What type store bought milk is best for toddlers?

[lunarlady]

My little one has just turned a year old, and is still BF.  However, I would like to start offering her a milk product for when I am not there to offer the breast.  I no longer want to pump milk, so I am looking for a good alternative.  What milk is best for toddlers?  I've offered minimally pasteurized organic whole cow milk, but she doesn't seem to interested.  However, it was offered cold and DH suggested it might go over better offered warm.  We also are offering it in a cup, not a bottle, if that makes any difference.

I'm wondering what milk you all offer your toddlers and why.  Goat?  Cow?  Sheep?  Or maybe it is better to go with almond, soy or rice milk?  I generally lean toward whole foods and minimal processing, if that makes a difference.  DD also will still be breastfeeding when I am around, and eats a variety of table foods with enthusiasm, so this milk is not her only source of nutrition.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[flightgoddess]

I did do a combo of raw cow milk and unhemogenized but pasturized cow milk from a coop for almost a year, until there was some raw milk fiasco and my supplier had to quit for fear of government retaliation and no more bank financing becuase of possible retailiation. (my supplier was not the source of the fiasco) so now we do unhemogenized pasturized milk from our coop, and in a pinch we'll do regular organic milk from the store.

[1love4ever]

If you do not have a raw milk source, than non-homogenized, pasturized(NOT ultra-pasturized) organic milk, goat or cow, would be my choice.  We drink raw goats milk here, and I would like to have some raw cows milk as well but have no supplier.  Here is a video about milk http://nourishedkitchen.com/mark-mcafee-raw-milk-interview/  , it is very informative, although it is talking about cows milk and not goat.   Goats milk is not much different, in some ways it is healthier.   Here is a nutritional analysis of both cow and goats milk http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=56    http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrientprofile&dbid=13  (this is for 2% cows milk, so for whole cows milk the fat and cholesterol would be a little higher)   Goats milk is a little higher in a few nutrients than is cows, and cows has some nutrients that goats milk does not.  Also, if the milk is pasturized(watch the video above for more info on pasturization) it is lower in most all the nutrients mentioned, and does not have any phosphorus.  It also does not have beneficial enzymes and bacteria.

If you are interested in raw milk but can not find it at your local stores (here is a map of the laws about raw milk in the USA http://www.ftcldf.org/raw_milk_map.htm ) then do some searching around your community, ask people who are in to natural/organic practices, post that you are looking for raw milk on the Finding your tribe area here on MDC, ask your local Hutterites and/or Amish if they are near you, go to farmers markets and look for people selling organic produce, grass-fed hormone and antibiotic-free beef, goat, sheep, etc, and ask them.

[mommy212]

there is a little discussion on this concerning milks on the vegetarian board you should check out as well. I offer LO a variety of milks- I figure that way, he gets some of the extra calcium in almond milk, the healthy fats in coconut milk, the protein in soy, and the raw animal protein/calcium in cow's milk. Tried goat milk but it didn't go over well. They are all fortified with calcium and stuff, but they get a lot of flak on here for the additives and stuff to make them creamier and whatnot. I don't think it can be any worse than the hormones/substances in any kind of animal's milk, so I don't worry about it (drinking another animal's milk is unnatural too). You can also offer kefir, and my lo loved green-type smoothies with yogurt, milk of the week, flax oil/CLO, banana/strawberry/blueberry/etc, and spinach, usually. I think I introduced those around 14 or 15 months, but as long as you don't object to any of the thing you make your smoothie from you might as well start at 12 months. 

[Elizabeth2008]

Definitely raw cow or goat milk if you live in an area where you can get that. It is BY FAR the best choice!   Otherwise, non-homogenized whole milk (organic) would be my next choice.  Someone suggested coconut and soy milk, but I would stay away from those.  Coconut milk comes in cans which have BPA in the lining.  The kind sold in the refrigerated section has additives and sugar.  Soy milk also has additives and sugar and if it's not organic then it is made from genetically modified soy beans.   And soy protein should really be consumed in moderation, especially for children.  Rice milk is essentially sugar water and almond milk is OK if it is organic and without any sugar (most almond milk has sugar)  

[1love4ever]

I totally agree, smart mamma!
 

