No dairy?

[neversleepagain]

Hi,

I am considering not offering dairy to my 6 month old DS. I would prefer to use rice or oat milk on his cereal. Considering you can get plenty of calcium from other food sources, am I right is assuming that cows milk and dairy is not really needed? Although, yoghurt, (due to live bacteria) are more easily digested than other forms of dairy so I would consider giving him these.

I am making a mistake? Any thoughts welcome.

[MrsHoarder]

I thought that if you were reluctant to use cows milk on babies cereal the best thing to use was formula or ebm.

Under one he should be getting all his milk portion from baby milk as a drink anyway.

[Adreamz]

My daughter had dairy problems so I couldn't give much milk. I use coconut milk now (she is 20 months) after trying many other types. Iyogurt is a really easy food to wean with though so I would probably not delete this from the diet. Hope this helps

[ilovepowerhoop]

rice milk isnt recommended for chidren under the age of 5 due to arsenic levels so I wouldnt give that as a substitute. Dairy is an easy way to get calcium, what issues do you have with it?

[neversleepagain]

Thanks for the replies.

Well my main issue is with cows milk is that is for calves, not human babies. And that in order to absorb calcium you need magnesium which cows milk doesn't have. I would prefer for my DS to have get his calcium from other sources that are easily absorbed.

I would use organic rice and soya milk.

[stargirl1701]

I think soya milk can be dangerous for boys - something to do with fertility? Has he been bf or ff up until now? If bf, why stop? If ff, why stop?

Maybe a chat to your HV?

[ilovepowerhoop]

Cows milk is more natural than soya or rice 'milk' so I'd rather give that. Rice milk isnt advised as I said before and soya isnt good either especially for boys. Are you ff or bf your ds?

[Jojay]

As ilovepowerhoop says, rice milk isn't recommended for under 5'sdue to arsenic levels, and it;s nutritionally pretty empty. Organic milk substitutes don't have added calcium or nutrients either, so using organic wouldn't give your baby a source of calcium.

Think very carefully about what you are doing. It's a major food group to miss out and tbh it doesn't sound like you've done your homework yet.

My 21mth old twins are allergic to milk and it's a right royal pita. I'd never give it up voluntarily!

[Jojay]

And most milk substitutes are only rich in calcium because it is artificially added, not because they are naturally calcium rich. Alternative milks are certainly not a 'natural' way to dd calcium into the diet.

If you really want to go dairy free, extended breastfeeding is the best way to go, but I'm not sure if that's an option for you.

[neversleepagain]

I will continue to BF, however, I am thinking about cooking etc.

Drinking cows milk is a western thing, there are plenty of cultures that don't drink cows milk and have no issues with osteoporosis etc. I just don't like the idea of giving my DS something that isn't intended for human babies.

[neversleepagain]

And calcium in cows milk is not absorbed anyway due to lack of magnesium in the milk, so I don't see the point in it. There are so many other ways he can get calcium.

[Passmethecrisps]

Hi,

We have to be dairy free due to my DD's CMPI. The dietician has advised using the PX formula my baby takes in place of cow's milk. Can't you use BM or FM?

The information I was given advise caution with soy milk until over a year old.

[ilovepowerhoop]

you dont get soya/rice/oat milk from breasts either so its no more natural than cows milk.

[Passmethecrisps]

Probably a silly question but can you express enough to cook with? I am not sure the risks of soy milk are that great - I am sure it can be used in moderation. It does suggest it is used in my information or dairy free but simply advises caution as many CMPI babies are also soy intolerant.

[stargirl1701]

Could you express for cooking?

I listened to a very interesting documentary on R4 recently about humans & cows' milk. The gist of it is that Northern Europeans evolved as agriculture got going. People who had the gene to thrive on cows' milk were significantly more likely to survive & procreate. This now means that approx 98%+ of Northern Europeans today have that genetic make up. Other areas of the globe did not follow the same path.

Fascinating!