Cow's milk Alternatives

Jillsie11

Hello all!!! My youngest baby has recently weaned, and we are trying to figure out the best options for her. For my oldest daughter, when she weaned, we went directly to cow's milk (whole). However, we've done more reading since then, and are trying to giving them foods/drinks with less hormones. We've been buying locally raised meat, and have switched our oldest daughter to Almond Milk. I've read up a little bit online and it seems like it would be a good option for my 1 year old as well. Just wondering if any of you have experience with this, or have a plan as to what you'll do for your little ones?

Appreciate any feedback!!!

MrsCarter00

I hear ya girl!!!! Jaxon is 10.5 months and I've been looking into our options for when he turns 1. He's currently on Enfagrow toddler transitions which goes from 9-18 months so we're not sure if we will be switching him at 12 months. If we do, we will be buying organic milk. Problem with that is where we buy it (Sam's club) it only comes in 2% so we'd have to ask his ped if he can have that or if he needs to be on whole milk.

Gah, I didn't even think about meat! We get all of our meat at Sam's too, I guess I need to do some research on where it comes from.

redheadmommy

It is an excellent topic, and very relevant for me as well. My baby is 10 months old, and she already had some full fat plain organic yogurt, and some organic heavy cream (52% fat), and I am not sure when will venture off for other dairy products.
So far my baby only ate 100% organic food in everything veggies, fruit, meat etc. However I am not sure how long I can afford it as her appetite grows. The environmental working group put together a dirty dozen and a clean 15 list of the most and least pesticide contaminated foods. I use it as a guidance to decide what is the most important to obtain from organic sources. We are also converting to organic pasture raised meat, but that is a long transition. I am still breastfeeding a few times a day( most only at evening/night/dawn), but she started to wean herself and and not sure how long it will last.

I BF my son until he was 2 yrs old, but I started to give him full fat organic cow's milk when he was 1 yr old. He was really into milk until he was around 3 yrs old, and he started to phase it out, and he barely ever ask for it and he is almost 5 yrs old now. In my family everybody only drinks water on regular basis. On occasions like parties our son may get some 100% juice so he doesn't feel like excluded, but that is all. (Plus I drink coffee, which I am a bit ashamed of)

Since my son, I have read more and more about dairy and cow's milk, and I am not even sure if I will give cow's milk to my baby girl like ever. I will give her some cheese eventually, and I like the pro-biotic aspect of yogurt, but I am not sure about cow's milk. i personally do not see the point of milk alternatives either for drinking on regular basis. if I had to chose a milk alternative, I would choose coconut milk only. Again this is just me. For me thirst=water , nutrition=food.

If you decide to give cow's milk to your baby and you are in the US, I strongly recommend you buying organic dairy only. Most developed countries inducing Canada, EU, New Zealand banned rbst and other, the nasty growth hormones for dairy cows for over a decade.Yet in the US they are still allowed and used across the country...

chickybuns

I am having this debate too. I was thinking about doing more research on goat milk. I hear it's closer to human milk than anything else. It is more expensive, but they also have a powder form. The only thing about almond milk is I thought babies at that age need more fat. Maybe I'll just keep pumping forever...ugg. Being a parent is hard!

MrsCarter00

I am having this debate too. I was thinking about doing more research on goat milk. I hear it's closer to human milk than anything else. It is more expensive, but they also have a powder form. The only thing about almond milk is I thought babies at that age need more fat. Maybe I'll just keep pumping forever...ugg. Being a parent is hard!

This^^ hahaha!! I will look into goat milk! Not sure if Jaxon will like it being that he hasn't had breastmilk since he was 2 months but we'll see!

redheadmommy

I am having this debate too. I was thinking about doing more research on goat milk. I hear it's closer to human milk than anything else. It is more expensive, but they also have a powder form. The only thing about almond milk is I thought babies at that age need more fat. Maybe I'll just keep pumping forever...ugg. Being a parent is hard!

I agree on the importance of fat, but you can give them fat many other ways. My girl favorite food is avocado, she eats 1/4 to 1/2 of an avocado per day. If you ok with some dairy, you can get heavy cream in heath food stores. Real heavy cream is just pure milk fat without any milk protein or lactose. There are seed and nut butters, and coconut oil, and you always can choose to use fattier meat which taste better anyway.

chickybuns

I am having this debate too. I was thinking about doing more research on goat milk. I hear it's closer to human milk than anything else. It is more expensive, but they also have a powder form. The only thing about almond milk is I thought babies at that age need more fat. Maybe I'll just keep pumping forever...ugg. Being a parent is hard!