Originally Posted by Elizabeth2008 

Definitely raw cow or goat milk if you live in an area where you can get that. It is BY FAR the best choice!   Otherwise, non-homogenized whole milk (organic) would be my next choice.  Someone suggested coconut and soy milk, but I would stay away from those.  Coconut milk comes in cans which have BPA in the lining.  The kind sold in the refrigerated section has additives and sugar.  Soy milk also has additives and sugar and if it's not organic then it is made from genetically modified soy beans.   And soy protein should really be consumed in moderation, especially for children.  Rice milk is essentially sugar water and almond milk is OK if it is organic and without any sugar (most almond milk has sugar)  

[mommy212]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth2008 

Definitely raw cow or goat milk if you live in an area where you can get that. It is BY FAR the best choice!   Otherwise, non-homogenized whole milk (organic) would be my next choice.  Someone suggested coconut and soy milk, but I would stay away from those.  Coconut milk comes in cans which have BPA in the lining.  The kind sold in the refrigerated section has additives and sugar.  Soy milk also has additives and sugar and if it's not organic then it is made from genetically modified soy beans.   And soy protein should really be consumed in moderation, especially for children.  Rice milk is essentially sugar water and almond milk is OK if it is organic and without any sugar (most almond milk has sugar)  

You can make your own coconut/almond milk at home without much effort, if you have the right equipment. I agree about the organic soy milk and using it in moderation- it is the least consumed of the milks at our house. Besides, if you read the labels, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk and i believe rice milk all have less sugar than cow's milk (as far as I can find anyways), though of course it is added in instead of existing there naturally, so I suppose that makes a difference.

[amch]

Did your child have any allergic reaction to the cow's milk (i.e., diarreah)?  I tried giving my son Horizon organic milk around 13 months, and he had runny stools/strange looking stools.  I'm not sure if it was because of the introduction to cow's milk (he was breastfed) or something else, but I stopped giving him cow's milk after that to be "safe". 

[amch]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth2008 

Definitely raw cow or goat milk if you live in an area where you can get that. It is BY FAR the best choice!   Otherwise, non-homogenized whole milk (organic) would be my next choice.  Someone suggested coconut and soy milk, but I would stay away from those.  Coconut milk comes in cans which have BPA in the lining.  The kind sold in the refrigerated section has additives and sugar.  Soy milk also has additives and sugar and if it's not organic then it is made from genetically modified soy beans.   And soy protein should really be consumed in moderation, especially for children.  Rice milk is essentially sugar water and almond milk is OK if it is organic and without any sugar (most almond milk has sugar)  

Did your child have any allergic reaction to the cow's milk (i.e., diarreah)?  I tried giving my son Horizon organic milk around 13 months, and he had runny stools/strange looking stools.  I'm not sure if it was because of the introduction to cow's milk (he was breastfed) or something else, but I stopped giving him cow's milk after that to be "safe

[CheriK]

Although it's often considered normal and necessary for a toddler, your LO never needs milk.  If you don't have allergies or other concerns about cow's milk (others have shared links if you want to read some of the potential negatives), then it's an easy way to provide calcium, protein and necessary fats to a toddler.  However, as long as your DD is still nursing about 4 times in 24 hours, she's getting these nutrients from your milk.  And even when she's nursing less than that, she can get them from other dairy products (cheeses, yogurt) or from other foods entirely.  As far as replacing bottles of pumped milk while you're gone, you don't have to replace those with any sort of "milk".  As your LO eats a more varied diet, you can simply replace bottles with other foods.  Liquids can be water (best!) or small amounts of fruit juices (high in sugar, better to feed real fruit for the most part).  It doesn't have to be milk.

