POLOKWANE – The other day I spoke to a lady who told me that her daughter, who breastfed her baby up to four months, has now weaned her to bottle feeding, but the baby doesn’t like iron-fortified formula milk, so she has been feeding her full cream cow’s milk.
As I listened to her, I got very concerned for her granddaughter. But why is whole cow’s milk not good for babies, might be your next question?
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), cow’s milk does not provide enough vitamin E, iron, and essential fatty acids for babies under a year old, and these small babies gastrointestinal tract has not grown and developed enough to handle the high concentrations of protein, sodium and potassium, and cow’s milk prevents iron absorption leading to iron deficiency anaemia in babies.
Add onto the too high levels of protein the fact that cow’s milk proteins are predominantly casein proteins, which is difficult for babies to digest and may leading to cramping and a fussy baby – not a nice experience for anyone close to the baby!
Cow’s milk protein also increase the risk for babies younger than a year to develop allergies, making your life increasingly difficult as they get older – think no ice-cream, cheese, yoghurt, most baked products, cereals, sauces etc. as these all contain cow’s milk. And then there is also cross-reactivity between different allergens (food particels causing allergic reactions) that increases your risk of developing another allergy, so the list of foods that your child is not allowed to eat grows even longer!
Follow these recommendations to ensure the best growth and development for your little ones:
- Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of your baby’s life. If breastfeeding is not possible feed baby iron fortified infant formula that is age appropriate and that is mixed according to manufacturer’s instructions exclusively for six months.
- Starting at six months, you may add solid foods to your baby’s diet. Take note that this does not mean adding cereals to your baby’s bottle – this does not learn your baby anything about eating food and will not help them to grow and develop optimally.
- Your baby should only be breastfeeding or drinking expressed breast milk or age appropriate iron fortified infant formula up to 12 months. During summer months in hot and dry climates (like the area we live in) you may add small amounts of boiled cooled down water for your baby to drink.
- You can start adding small amounts of full cream cow’s milk or yoghurt to your baby’s diet from six months as part of a healthy balanced diet, which is perfectly safe when you do not have a family history of allergies.
- A VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE: Whether you use breast milk or formula milk, your baby may have colic and be fussy. These are common problems in babies, if in doubt always choose breastfeeding as the safest most easily digestible option for your baby. If your baby has on-going colic, talk with a health care provider in your area that is knowledgeable on infant feeding about possible solutions.
