Cows milk from 6 months old?

[@llli*cosmicbabe]

Can I use full fat cows milk for my 6 month olds cereal and any cooking? He's EBF and thought I would have to pump for cooking but I've read elsewhere it can use cows milk??!?

I also read that in Scandinavia they wean onto cows milk at 6 months for babies milk needs rather than breast or formula? What's the LLL view of this? What's the reason for not letting babies drink cows milk till 1 years old?

[@llli*mommal]

What the recommendations regarding cow's milk are in Scandinavia, or what the rationale behind them is, I have no idea. I can only say what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations are, which is that a baby should be nursed for a minimum of 1 year and as long thereafter as is mutually desirable by mom and baby, and that cow's milk should not be given until 12 months. The reasoning behind this is that cow's milk is hard for babies to digest, and can cause intestinal irritation which can lead to anemia. Cow's milk also happens to be one of the more highly allergenic foods you can offer a baby.

If you want to thin your baby's cereal out with something other than breastmilk, choose formula. It's much closer in composition to breastmik than any other substance you can use.

[@llli*lllmeg]

As far as LLLI goes, (La Leche League International) we state right in our 10 concepts (philosophy)) that
•Breast milk is the superior infant food.
•For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only food necessary until the baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth.
•Ideally the breastfeeding relationship will continue until the baby outgrows the need.

As far as cow milk specifically, I suppose the book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding provides our view, which includes the idea that cow milk need NEVER be added to a person's diet, that that is in individual choice. I forget what exaclty it says about WHEN to introduce dairy.

I think the mistake people make is thinking a baby needs to be weaned TO some other breastmilk substitute, be it cow milk or goats milk or almond milk or formula or whatever. Assuming baby breastfeeds until baby is eating solids in enough of a healthy variety to live on them nutritionally, a baby never needs to be weaned TO anything. They just wean and can continue to eat the same things as older children and adults in their family eat.

[@llli*krystine]

You don't need any milk in cooking. I didn't have enough milk, borderline low supply with DD and I never added cow's milk, formula or breast milk to solids. Yogurt is a good first dairy to introduce because it's more easily digested than cow's milk.

[@llli*cosmicbabe]

What do u add for porridge then?

[@llli*krystine]

I just cooked it in water and served it. I don't always add milk to mine and it's fine.

[@llli*cosmicbabe]

But if he only took one mouthful of porridge, to make it with breast milk would be an awful waste :-(

[@llli*krystine]

Which is why I never added breast milk to solids. That and I didn't have enough.

[@llli*mommal]

Make the porridge with water. Or use breastmilk and make a very small amount- a couple of teaspoons at most. Or offer baby something other than cereal- it's not a necessary element of an infant diet. You can start with fruits, veggies, and meats instead.

[@llli*mercystreet]

The few times we tried cereal (we ditched it pretty quick), I would put a teaspoon of it in a small bowl, and then hand-express a little bit of breastmilk into it. Yes, it felt a little awkward standing in the kitchen, leaning over the sink with my bra open, and squirting breastmilk into baby's bowl! But it was the easiest way to quickly mix a little breastmilk in, keep the quantities low, not mess with the pump, etc. And then baby didn't even like it, and we quickly moved on to whole foods (like Mommal suggests) Water would also be easy. But seriously, you don't *have* to do cereal ... I know there are nutritional arguments for and against it -- but my reasoning was, it tastes bland and pasty (I tried it) and I don't blame babies for not being jazzed about it. My little guy was way more interested in meat!