All my children were still nursing a TON at that age, and even though I was reducing pumping at work (not because I wanted to stop pumping, but because my body doesn't respond well to the pump), it didn't make sense to me to give them cow's milk in place of my milk.  After all, they didn't consume much in the way of "food" besides my milk, so why would I fill them up with something that basically was a second-rate substitue for my milk instead of concentrating on other healthy foods?  We focused on foods that gave them nutrients which they might need more of than my milk provided (check out kellymom.com's pages on nutrition for nursing toddlers for ideas).  Personally, I have no problem with offering organic cow's milk, so we did and do have that available, but none would ever drink a glass of milk at that age.  Maybe a couple sips or on cereal or in a smoothie.  I'm also sort of negative (without any research to back me up, just gut feeling) to the other "milks" available since they are quite processed, and we try to avoid high amounts of soy due to the potential of endocrine disruption.  I'd rather my kids be used to drinking water.  Of course, now I have a pre-teen daughter who dislikes most high-calcium foods and has never consumed more than a token amount of dairy products and I'm struggling to get calcium into her. . . so maybe if I'd pushed those foods when she was younger, she'd eat them more now.  Or not. . .

[samantic]

I'd recommend grass-fed milk.  If you're getting raw cow or goat milk, it will be grass-fed, but it's also possible to find pasteurized and homogenized grass-fed.  I'm not a big fan of homogenization either and certainly not UHT pasteurization.

Personally I'm allergic to soy milk and almond milk, so those were never an option.  We keep rice milk in the house just to stretch the raw milk because we can only get that delivered one day a week and have to make sure the amount works out right.

I also agree with the comment that water is perfectly fine.  We don't drink a lot of milk around here, but we do put it on cereal and make ice cream with it.

[bluedaisy]

I'm sure this is a silly question, but do you boil the raw milk or just give it to your child?  I lived in kenya for several years where I bought all raw milk but I was always told to boil first to kill bacteria and make it last longer (it would go bad in 2 or 3 days without boiling it).  We get raw milk now but DH and I only drink it in chai so it gets boiled in the process of making chai.  my 2 1/2 yo dd is in the weaning process (i'm pg and out of milk) and she has taken a sudden liking to cows milk. So i've been boiling the milk and giving it to her warm.  Is this necessary?  If it's boiled it wouldn't really be raw anymore, right?

[1love4ever]

Originally Posted by CheriK 

Although it's often considered normal and necessary for a toddler, your LO never needs milk.  If you don't have allergies or other concerns about cow's milk (others have shared links if you want to read some of the potential negatives), then it's an easy way to provide calcium, protein and necessary fats to a toddler.  However, as long as your DD is still nursing about 4 times in 24 hours, she's getting these nutrients from your milk.  And even when she's nursing less than that, she can get them from other dairy products (cheeses, yogurt) or from other foods entirely.  As far as replacing bottles of pumped milk while you're gone, you don't have to replace those with any sort of "milk".  As your LO eats a more varied diet, you can simply replace bottles with other foods.  Liquids can be water (best!) or small amounts of fruit juices (high in sugar, better to feed real fruit for the most part).  It doesn't have to be milk.

All my children were still nursing a TON at that age, and even though I was reducing pumping at work (not because I wanted to stop pumping, but because my body doesn't respond well to the pump), it didn't make sense to me to give them cow's milk in place of my milk.  After all, they didn't consume much in the way of "food" besides my milk, so why would I fill them up with something that basically was a second-rate substitue for my milk instead of concentrating on other healthy foods?  We focused on foods that gave them nutrients which they might need more of than my milk provided (check out kellymom.com's pages on nutrition for nursing toddlers for ideas).  Personally, I have no problem with offering organic cow's milk, so we did and do have that available, but none would ever drink a glass of milk at that age.  Maybe a couple sips or on cereal or in a smoothie.  I'm also sort of negative (without any research to back me up, just gut feeling) to the other "milks" available since they are quite processed, and we try to avoid high amounts of soy due to the potential of endocrine disruption.  I'd rather my kids be used to drinking water.  Of course, now I have a pre-teen daughter who dislikes most high-calcium foods and has never consumed more than a token amount of dairy products and I'm struggling to get calcium into her. . . so maybe if I'd pushed those foods when she was younger, she'd eat them more now.  Or not. . .

I agree!  Raw milk cheeses are actually available in many stores, and on this site www.azurestandard.com  contact their customer service to see if they deliver to your area, they have good prices on a lot of things!  Do not get Organic Valley "raw milk" cheese because it is basically pasturized, the others are not tho, my fav is Lifeline Organic brand cheese, they have a few raw milk cheese options.