I agree on the importance of fat, but you can give them fat many other ways. My girl favorite food is avocado, she eats 1/4 to 1/2 of an avocado per day. If you ok with some dairy, you can get heavy cream in heath food stores. Real heavy cream is just pure milk fat without any milk protein or lactose. There are seed and nut butters, and coconut oil, and you always can choose to use fattier meat which taste better anyway.

Those are good suggestions, although he doesn't like avacado...the only food he won't eat so far. I'm still not sure what to do either. I guess I have at least a month to decide. Since he will still probably be on bm for a while I should be ok. But it would be nice to transition him to something so we could do either...like if we were out it would be easier to do other kinds of milk.

Jillsie11

Thanks for all the replies!! Gonna call my doctor tomorrow and see if they have any suggestions as well:)

Jillsie11

So to all interested...I spoke with my Doctor yesterday (I'll speak with her more at Jovie's 13 month appointment), but she said that as far as almond milk- it doesn't have enough protein in it for little ones. She said soy milk has more protein, but it would also have more hormones/additives which is what I'm trying to avoid.

SO, my husband and I are now researching/thinking goat milk. In the meantime, we found an organic whole milk at Kroger which we will use until we can make a definite decision. Ugh- so much to think about!!! With my oldest daughter, I just listened to what everyone else said (my mothers included) and gave her whole milk. It's definitely harder being more conscious!!

RBXChas

As far as organic vs. non-organic cow's milk, I'm not saying organic isn't worth it or anything, but the non-organic milk at Publix, Costco, and possibly Harris Teeter claims to be rBST-free (please forgive me if I don't have the hormone acronym correct). Their info says that their sources "pledge" that they have not used these hormones on their dairy cows. Hopefully the farmers don't just tell them what they want to hear... I'm not sure how this is enforced, if at all.

However, all of those stores also sell organic milk under their own brand names. I'm not sure if the organic milk has some sort of stronger safeguard and/or if there's some difference in what the cows are fed, etc.

Point being, before you spend the extra money, make sure you know you're actually paying for a better/safer product At those stores, organic milk tends to cost 2x what non-organic costs.

As for 2%, my older son switched to whole milk at a year. Fairly soon after, he had a lot of trouble pooping because the fat in the milk tends to be binding. Before I went to giving him Miralax every day, my dad (a pediatrician) suggested that I try 2% milk because my son was plenty big and didn't need the additional fat in whole milk. So ask your doctor if your child is big enough to drink 2% instead of whole if it helps you afford organic and feel better about what you're giving him/her.

servilia

This is not a huge concern for me because I live in Canada and bovine growth hormone (the one that is of most concern is actually BANNED here) but I found this list of bgh-free milk brands for you. Also if you pop into a health food store I'm sure they can help you as well.
http://www.psr.org/chapters/oregon/assets/pdfs/consumers-guide-to-rbgh.pdf

redheadmommy

So to all interested...I spoke with my Doctor yesterday (I'll speak with her more at Jovie's 13 month appointment), but she said that as far as almond milk- it doesn't have enough protein in it for little ones. She said soy milk has more protein, but it would also have more hormones/additives which is what I'm trying to avoid.

SO, my husband and I are now researching/thinking goat milk. In the meantime, we found an organic whole milk at Kroger which we will use until we can make a definite decision. Ugh- so much to think about!!! With my oldest daughter, I just listened to what everyone else said (my mothers included) and gave her whole milk. It's definitely harder being more conscious!!

I agree with your pedi on the almond and soy milk, I won't give to my baby either. Milk recommended because of its calcium, fat, protein and vitamin D content. However babies,toddler, kid or adult can get all of those nutrient elsewhere. Protein is very easily can be obtained from eggs and meat, my 10 months old already eats 60 g beef in one sitting. Fat can be obtained from fatty meats, avocado, seed and nut butters etc. Vitamin D easily obtained from just being outside, which is waaay better source anyway, plus there is cod oil,liver and many other sources. Not to mention milk naturally do not have much vitamin D, it is just fortified with it. It is really no better than give vitamin D supplement anyway. The calcium is the only one nutrient that very hard to obtain without dairy. However if you give other dairy product like yogurt and cheese you are fine. If you avoid every type of dairy , it is harder to get enough calcium, but still possible.