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goat milk

post #1 of 17
Thread Starter 

Hello All- I am a first time mom to a delicious set of boy + girl twins who are exclusively breastfed, and 3 months old. I am currently pumping (about a week now) to store milk and increase my production for when I go back to work part-time. It isn't going that well, I am not getting enough milk yet for their expected needs while I am away, and it is very difficult to find the time to pump as they are babies that nurse all day long with very little breaks (I don't know if that is their style or if I have just enough milk for them, or if its because they are small - just 8 and 9 lbs now at 3 months.) I want to know if I can use goat's milk to supplement my shortfall while I (hopefully) increase my production. I don;t want to take calories away from them during the day- which I worry about because now that I am doing that they are waking more frequently at night. I know goat milk is higher in protein, and had less iron- and other differences. If its ok to use than how much can I use during the days that I work?

 

Thanks so much!

post #2 of 17

well I don't have experience with this, and you probably know this but I know it has to be raw.

post #3 of 17

At that age I would not use goat or cow milk.  If I couldn't pump enough, I would try to find donor milk, and if donor milk wasn't available I would use a formula.  Goat (or cow) milk just doesn't have all the nutrients that human babies need.

 

Congratulations on your twins - they are gorgeous! love.giflove.gif

post #4 of 17
Thread Starter 

thank you! I want to clarify that they would only get a small amount of the goat milk daily- I am still breast feeding all day that I am home, and for the 3 days that I am working 9-5, my husband will bring them in for me to feed. Do you think its still not OK? I am not excited about formula, I'm just a food person, you know? Of course if its not smart to do- I won't!

post #5 of 17

Well cow milk is definately out of the picture. Some people say raw goats milk is very comparable to human milk. You need to do you're own research on things. Maybe you can make you're own formula with goat milk as the base? I am not sure if they sell goat milk based formulas.

post #6 of 17

I have such a difficult time with giving any other milk before 6 months that I struggle with your question.  It's a hard situation!  I am thankful every day that I live in a country where I am supported for 12 months of mat leave and didn't have to face this situation.  I'm so happy that you are able to breastfeed them at work!  That is awesome thumbsup.gif for you and your DH and your job for working all that out.

 

Jack Newman has the (somewhat controversial) idea that it may be preferable to start babies as young as 4 months on solids rather than feed non-human milk.

http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53:what-to-feed-the-baby-when-the-mother-is-working-outside-the-home&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

 

I know that I personally would do whatever I could to avoid having to give my DS a non-human milk before 6 months of age.  I'd try to increase my supply and output (taking domperidone if needed) and then I would look for donor milk.  If neither of those were possible, I really don't know what I would do for a small amount of supplementation.  Probably I'd go for a elemental formula that would avoid cow or soy proteins.

 

That doesn't answer your question - sorry!  Hopefully it helps to have several different points of view and hope another mama will have some ideas for you smile.gif

 

post #7 of 17

I would look for donor milk - is there an LLL near you where people might be able to give you some?  Or Milk Share?  I would personally either use donor human milk, or formula.  I've heard on here that goat milk is similar to human milk, and would feel totally comfortable with that in an older baby who was a decent size, but for 3month olds that are 8/9lbs each, I would do either donor milk or formula.  I just don't think I'd be comfortable with trying something out that isn't the norm when they are that small.  Even if its a small amount.

 

I know that formula isn't perfect, but it is made specifically for human children, whereas goat milk is not.  And since it would just be a very small amount, I wouldn't worry about it.

post #8 of 17

formula is made from cows milk or soy, so it's not made for humans.

 

I would try and increase supply or use donor milk as oppose to non-human milk.

 

If I absolutely had to FF I would find out how to make my own with raw goats milk being a base.

post #9 of 17

Well, now I wouldn't hesitate to feed goat's milk to a baby, if there were no breastmilk available, and if it were just to supplement.  Goat milk is the closest to human milk there is.  As a matter of fact, my neighbor feeds it to her grandson all the time--his mama won't breastfeed.  He had terrible eczema, too, and it is better now that he gets more goat milk than formula.  I would absolutely make sure the milk is raw, and from a very good source.  The WAP website has info about making home made formula.  http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/319-recipes-for-homemade-baby-formula.html#vgmf

 

My neighbor does not make it into formula, ftr.  I probably wouldn't either, if my baby were only drinking a small amount a day.