I also am not a fan of non-dairy milks, they are very processed and have added sugars and other crap(especially if they are not organic) in them.  Other sources of calcium is leafy greens, raw nuts and seeds, fish, beans, and molasses.  Kids dont NEED milk, but I do think it is a good and healthy thing for them, and it is easier than trying to incorporate enough of these other things into a toddlers daily diet(although DD loves raw sunflower seeds!)   Even if a kid drinks milk though, water is VERY important!  DD drinks a lot of water, and certainly does not drink the recommended daily 16oz of milk, she might drink around 10oz.  Since she loves the sunflower seeds and drinks raw goats milk(higher in calcium, protein and phosphorus than cows) I dont worry about her calcium and phosphorus levels.

And yes, grass fed milk for sure!!

Edited by 1love4ever - 8/16/11 at 10:17pm

[1love4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluedaisy 

I'm sure this is a silly question, but do you boil the raw milk or just give it to your child?  I lived in kenya for several years where I bought all raw milk but I was always told to boil first to kill bacteria and make it last longer (it would go bad in 2 or 3 days without boiling it).  We get raw milk now but DH and I only drink it in chai so it gets boiled in the process of making chai.  my 2 1/2 yo dd is in the weaning process (i'm pg and out of milk) and she has taken a sudden liking to cows milk. So i've been boiling the milk and giving it to her warm.  Is this necessary?  If it's boiled it wouldn't really be raw anymore, right?

When you boil it you are pasturizing it, and depending on the temp it is reaching and for how long, you are probably pasturizing it even worse than what is sold in the stores.  NO, I absolutely do not expose the raw milk to any heat, it comes out of the goat or cow, goes into my suppliers fridge, and they deliver it to me later that day and it goes straight to my fridge, then I pour it into glasses and we drink it:)

Please watch the video that I gave a link to in my first post, it is very informative and explains why you dont need to worry about bacteria in your milk(unless it is being stored in dirty containers or the animals are in horrible living conditions but that is unlikely with raw milk suppliers).

Boiling it destroys and/or depletes many of the milks nutrients and beneficial enzymes and such.  In Kenya you may have been told to do that because maybe cleanliness was an issue, or the animals were being fed lots of corn or were living only indoors?  An animal like a goat or cow needs vegetation and outdoor space to be healthy, and if the animal is unhealthy than the milk will likely have bacteria in it.  Pasturization was required because long ago people did not know anything about germs or sanitation and they kept their animals in disgusting living conditions so of course the milk was getting contaminated, but today the raw milk distributers know better.  The big factory farms still cram all their animals into a confined indoor space, feed them garbage, allow the milk to be contaminated, and then they pasturize it so that no one gets sick and they can still carry out all of their inhumane practices because it is easy and cheap for them.  They also load their animals with medications because otherwise the animals would die in such conditions, and they give their animals hormones to get more milk production out of them, unnatural amounts of milk, it is very sad.  Like I said, Please watch the video!!

[bluedaisy]

Thanks for the reply...we have a Kenyan friend that works at a local dairy farm, he gets lots of free milk and passes it on to us for free, so I actually don't know anything about the dairy itself and whether they provide raw milk to others.  He is the only milker, so I'm pretty sure it is a small family farm.  I'll have to talk to him and get more info about the dairy.  I typically just heat the milk until it boils and then turn off the heat, but it's still a pain so I'm glad to hear it will be better for dd to not boil the milk at all.

[ZionMerced]

   When my son was a baby, I had limited supply of breastmilk so I substituted first organic cow milk formula, then moved on to raw cow milk (only because raw goat milk was not available to me)...then young coconut water and nut milks. If I had to do it over again, I'd do things a little different.....NO formula, and MORE coconut water, earlier. This is not coconut milk in a can, this is the young coconut water fresh from the coconut. Its make-up is quite similar to breast milk, and is full of electrolytes. It's awesome! I'd also suggest RAW nut milks...homemade, they are easy to make. And this post would not be complete without mentioning the GREEN SMOOTHIE...fruits and greens pureed into a smoothie with a water, coconut water, or nutmilk base. One year is definitely old enough for all of the above! You'll be supplying everything your baby needs, I promise you!

