Yogurt for babies?

[alevagon]

When is it ok to give babies cow's milk yogurt?  My pediatrician says not until one year old, but I have heard a lot of other moms doing it already. 

[katelove]

We started after 6 months when she started other solids. Only little amounts though - a sip of a smoothie or a bit stirred through soup. Did your paed say why he though it was necessary to wait?

[Adaline'sMama]

DD has been eating yogurt since she was 6 months. Its been one of her staple foods, We used to make smoothies with it for her, but mostly we dump it on her high chair tray and let her go at it (greek, cause its thicker)

nak

[Knitting Mama]

We do coconut milk yogurt. Yum yum!

[greenemami]

Plain whole milk yogurt was one of his first foods around 6-7 months old either alone or with fruit..  My ped said it was fine as long as he didn't show signs of a dairy intolerance. 

[staceychev]

Plain, whole milk yogurt at around 7 or 8 months, I think. 

[alevagon]

my pediatrician is into natural healing/organic foods -- making sure the baby eats the right things, etc.  he explained that babies have a difficult time with their intestinal flora when first born, so some foods will result in toxins going through the intestines that can go into the brain.  he said a study showed that yogurt should not be introduced until 12 months... it seemed strange because so many parents give yogurt before 12 months... so that's why i was wondering.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by alevagon 

my pediatrician is into natural healing/organic foods -- making sure the baby eats the right things, etc.  he explained that babies have a difficult time with their intestinal flora when first born, so some foods will result in toxins going through the intestines that can go into the brain.  he said a study showed that yogurt should not be introduced until 12 months... it seemed strange because so many parents give yogurt before 12 months... so that's why i was wondering.

But yogurt introduces healthy intestinal flora! That's one reason I love giving it to DS. He had it first time at 9 months and showed no sign of any reaction so I guess he's not allergic. He LOVES it, and in fact I wonder how much is too much, snce he would eat loads of it if we let him. As it is he has about one small jar every other day or so.

Also, I would be careful about basing decisions on ONE study. Or at least, I would read through that study carefully and see what I thought, and look for other educated responses / critique of that study. Many studies are flawed, and sometimes correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

[SeattleRain]

Daniel loves yogurt, loves loves loves. HE gets plain whole milk yogurt at least once a day and its a godsend because he is somewhat picky about his proteins. He only will really eat yogurt at this point and has no interest in cheese or meat or eggs. So I'm pretty happy with him eating the yogurt. We buy Greek yogurt, or local yogurt from these special kind of cows (I think their name starts with a G?).

[Lit Chick]

My dad just gave my almost 7 month old yogurt... but it was vanilla yoplait.  I have not asked my ped about that, but it seems a no-brainer that a first food loaded with refined sugars would be bad.  Kiddo loved it, but had a really nasty diaper the next day... not a huge shock since he is not keen on solids and that was the most he ever ate before, and it was junk!

So, perhaps you ped assumed you would be feeding flavored yogurt? 

[tzs]

we did yogurt right away at 6 months. it was my understanding that even if you are waiting based on the dairy intolerance angle yogurts and cheeses are better to run with than cow's milk. and really, the only reason we waited on milk was that she was still nursing and the cup was just for practice and with water (although i kind of regret it since she can't stand milk now and only wants water)

[Terrilein]

DS would bathe in yogurt if he could. He's been eating since about 6 months I guess. Maybe earlier. He eats it nearly every other day with baby müsli for breakfast.

[SubliminalDarkness]

We did plain whole milk yogurt from 9 months, per Dr. Sears recommendation. He loved it from the word go. 

[arieltron]

my DD got a rash behind her ears and on her neck after eating yogurt at 6.5 mo. I'm waiting to try it again, but may try coconut milk yogurt.

[lash]

I had heard 8 months so that's what we did.  Something about yogurt being much more gentle than straight whole milk.  And of course plain, as low sugar as possible.  Our dd loved yogurt....was the first solid food she really took too.

I used this site a lot, found it super helpful:  www.wholesomebabyfood.com.  they have a dairy FAQ that you might find helpful.

[1love4ever]

I have heard 6 months is ok, I started at 8 which I was more comfortable with.

[happyhippie]

My daughter goes crazy for yogurt. We started at 7 months or so. Whole milk, plain. 

[NicolleLynne]

My little one loves plain, goat's milk yogurt mixed with fruit like blueberries or mango. It's one of the few things I can always count on her to eat right up!

[Terrilein]

Ok, I've got a question concerning coconut yogurt and would rather ask it here instead of making a whole new thread. Sorry, OP, for highjacking. I googled and found a recipe for coconut yogurt, but the author recommended using honey or maple syrup as a sweetener for the bacterial culture to feed on. But . . . babies aren't supposed to have either honey or maple syrup for fear of botulism. And she's just tossing it in to her yogurt batch??? This is only one recipe, but does anyone else do this? Has anyone else seen another such recipe? Does anyone know anything about this safety issue?

[P.J.]

I'm wondering why the heck there's an "ad" for a yogurt cookbook over there ^^>>> in the corner of this page. I pay money to avoid having ads show up. It looks like it's from within this site, like an automatically generated link...it leads to Amazon. WTH?

I know this is off-topic and may get removed, I am sorry, but I couldn't resist.