[pippet]

I haven't introduced my 13 1/2 month to cow's milk as recommended by my doctor yet and am reluctant to do so. (I followed that protocol with my dd, now 3, and she hasn't had cow's milk in 2 years because of the rash she'd get around her mouth. She also has reactive airways and so generally speaking dairy irritates asthma and pre-asthmatic conditions so she's a soy milk girl (but doesn't really like it)).

So I'm wondering if anyone else has bypassed the cow's milk intro altogether and what they are offering instead to get the calcium, Vit A & D etc.?

 

[alegna]

Human children don't need cow's milk. There are lots of good food sources for vitamins and as long as she is still getting your milk she will get what she needs.

-Angela

 

[pippet]

Yes I'm still bfing my son but not my dd any more. I just want to make sure that I shouldn't be offering some other supplementation in place of cow's milk - or what he might need once he's not bfing anymore too.

 

[vegmom]

There is goats milk, coconut milk, rice milk. You can also try raw cows milk. That is what we let dd#2 drink who is 9months and she has been getting raw milk since 7months. We also started her on plain yogurt as one of her first foods. This helps coat her GI tract with good bacteria that help keep allergins from passing through to the blood stream. But that is what i felt was right for my kiddos. Dd#2 has no known allergies. Raw milk has all the beneficial bacteria of yogurt plus some.

Oh, and there is also almond milk.

 

[kavamamakava]

Your son doesn't need any milk but breastmilk. For your daughter, have you considered kefir? It's a yogurt drink.

Calcium: Tofu, collard greens, almonds, kale, broccoli, non-milk dairy like yogurt and cottage cheese.

Vitamin A: Peaches, red peppers, kale, mangos, canteloupe, carrots, eggs, liver.

Vitamin D: Sunshine, non-milk dairy products like butter and yogurt, egg yolks, some fish like salmon and mackerel.

 

[pippet]

I had totally forgotten about kefir - I should try that! He's fine on yogurt, won't eat cheese but I'm hoping as he gets older he'll eat more of the vitamin sources mentioned above. Thanks for the input... anyone do soy milk or is the jury still out on that and its phytoestrogens?

 

[PikkuMyy]

Don't forget almond milk! I think, like many other foods, the jury will always be out on soy. I eat a fair amount without going overboard and will give the same to my children.

 

[kavamamakava]

I don't have a problem with soy milk. I think that soy additives are at the root of most of those reports on "too much soy"

 

[vancouverlori]

Soy is related to peanuts, and is a common allergen, so if you are avoiding allergenic food, you may want to skip this too for a while. A baby getting breastmilk does not need milk. And soy milk isn't milk anyway. And the vitamins A and D are added anyway, so you might as well use supplements if that's your concern.

If you can't get raw milk, you might try unhomogenized pasteurized milk (often called "standard whole milk"), as the homogenization process is possibly involved in increased uptake of dairy fats and allergy symptoms for some people.

opinionatedly,
-Lori

 

[amyandelle]

Have you considered pumping some breastmilk for your dd? I know that might be eaiser said than done but it's just a thought

Amy

 

[Momto2boysNagirl]

My 3 yr old and 2 yr old don't drink cow's milk. My 7 yr old won't give it up, but I make sure he get's organic. I give my 3 yr old almond milk and he loves it! It's got calcium and iron(which cow's milk doesn't. My 2 yr old is still nursing and only gets human milk. They do eat yogurt and cheese and lots of veggies, so I don't worry about them missing anything. Plus cow's milk is made for cow's not humans! Your baby doesn't need it and can get what he needs from so many other places.

 

[Siana]

As far as liquids go, don't humans only need water? That's where I'm heading with my kids, though I think the occasional bit of vegan milk is fine on cereal (may be I should consider expressing milk for my DD so she can skip that too :LOL ). A healthy varied diet is all anyone needs to have the right balance of nutrients.

Oh and I definately second that humans do not by any means require to drink any other milk besides human milk. I guess it just really grosses me out to think of stealing the milk from another species to feed MY offspring. But that's just me.

 

[pippet]

Thanks for the great feedback! I didn't question it as much with my dd until she showed an allergy and my gut just isn't leading me to feel comfortable with offering it now to my ds so I'm glad I'm in good company for that. I always felt that maybe I needed to make sure I replaced the cow's milk with something else - but fortified soy and rice milk should do the trick and that's if anything at all.

I'll wait on the almond milk until after both of them are 4 as we haven't introduced nuts to them due to allergy concerns but it's something I'd like to try and haven't thought of before.

 

[cathe]

My kids don't drink anything but water - all the nutrients that milk has can be obtained from food.

 

[addiesmom]

My DD reacted to cow's milk (rash on face, bum, cranky) at 12 mos and I was told by her GI doc that as long as I was still BFing, she didn't need anything else. When she weaned at 15 mos, I tried cow's milk again - reacted. Doc suggested to try organic milk - no reaction.

Rice milk is another good suggestion. I drink rice milk fortified with calcium and vit D cuz DS, 4 weeks old, is sensitive to dairy and soy.