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Is it possible to give cow's milk to children? From how many months can a baby be given cow's milk, and how should it be introduced into the child's diet? The whole truth about cow's milk: the opinion of Dr. Komarovsky - video

It would seem, what questions may arise about the introduction of cow's milk into the diet of children?

Milk is a product that they are accustomed to receiving from birth, what other difficulties are there? In fact, there are many difficulties.

Let's take a closer look at what age you can give your child cow's milk and fermented milk products, and how to treat “baby” curds, yoghurts, and milk?

Milk: good or bad?

Milk for children is not always an unchangeable benefit, as we are accustomed to believe, believing the admonitions of our grandmothers, they say, it contains strength and health.

First of all, let's learn one simple rule: mother's milk is intended for feeding the young of a given species: women's milk for children, cow's milk for calves, goat's milk for kids. Different types milk has a different composition from ours, adapted by nature, just for specific babies.

Therefore, complementary foods such as cow's milk for children under one year of age increasingly cause allergies and more and more pediatricians are inclined to introduce it later into the child's diet.

Cow's milk contains much more protein than human milk. And this is an additional burden on small kidneys and gastrointestinal organs;
And keep in mind that most of this protein is casein, which is quite difficult for a child to digest;
Complementary feeding in the form of cow's milk can cause diarrhea, regurgitation, bloating, because its fats are very different from the polyunsaturated fats of human milk, which are necessary for the proper development of the brain and the whole body. nervous system child;
Cow's milk contains much less iron (there's a risk of anemia) and much more calcium and phosphorus;

Cows often receive hormones and antibiotics through their feed. Think about the fact that all this “charm” partially ends up in milk.

Therefore, ideally, it should be tested, from a “familiar” cow, when you are sure that the owners do not feed it such “seasonings”.

So can children have cow's milk? Can. Question: in what form and when?

When can you give your baby cow's milk?

So, at what age can children use cow's milk as complementary foods? It depends on the type of complementary food itself.

With the so-called pedagogical complementary feeding, products appear in the baby’s diet when he shows interest in adult food (after about six months), in order to introduce the baby to new food (read the article: Pedagogical complementary feeding >>>);

In this approach to nutrition, there are no strict deadlines for introducing foods. If the whole family eats porridge with milk, then the child is given 1 microdose of porridge and then the reaction is assessed.

In pediatric complementary feeding, a new product is introduced in accordance with age.

Cow's milk, like other products, in this case is introduced into complementary foods, with the goal of gradually replacing breast milk or formula with food from the common table;
From how many months can a child be given cow's milk as complementary food in this case? Not earlier than 1 year. Until then, the priority should be breast milk(or adapted milk formula).

Fermented milk products can be given as complementary foods from an earlier age:

cottage cheese – from 7 months;
kefir, fermented baked milk, yoghurts - after 8 - 9 months.

We are talking about natural yogurt, without sugar, dyes, preservatives, or flavors. But complementary feeding from ready-made dairy products from baby food stores is best left until 1.5-2 years.

Attention! So, let’s remember: the age when a child can be given cow’s milk is one year, fermented milk products are 8-9 months. Store-bought dairy products – 1.5-2 years.

Watch the online course to figure out when and in what order to introduce foods into your child’s diet and how to maintain a good appetite for your baby. Follow the link: ABC of complementary feeding: safe introduction of complementary feeding to an infant >>>

Yes, and also regarding fat content. Don't believe it if you see "skim milk with vitamin D" on the label. This is pure fiction.

The fact is that this vitamin dissolves only in fats and is absorbed along with them. Similarly, a low-fat product cannot contain vitamin A.

Cow protein intolerance is not a death sentence

Can children have milk as complementary food in this case? Of course not! You wouldn’t feed your baby eggs, knowing that he has a terrible allergy to them, would you?

Intolerance is not allergic reaction, but an inability to assimilate some food. But it has the most unpleasant symptoms associated with the gastrointestinal tract:

Flatulence;
Intestinal colic;
Spasms;
Diarrhea (read the article on the topic: Diarrhea in infants >>>)
Epigastric pain, etc.

By the way, a child may well have an allergy to milk. In this case, of course, you can’t give it either.

But what complementary foods can be used to compensate for the lack of calcium in a growing body? I understand that this is the first thing you thought of.

