yogurt is okay for babies?

[jrose_lee]

I just saw on the westonaprice website that they reccomend giving tastes of yogurt from six months on to help get used to the tart taste. And at 8 months you can give them a smoothie made from yogurt. I was always under the impression that no dairy was best until at least a year. Am I off base here?

Is the difference because it's raw milk? Or because all of the lactose is gone in homemade yogurt?

I wanted to give 8 month old ds a small taste today, but then I wasn't sure. I do want him to be used to stronger tastes such as yogurt and ferments. I'm not exactly following the guidlines for feeding baby that are on the website anyway. We are self-feeders here and most things they reccomend at first are mush food.

So.....yogurt?

[alegna]

My understanding is that yogurt is different because the proteins are broken down. We started plain yogurt around 9 months.

-Angela

[yitlan]

Originally Posted by jrose_lee

Is the difference because it's raw milk? Or because all of the lactose is gone in homemade yogurt?

Both, I think. Even before I knew of NT and WAPF, I gave my babies yogurt before a year. First, we have absolutely no family history or dairy sensitivity and the lactose is broken down anyhow. PLUS, I knew of the gut benefits of yogurt. So even fairly mainstream sources OK yogurt before a year, I think.

[alegna]

Oh, and lactose isn't a problem for babies- breastmilk has tons. It's the proteins.

-Angela

[tboroson]

I've read that on WAPF and some other places. Personally, I don't buy it. Baby feeding is one place where I differ greatly from NT. I don't believe that the proteins are sufficiently broken down by making the milk into yogurt. If that were true, then people with casien allergies would be able to eat yogurt, and they can't. When dd1 was tiny, she was sensitive to casien in my breastmilk when I'd eat dairy - and that included yogurt.

[alegna]

Yeah, I didn't believe the 6 month thing. I had it in my later wave with egg yolks and shortly before grains. BUT we have no true food allergies in our families and our sensitivities are to odd things (iodine and malt mostly)

-Angela

[eirual]

I just gave my 9mo old DS homemade goat's milk yogurt for the first time last week. I send it to daycare with him and he's just started enjoying it. Mixed with blueberries he LOVES it though. He still eats only about a teaspoon's worth a day.

[Persephone]

I gave dd (7.5 mo) some the other night. LOVED it. I took pics, I should post them, they're adorable. She didn't have any kind of reaction to it, and the next day we tried cheese. Again, loved it. (Mom is a lil dairy obsessed, so she must have gotten it from me. ) I also differ from WAP wrt baby feeding. Honestly, I was going to wait til a year, but I just felt she could handle it now. She's not getting any meat or grains til after a year, though.

[Godiva]

I've given dd yogurt from 6 or 7 months. She loves it and there have been no issues with it. There is no history of allergies in mine or dh's families so I felt ok with her having it.

[bri276]

it's my understanding that some people with mild or moderate dairy allergies CAN eat yogurt.

but I don't think it's necessary to start early to get used to the taste. DD never had any until 10-11 months and she loves it anyways.

[MyLittleWonders]

Both my older boys started yogurt by about 7 or 8 months. Where we erred was introducing flavored yogurt (later but none-the-less). They both loved plain yogurt (and cheese by about 9 months). The new babe will get the pleasure of homemade yogurt after the new year.

[tboroson]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

Both my older boys started yogurt by about 7 or 8 months. Where we erred was introducing flavored yogurt (later but none-the-less). They both loved plain yogurt (and cheese by about 9 months). The new babe will get the pleasure of homemade yogurt after the new year.

Oy... I made the same mistake. Had T happily eating plain (homemade or locally made commercial) for a long time. Then we took a week's vacation, and I bought Stoneyfield figuring it was only a few days, it was a treat. She hasn't gone back to plain. I can't get it in her with a straightjacket and a straw.

The worst part is, I figured I'd not make the same mistake with A... but after a while, she *had* to have the same kind of yogurt her sister was having. :

[~Megan~]

since dairy is one of the most common allergens I waited until ds was a year. I know many people don't though.

[RachelSerena]

I started my DD on yogurt pretty young compared to all here - I think 5 or 6 months. Until then she was exclusively breastfed. (She'll be 2 in December and we're still nursing regularly)

I make my own yogurt, and it is nice and tart. She loved it from the beginning and still does, and did not have reactions to it.

I read somewhere (It may have been on Babycenter) that the reason you are warned off of other dairy (except breastmilk) until a year is because they don't want parents substituting plain milk or yogurt for breastmilk or formula, but that if there is no allergy/sensitivity it would be ok as a starter food, in addition to breastmilk/formula.