When is it safe to give Cows Milk to a baby?

A couple of days ago, someone e-mailed us, to ask a question. The question I thought was strange, and I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but wanted to get my facts straight before I posted it here.

This mother e-mailed saying that her pediatrician told her to give her 4-month-old baby girl (who is 100% breastfeed right now), cows milk straight from a bottle. The doctors reasoning seemed to be, she said, "when a mother drinks the cows milk it goes straight to her breast milk anyway."

Now, my gut reaction is a resounding, “NO way, is this doctor nuts?” However, though I was pretty sure I was correct I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was talking about, so I looked on line for some good concrete answers, though there was some “good stuff” there, I wanted more. So I called my local La Leche League leader as well as my own pediatrician (whom we love, and after almost 18-20 months of trying to find a “good one” we finally have one, so I trust him completely!)

So, Donna over at my La Leche League said, “This is a BIG SCARY red flag! This mother needs to find a new doctor NOW! -- Infant’s should not be given cows milk until at least 12 mos. Their gut just simply cannot break down the proteins and it can cause severe intestinal bleeding. In addition, cows milk doesn't have the correct balance of proteins, or fat that infants need to thrive.”

My ped. Dr. Kahail then added, “Yes, we do pass on some of what we eat to our children through our milk, but it is broken down by our bodies first. Some mom's are unlucky enough to have very allergy prone child and they can react to the foods we eat, even after our bodies break it down; however most moms can eat anything and their baby will not have any reaction. -- This is why we don't give our babies anything other than formula or better yet breastmilk for at least the first 6 months of life, their little bodies are just not ready yet to break it down and use it yet."

He then said, "In addition, the tastes do transmit to a degree, thus giving baby a taste of what the mother eats! Which is natures way of preparing our children for what’s to come as they grow!”

His last comment was, “…Any doctor giving advice as to give an infant less than 12 months old cows milk, should not be practicing pediatrics as he or she does not know the current research on the matter.”

So, all in all…I think it’s safe for me to now say with 100% certainty that it is in NO way safe for you to listen to your doctor and if I were you, I would not only report this pediatrician, but also find a new one, as soon as you possibly can!

Side note:
It’s really sad these days that there really are doctors out there that will say things, make diagnosis and prescribe medicines, sometimes with out knowing everything or with out knowing the science behind there statements. We as parents have to really be on top of our game 1,000,000% of the time!

When I had my first daughter, I was so naive, I was sure that doctors new best, so if my ped. At the time had told me to do anything I listened! I am glad that mothers (and fathers), including myself, are beginning to realize that doctors are people, they CAN and DO make mistakes! (This article: Vaccinations partly talks about our "luck" with ped.'s!)

By: Jennifer Sprague

posted at 1:11 PM