Don't worry, milk doesn't contain any substances that can't be replenished with other foods. For example, similar vitamins and amino acids are found in meat. Increase the portion of complementary meat in your baby’s diet and the problem is solved;

But you will probably argue: milk is calcium! So, there are many other products that contain no less calcium (and it is often even better absorbed from them);

For example, this is parsley, spinach, cabbage and cauliflower, broccoli, sesame.

One more question: what to do with an afternoon snack if the baby is not allowed cottage cheese and yogurt? Replace them with any other light snack: fruits or vegetables.

Remember: vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, cereals, cereals - all this may well constitute a balanced diet for a child, even if there is no milk in it.

By the way! If a child has an allergy or intolerance to cow protein, it is advisable that he receive breast milk or at least formula for at least 2 years. This will help balance the digestive system and the baby’s diet.

Portion size matters

Well, we discussed the benefits and harms of cow's milk, and we also sorted out allergies and age. It remains to talk about how much milk a child can be given if there are no contraindications.

So, I’ll give you a clear picture of the norms of dairy products for babies before and after one year:

But what about porridge? Can children have porridge with milk, since it is a hearty and healthy dish?

If a child has intolerance to cow's milk protein, then milk porridges are excluded from the child's diet. In all other cases, porridge with milk can be given to the child.

The question of age is again very conditional and depends on how the child’s body reacts to milk.

By the way! Even if you have a reaction to cow's milk, you can successfully start using coconut milk, which nutritionists consider safer and healthier for any person.

At 2 years old, you can give as much milk as the child wants. With a healthy appetite, the child will not drink more than his body requires.

Finally, a few useful tips on the topic of complementary feeding:

Pasteurized milk also does not need to be boiled - it has already been thermally processed;
If your baby stubbornly refuses to be fed cow's milk, don't insist;

Firstly, forced infusion will never benefit digestion and the body as a whole;
Secondly, very often children intuitively avoid those foods that are harmful to them (cause pain, allergies).

Choose milk with a fat content of up to 3.2%. More is extra fat. Well, less - I already said: it cannot contain any vitamins D or A, which is also not very useful;
Try not to feed your baby cottage cheese and kefir outdoors in the summer - pathogenic flora develops in them quite quickly in the heat, which can lead to infection, for example, with E. coli.

I hope the knowledge gained today will help you correctly introduce milk into your baby’s diet in order to avoid many unnecessary problems.

Those on natural and artificial feeding, from a specialist.

A common question parents ask is at what age can a child be given regular milk? Even when a baby is growing rapidly, cow's milk is not recommended until the age of 12 months.

Exists There are a number of reasons why you should not give whole cow's milk to babies under 1 year of age.

Babies' digestive tracts are not yet ready to easily and completely digest cow's milk like breast milk or formula. IN cow's milk high concentration of protein and minerals, straining the child’s immature kidneys.
For children under one year of age, excessive consumption of dairy products may increase the risk of developing iron deficiency anemia. Milk interferes with the proper absorption of iron, and iron cannot be reduced or removed from a child’s diet.
Cow's milk is not recommended for children under one year of age also because it can irritate the mucous membrane of the digestive system, which is manifested by the appearance of blood in the stool.
Cow's milk contains three times more sodium than breast milk.

However, once your baby is ready to digest whole milk, it can be added to a balanced diet that includes grains, vegetables, fruits and meat.

Why should a child drink cow's milk?

Milk is rich in calcium, which strengthens teeth and bones and helps regulate blood clotting.

It is also one of the few sources of vitamin D, without which calcium cannot be absorbed in the body. The vitamin also plays a decisive role in bone growth.

Milk provides the body with protein for growth, while carbohydrates give your baby the energy he needs throughout the day.

If an infant gets the right amount of calcium to begin with, there is evidence that he or she will be at lower risk for hypertension, stroke, colon cancer, and hip fractures in adulthood and old age.

After introducing cow's milk, it is not necessary to stop breastfeeding the baby. WHO experts recommend continuing into the second year of a child’s life.

How much milk should a child drink?

A child after 1 year can get enough calcium and vitamin D by drinking 1 or 1.5 glasses of cow's milk or an equivalent amount of other dairy products (yogurt, cottage cheese, kefir). At the age of 2 years, a child should receive 400 ml of milk or other milk-based products daily.

