[momtolauren]

I was told at my daughter's 12 month visit that she should have whole cows milk at every meal. I was also told that it is more important for her to have the cows milk than breast milk. Has anyone else been told this?<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/dizzy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Dizzy">: Is cows milk really better for her at this stage? I felt like he was trying to get me to wean her, which both of us are not ready to do.

 

[annettemarie]

Moving to breastfeeding beyond infancy

 

[hubris]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>momtolauren</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7913672"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Is cows milk really better for her at this stage?</div>
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Not unless she's a baby cow.<br><br>
I would ignore the advice and go about living the way I intended to. If the doc pushes it again in the future, you might hand him a printed article about species-specific milk.<br><br>
Kellymom has a section on cow's milk for toddlers <a href="http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/toddler-foods.html" target="_blank">here</a><br><div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
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<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">Many nursing moms are told that they must introduce cow's milk at a year. Your nursing toddler is already getting the best milk he can get - mother's milk! Breastmilk has a higher fat content than whole cow's milk (needed for baby's brain growth), and all the nutrients of human milk are significantly more bioavailable than those of cow's milk because it is species specific (not to mention all the components of mother's milk that are not present in cow's milk).<br><br>
There is no need for additional milk or (or the equivalent nutrients from other foods) as long as your baby is nursing 3-4 times per day. Cow's milk is really just a convenient source of calcium, protein, fats, vitamin D, etc. - it's not required. There are many people in many parts of the world who do not drink milk and still manage to get all the calcium, protein, fats, vitamin D, etc. that they need.</td>
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[alegna]

Total bs. Dump that dr.<br><br>
Your baby is human. She needs human milk.<br><br>
-Angela

 

[texasmamaof4]

Yes, your doc has given you bad advice. She is getting the best milk she can. Why a pediatrician would suggest that you give your baby the dead, overprocessed milk from another species instead of living, full of antibodies, perfect fat and calorie ratio species specific milk is just mind boggling.

 

[veganf]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> I definitely would have asked if my kid looked like a calf to her! That's insane. Human milk is best for human babies. She clearly has had no education in lactation.

 

[ap mom]

Ugh... I, too, was told this by my ped and posted on here as well! How I dealt with it- I ignored her advice, knowing that BM is far better than cow's milk. I did decide to give her another chance but researched other ped's and still may very well switch to someone more supportive of BF. I went in to the next visit armed with research/data (ie: comparison of human/cow's milk on kelly mom, new WHO growth chart for BF babies etc) and prepared to argue my point and then switch if we couldn't see eye to eye. She never broached the issue again, so I let it go as well.<br><br>
Biggest advice I can give you is to trust your instincts though! Mine (combined with research I've done to back them up) tell me that BM is FAR superior to the milk of another species! Like PP's said, it is an absurd notion that our babies would drink the milk of a cow over our milk, made perfectly for them!!!

 

[Racecarma]

The other beautiful thing about human milk as mentioned above is that it is fresh! Studies have shown that even a calf that is fed pasteurized cow's milk becomes malnourished! Pasteurization actually kills much of the beneficial properties of milk, making it only marginally nutritional.<br>
Human milk needs no pasteurization and has specific nutrients in the correct amounts for a human baby/child.<br>
Your doctor is ignorant and ignorance is one of the deadlies! It's a shame most doctors learn such backward information in med school and continue to think they know everything there is to know.

 

[mama24-7]

Oops, wrong thread!

 

[WannabeaFarmer]

I was told if she doesnt need it then why bother offering. This was said by my lactation consultant.<br>
As others have said bf babies are humans not cows, so they dont NEED cows milk.<br>
This is totally what I was gonna say too<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"> :<br><br><div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">The other beautiful thing about human milk as mentioned above is that it is fresh! Studies have shown that even a calf that is fed pasteurized cow's milk becomes malnourished! Pasteurization actually kills much of the beneficial properties of milk, making it only marginally nutritional.<br>
Human milk needs no pasteurization and has specific nutrients in the correct amounts for a human baby/child.<br>
Your doctor is ignorant and ignorance is one of the deadlies! It's a shame most doctors learn such backward information in med school and continue to think they know everything there is to know.</td>
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I just read almost that exact quote in a book that I am reading now...<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
So IMHO, dont bother. If nursing is going well and your DD is healthy and doing fine there is no need to introduce something that isnt needed(Cows milk totally confused my DD, she wont even touch anything that looks remotely like it-even melted vanilla ice cream).

 

[mom2katie]

I think that the dairy industry must be in cahoots with the AAP because it seems to me that toddlers are the biggest consumers they have. That said, we are milk drinkers in our house so dd has some milk every now and then but it isn't necessary and defintitely isn't better than breastmilk.

 

[Sagesgirl]

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<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>momtolauren</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7913672"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I was told at my daughter's 12 month visit that she should have whole cows milk at every meal. I was also told that it is more important for her to have the cows milk than breast milk. Has anyone else been told this?<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/dizzy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Dizzy">: Is cows milk really better for her at this stage? I felt like he was trying to get me to wean her, which both of us are not ready to do.</div>
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Hmm, seems your problem is that you took your daughter to a veterinarian instead of a human doctor. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> A very near-sighted veterinarian who hasn't seen a calf before, hence the confusion.

 

[rach03]

My pediatrician said we could start offering whole milk at a year, but she said to continue breastfeeding for as long as I wanted because the benefits continued.<br><br>
He does drink at least a little bit of whole milk every day, but is also still breastfeeding a few times a day as well.