 

I would not use it as a sole source of nutrition for my baby, but again, I would not hesitate to use it as a supplement.

post #10 of 17
Thread Starter 

thank you all for your suggestions, I can get raw goat milk (not until March when the goats kid) and apparently there are a lot of recipes for a formula from goat milk - I'll think about it and ask in my midwife community (which is where it was suggested) about this. I think the bottom line is that I am going to continue to try to increase my supply- but if I can't I have some good options. I think the stress of worrying about it is not helping me make more- so knowing I can try a good quality organic formula- or a goat milk based formula, for a small amount of supplementation makes me relax!

post #11 of 17

i dont know anything about goats milk, but wanted to send you some hugs.   i also  have three month old twins that nurse ALL THE TIME.  i really don't get to leave the house much yet.

 

i do have to go back to work in the future... so i pump after their night feeds.   do yours space out at all?   mine will go 3-5 hrs at night.  it means less sleep for me, but its helped me store up a freezer stash (small).

 

if i run short on meeting their needs pumping wise when im away from them, my plan is a little bit of solids (just while im away) 

post #12 of 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by sosurreal09 View Post

formula is made from cows milk or soy, so it's not made for humans.

 



Umm...just b/c its made out of cow or soy milk doesn't mean it isn't intended for consumption by human children. 

 

Honestly, with 3mo, teeny twins, I would not feed them anything but breastmilk (supplemented with donor milk), or formula.  If a ped found out you were feeding goat milk, you could get CPS called quick, since its not considered safe - particularly if its raw.

post #13 of 17
I would feel okay with it in very certain circumstances, but not at three months, and not with babies who are still so small.

I understand your dilemma-- I had boy/girl twins as well, and DS was severely casein intolerant, soy allergic, and refused the hypoallergenic formulas. When he stopped gaining weight, I was at the end of my rope about how to get more calories into him (this was between 4 and 6 months). There was an enormous temptation to resort to something like coconut milk, or hemp milk. I thought, oh, just a few ounces a day won't hurt. But everybody here talked me out of it, thankfully, and what we ultimately did was to embark on a massive supply-increasing campaign. I started nursing them each individually, alternating who went first each time. When each baby was nursing, I had the pump on the opposite side. Then nurse the other baby, and put the pump on the side baby isn't on. Then repeat--- around the clock. Of course the second baby didn't get enough, so we had to nurse again within a half hour or an hour, whereupon that baby got to go first, and we repeated the whole scenario. It was HARD HARD HARD, but within a week, my supply had SOARED, and I was satisfying both babies, plus pumping out fountains of extra milk that I could put in DS's SNS to boost his weight gain. By six months, he'd jumped the percentile chart from 15th percentile to 50th, and I had a freezer stash I'd never aimed for.

Sometimes women have trouble pumping enough because their bodies aren't responding to the pump the same way as to baby, and that's why you pump one side while nursing on the other. That way baby elicits the letdown reflex for you, and all the pump has to do is extract the milk. Remember, it's frequency that matters most-- nursing more often, and pumping more often, even multiple times within a short amount of time, and even if the breasts feel "empty." It's normal for them to start wanting to nurse more often, during the day and night, while you're starting a pumping routine-- that's a natural part of the process, as they cooperate in increasing the demand. If you REPLACE nursing with pumping, then you will be taking calories from them, but if you ADD pumping to the nursing, they will be fine. And the extremely frequent nursing should decrease as your supply responds.

