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[Snapdragon]

I h
time frame for this? Thanks!

[penguintattoo]

Do you mean actual milk or dairy products in general? My daughter has been eating yogurt since she was 6 months and loves it! She also eats cheese and has had some of my ice cream before, however as far as putting milk in a cup and giving it to her goes we have yet to do so.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, are you talking straight, plain cows' milk? Cause' that I have no intention of introducing till 12-18 monthsish. Dairy in general (ie: cheese, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, etc) has been introduced at the same point as everythinge else for my boys ~ 7-9 months.

[stardust swallower]

i've been wondering, too. i noticed in an early edition of penelope leach's book, she talks about cow milk bottles at 6 mos. way back, before pasteurization was standard practice, cow milk presented a risk for young infants. nowadays, i think that the problem with starting cow milk too early is that it lacks nutritional value (when compared to breast milk or formula).

since my 11 mos. old guy eats yogurt and cheese and other dairy products happily, i've given him whole milk a few times in a sippy cup just to let him try it out and get him thinking in that direction. i know there would be voices on mdc that might have more information about other good reasons to defer cow milk, however.

what's your interest in introducing it?

[blessedwithboys]

Raw milk I would start sooner than cooked. Fermented dairy products before non-fermented.

So...nothing but bm for at least 6 months. First foods should be soft chunks baby can feed themself. My kids could spoon feed themselves arounf 10-12 months, so that is when I would be ok with yogurt. Raw cheese can be fed in small chunks, but I would still hold off til about a year.

I guess bc I always went slow, most everything, not just dairy, was held off until close to a year.

[Snapdragon]

would milk be harder to digest than yogurt?

[ErinYay]

From what I can gather, after 6 months or so, it's not a digestion issue for babies who don't show any food/ dairy intolerances, it's a We, The Medical Community, Think You Are Too Stupid To Raise Your Kids Properly issue. Really, no milk before a year is to keep us from giving babes only cow's milk instead of breastmilk or formula.

Ridiculous.

[Abraisme]

Originally Posted by penguintattoo

Do you mean actual milk or dairy products in general? My daughter has been eating yogurt since she was 6 months and loves it! She also eats cheese and has had some of my ice cream before, however as far as putting milk in a cup and giving it to her goes we have yet to do so.

My DD has been getting cheese and yogurt since 6-7mo.

[SilverFish]

well, my personal feeling is that cow's milk is food for baby cows, not humans, and there are much better things to be filling my LO's tummy with. but i realize not everyone shares that opinion.

[Alisse]

Originally Posted by ErinYay

From what I can gather, after 6 months or so, it's not a digestion issue for babies who don't show any food/ dairy intolerances, it's a We, The Medical Community, Think You Are Too Stupid To Raise Your Kids Properly issue. Really, no milk before a year is to keep us from giving babes only cow's milk instead of breastmilk or formula.

Ridiculous.

I think you think too highly of ppl. I have no doubt that this substitution would start happening both because of misunderstanding or on purpose.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by Alisse

I think you think too highly of ppl. I have no doubt that this substitution would start happening both because of misunderstanding or on purpose.

Milk is much cheaper than formula. There are even warnings on rice and soy milk to not use as infant formula.

[NSmomtobe]

Public health here says 9-12 months for milk, as long as baby is tolerating dairy products well (so these can be introduced any time after 6 months).

[HappiLeigh]

We felt like keeping cow's milk from my daughter once she was eating other dairy (9ish months) was just needlessly turning it into something forbidden, since DH and I both often drink it. We never used it as a breastmilk substitution (as I know you wouldn't, hi Katie!), but we gave her little sips or tastes or foods that contained cow's milk (like mashed potatoes) around the same time we introduced her to other dairy.

[blessedwithboys]

Originally Posted by Katie34

would milk be harder to digest than yogurt?

yes, in general. raw milk is different though

[Friday13th]

DS was getting things cooked with milk (like mashed potatoes) by probably 9 months. He didn't actually drink milk until 18 months or so.

[LadyCatherine185]

Dairy products? 6 months (or whenever you start solids) as long as there is no allergy. Cow's milk? I would wait until 1 year. If I am drinking it and a DC wanted a sip, sure I'd give him a sip. But I would absolutely not put it in a cup for him to drink, as it would replace breastmilk even if you do not intend.

I do know people who wean from BF'ing and/or FF'ing by replacing feedings with cow's milk starting at 6 months..

[Norasmomma]

Well I've given both of my kids yogurt from young age, like 6 months or so. Things made with butter, or have milk in them around 7-ish months.

Our DD was 11 months when she first got milk to drink, I gave her sips here and there, she is a BIG milk drinker, and with her I craved milk from about 5 months pregnant. I hadn't drank cow milk in over 10 years until I was pregnant with her. The kid really loves her milk.

With DS I think I'll do the same, if he wants it, I'll let him have it. Honestly I think he already has had sips because DD leaves her sippy cup lying around and he grabs it, I remember him drinking on the sippy the other day when I grabbed it away from him.

[indigoscot]

ds1 got dairy after he started solids at 6 months...maybe around 8-9 months. he had cheese and yogurt. no cow's milk then though because he was still very much a boobie baby and why give him an alternative that wasn't geared specifically for him? i will say that the popeye pasta i made for him (mac cheese with spinach) did have some milk in the cheese sauce.

at 12 months we tried him on cow's milk and he spat it out. i guess it wasn't as tasty as the boob. so he continued to nurse until around 15/16 months at which point he self weaned and happily took cow's milk.

we will follow the same with ds2. he is also very much a boobie baby.

i can't believe there are mamas out there that would switch from breastmilk to cow's milk at 6 months. ugh.

g

[redvlagrl]

We did dairy from 6 mths - we did BLW, so it wasn't a big deal. I also introduced milk in a sippie at about 8 mths, just to practice. She was still (and still is) BFing, so it wasn't to replace BM which is the worry, I believe.

I didn't do baby cereal but did make DD a chicken liver/prune concoction which she loved (for the iron) and I thinned it out with milk so I could spread it on toast for her to eat.

So she was probably ingesting...a few tsps a day if that?