girls drink mostly goat's milk. They drink cow's milk if we are out of the good stuff. As for us we have no dairy difficulties. The change started when my oldest was a baby. I would by her Meyerland fresh or powdered goat's milk in order to stay away from cow's milk because the protein molecule(cassein) in cow's milk is very large and many times is difficult for immature digestive systems to deal with. Goat's milk protein is very close to breast milk. Meyerland, however, has a strong nutty flavor and smell and none of us liked it much. When it is fresh it smells kind of like cow's milk does when it's beginning to spoil. My understanding is that this is because of the breed of goat's that most commercial goat milk farmers use. That breed produces the most milk per day and that is why they use them.
I got into the whole issue of organic milk that was hormone and steroid free. The more I got into the topic the more appealing it was to go to raw goat's milk.
So now I get raw goat's milk from a local farmer. It has no antibiotics, no steroids, no pasturization. It separates and has real cream at the top. I pick it up frozen and just thaw as we need it. I have never in many years had any trouble with it being contaminated with anything. My kids love it. I have never made butter with it but we have made sour cream and curds and whey. It's really cool. The breed of goat that the farmer uses is a different one than Meyerland and it tastes fantastic. Raw milk doesn't spoil as fast as or the same way as pasturized milk, and if it does you just use it that way in other dishes as soured or curdled.
You can read about this and many other things plus find a farmer at EatWild.com
And as far as the comments about humans being the only things that drink the milk of other animals, well, the Bible talks about the land of milk and honey, so why so special about having a land flowing with milk and honey if we weren't going to eat and drink it. All the experts tried to move people away from butter only to realize way later that butter is much better for you than margarine or spreads. There were also claims against nuts, avacadoes, and many other fats in the 70's. Come to find out those fats are necessary for joint lubrication, heart function, and brain firing. They pushed artificial sweeteners on everyone and now thats altering the natural glucose metabolism of humans. I think the way God put it here is the best and we should really leave stuff alone. We mess more up than we fix.
God Bless

I'm very lactose intolerant too! Goat milk works great and doesn't upset your stomach (would work great for you too). It is a bit expensive though. They now also have several lactose free milk brands out there that are very affordable. They are a bit sweeter than regular milk, but I like the fact that I can drink milk now!
Lactaid, Dairy Ease, HEB brand lactose free, I think even Randalls has a brand too.
Now, I am lactose intolerant, but both of my kids drink regular cows milk without any problems.

Good luck

Goats milk is a great alternative to cows milk! It's much easier to digest, and if others in your family have problems with cows milk, it's probably much safer for your child, too.