So here's my take: The first thing would be to attempt more drastic measures, to increase supply. Right now, you're making just what they need, but if you increase demand drastically, and consistently over time, the supply should respond. In the majority of cases, mamas will see the supply meeting the demand, within two weeks or so. If that doesn't work out, or it seems too overwhelming (and trust me, I know what it's like to live with twins!!!! So I am not judging AT ALL. Remember, I tried four types of formula before I got to that point!), I would resort to commercial formula. I don't think I'd give alternative milks to such a young baby, for three reasons: 1. Goat's milk is not nutritionally complete for a human infant, and at this age, they are at a very sensitive time in their development, 2. any supplementing at all is a downward spiral, so it's possible that over time you may become increasingly reliant on the goat's milk, which could mean that 3. baby is getting too much incomplete nutrition, which reduces baby's appetite for breastmilk and means baby isn't getting the nutrition needed for development.

I am not a big fan of the homemade formulas, but if you truly want to give a goat's milk, it may be a good idea to look into how to add to the goat's milk to make it more complete. Again, I am not recommending this-- a commercial formula would be my preference in this case-- but be aware that it may be a better option than just plain goat's milk.

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide.
post #14 of 17

I also wanted to chime and say that just because you aren't getting enough milk NOW, doesn't mean you won't be getting amount THEN. There are things you can do to increase your supply. Herbs, fenugreek, drink TONS of water, mother's milk tea... search the forums. Pump after you are finished nursing, even if its just for 5 minutes. Right now you are trying to feed your babies and store extra milk beyond what they are drinking... once you're back at work you'll just need to be pumping what they eat while you're gone. You also might find that they don't drink as much from the bottles because they prefer nursing. And you're just going to be working part time... so if they get shorted a few ounces while you're working you will be home long enough for them to make up for it.

 

I am very very pro breastfeeding and despite a slew of problems made sure that my son nursed exclusivley for the first 8 months. However, if I was in your situation and he was that little and I was just going to need a little boost here and there I would have just supplemented with a little formula when necessary.

 

When I started working my DS was drinking more than I was pumping (luckily I had a large freezer stash), however after a week of pumping I was making WAY more than he was eating. Babies don't usually empty the breast when nursing, and I would pump and compress until nothing came out which ended up increasing my supply drastically.

post #15 of 17

I didn't read all of the above posts (no time!) but I just wanted to let you know that even to this day I can only get an ounce or so from pumping if I'm nursing all day.  If I'm at work I get 13+ ounces a day from pumping.  Building up going back to work I pumped once a day and froze that - they were only 1.5 ounces or less at that time. 

 

The first day of work she ate from the frozen stash and then after that she ate what I pumped the work day before.  So don't worry about not being able to pump a lot.  My recommendation is to pump once a day (morning is best) to start building up a freezer stash and to get your body used to the pump. 

 

Basically, its way to early to worry about supplementing at all.  Good luck!

 

Edited to say - or pump after every nursing session.  I didn't do this because I'm lazy and don't want to be pumping all day but I hear it helps a lot.

post #16 of 17

I had next to zero stash when I went back to work (maybe two days...maybe), and never needed to touch it. Once you're away and not nursing, you'll produce the same amount of milk and can pump that for their consumption the next day. I wouldn't stress too much about building up a supply now - nurse on demand and you should be fine. If you have zero stash, they may need formula your first day back at work, but the next day they'll have what you pumped from the day before. 

 

post #17 of 17

Here is an idea that you might wish to consider.

 http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032401.asp 

 

If you choose to use goat milk make sure it has folic acid added and just like cow milk its low in iron.

 

All commerical formulas start with a milk base in them, from there you need to add all the nutritional vitamins and supplements needed to make them a complete formula.

 

If you keep it all natural from the beginning your less likely to have allergic reactions.

Since goat milk has been used for years and years in the world as a supplement to feeding young children it may work well for your children too. But again, you need to make sure your adding all the needed vitamins to make a complete formula. There are many childrens liquid vitamins on the market now that you could use. Talk to your Pediatrician or a child Nutritionist for proper vitamin supplements.

 

Dr. Sears' website shows some vitamin supplements as well.

 

Good luck with your twins...they are adorable! smile.gif

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