[celeste kp]

I,personally,just can not understand why anyone would feed their baby milk from another mother. If it were a human mother nursing your child,you'd be repulsed,yet we raise animals so we can take their milk,all under the impression that we "need" it to survive. On top of that,the mother's,the animals that you're taking the milk from,are having their babies stolen from them at birth,so the babies don't take "our" precious milk. It's all so very sick and we start our children out,brainwash them,too,into thinking that this is all normal. I'm not saying you have to feed your baby soy milk,but there just has to be a better alternative.

[1love4ever]

My raw milk source did not start milking their goats until the goat babies were weaned and they were breastfed by the mama goat for a long time:)   But I agree, store bought milk-that is the case.  Mama cows and goats have their babys taken away from them immediatly and are treated with no compassion.  The practice is very inhumane and one of many reasons why I do not buy store bought milk(just think of it this way- every dollar you spend you are voting or OKing all the practices that go into producing the product that you purchased).  When DD gets older I am going to take her(and her brother who will be here in Nov) to the farm where we get the milk and show them how the animals are raised and treated and teach them that this is how it is supposed to be.  I am a concious shopper and I am very concerned about the practices that go into producing our food and other products and I am raising my children to be aware of things too!

The video that I mentioned has some information on how dairy cows are normally treated, it is very sad.  Of course it only touches on the surface.

[lunarlady]

Currently we get our milk from a local supplier that treats their cows very well.  The cows are organic, pasture raised and grass fed, and delivered to us minimally pasteurized in glass bottles.  I feel better about it than mystery sourced milk from the store.  However, I simply cannot afford raw milk.  There is a raw milk supplier in our area, but it costs about 9 dollars a gallon.  In the perfect world, I would buy it in a heartbeat, but as it stands I simply cannot buy everything in its perfect state.

So far it seems my little one really does prefer water and veggie juices to milk.  We've offered the milk to her, but she only drinks about an ounce then turns away.  So I guess it is turning out to be a moot point since she is turning up her nose at the whole concept of any milk besides mine fresh from the tap.

Thanks for all the replies.  It has given me much to think about.  I've heard some talk about the milk not being homogenized.  Is this linked to pasteurization or separate from that issue?  We can also buy our milk "cream topped" which is non homogenized, but I never bothered.  Is there some benefit to be had from pasteurized non-homogenized milk that is not found in pasteurized homogenized milk? 

[1love4ever]

Originally Posted by lunarlady 

Currently we get our milk from a local supplier that treats their cows very well.  The cows are organic, pasture raised and grass fed, and delivered to us minimally pasteurized in glass bottles.  I feel better about it than mystery sourced milk from the store.  However, I simply cannot afford raw milk.  There is a raw milk supplier in our area, but it costs about 9 dollars a gallon.  In the perfect world, I would buy it in a heartbeat, but as it stands I simply cannot buy everything in its perfect state.

So far it seems my little one really does prefer water and veggie juices to milk.  We've offered the milk to her, but she only drinks about an ounce then turns away.  So I guess it is turning out to be a moot point since she is turning up her nose at the whole concept of any milk besides mine fresh from the tap.

Thanks for all the replies.  It has given me much to think about.  I've heard some talk about the milk not being homogenized.  Is this linked to pasteurization or separate from that issue?  We can also buy our milk "cream topped" which is non homogenized, but I never bothered.  Is there some benefit to be had from pasteurized non-homogenized milk that is not found in pasteurized homogenized milk? 

Did you watch the video that I provided a link to?

    It explains homogenization, and truely is informative about just milk in general.  Well worth the time to watch it.   Here is a link to a short article, it states a few facts about homogenization as well, although the video explains the process  http://www.healthychild.com/child-nutrition/should-your-child-drink-milk/  th

That

TThiffff

Also, there may be a raw milk source in your area that you dont know about.  I would go to farmers markets and ask anyone who says that their produce, meat, etc is organically grown, grass fed, etc and ask if they know of anyone who has raw cow or goat milk.  Another idea would be to take a drive, go about 10 miles from your home in each direction, stop at any houses that you see goats or milk cows at and ask if they ever have any spare milk that you could buy.  I get mine for 3.50 a gallon or 2 for a half gallon because my supplier is just a family with a few goats who cant drink all the milk that they provide so they have to get rid of some of it.