Do not offer your baby more than 800 ml of milk per day. If the baby is still thirsty, offer water.

Dairy products that are produced for children are adapted for the child’s digestive tract.

Baby milk must meet several requirements.

Highest quality. Baby milk is made from high-quality cow's milk from cows that are completely healthy and live in ecologically clean areas.
Control of sanitary and hygienic conditions. Children's milk is prepared in special workshops, separate from the production of milk for adults
Microbiological control. Close attention is paid to monitoring microbiological data. The number of bacteria in a certain volume of milk is strictly regulated.
Control of fat content. The fat percentage limits for children under three years of age are 2.5 - 3.5%.
Control of medium acidity. There are special requirements for acidity limits for fermented milk products for children. The acidity of baby products should not exceed 100 Turner degrees.
Ultra pasteurization. Milk is specially processed at ultra-high temperatures (125 - 138 ºС) for 2 - 4 seconds in order to preserve maximum benefits. After this it cools quickly. Thus, all pathogenic organisms are destroyed, while beneficial components are preserved.
Package. The final product is packaged in an aseptic Tetra Pak box, which prevents harmful bacteria from re-entering after packaging. In this package, the dairy product remains fresh and safe for several months.

Is it possible to give a one-year-old child skim cow's milk?

Children of this age need a high fat content in milk to maintain a normal weight and an optimal level of absorption of vitamins A and D by the body. When the child turns 2 years old, you can switch him to skim milk if there is a good increase in height and weight.

Exceptions may apply. Your baby's doctor may recommend low-fat milk (2 percent) after age 1 if your baby is overweight or obese or has a genetic predisposition to obesity. high level cholesterol, the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases.

What to do when a child refuses to drink whole cow's milk?

Some babies drink cow's milk right away, but others refuse it because cow's milk has a different texture, taste, and even temperature than mother's milk.

If this is the case for your baby, try mixing cow's milk with breast milk or formula first. Try one part milk to three parts or mixture. Then slowly shift the ratio until he drinks 100% cow's milk.

But there are other ways to include cow's milk in your baby's diet. For example:

add milk to the porridge;
Offer your child yogurt, cottage cheese, pudding or milkshakes as a snack;
make soup with milk instead of water.

If the child drank a formula based on cow's milk, then he will tolerate regular cow's milk without any problems. Even babies who are exclusively breastfed in the first year can drink cow's milk without problems, having been exposed to cow's milk protein in the mother's milk, unless she avoided all dairy products.

If your baby has been drinking a hypoallergenic formula as recommended by a doctor, consult with a specialist before introducing cow's milk. Your doctor may suggest starting with a soy drink that is fortified with vitamin D and calcium.

But true allergies to cow's milk protein are relatively rare. Only 2 - 3% of children are diagnosed with an allergic reaction. The good news is that children typically outgrow this condition by age 2.

Differences between cow's milk protein allergy and lactase deficiency

An allergy is an immune reaction, and lactose intolerance is a digestive disorder. But their symptoms are similar - diarrhea, abdominal pain after drinking milk.

If a child develops a dry, itchy rash or itching and swelling of the face or lips when he eats a dairy product, or has symptoms such as hives, swollen, watery eyes, he may have an allergy to cow's milk proteins.

Chronic nasal congestion, runny nose, cough, difficulty breathing or coughing may be signs that an allergy is affecting the child's respiratory system. When your child exhibits at least one of these signs, talk to your doctor.

Take your child to the doctor or hospital immediately, If:

the baby is very pale or weak;
most of the skin is affected by urticaria;
swelling develops in the head or neck area;
there is bloody diarrhea.

The child may have a life-threatening allergic reaction.

If your baby is allergic to cow's milk, you should be careful. Avoid foods such as cottage cheese, condensed milk, ice cream, yogurt, butter, milk chocolate and milk powder. By law, all allergens are listed on food labels. In this case, the composition will indicate “milk” on the packaging.

Pay special attention to your choice dairy product for your child. Do not experiment on his health. Provide him with proper, balanced nutrition. And the child will grow up healthy and energetic.

Dairy products occupy an important place in the diet of every person. Healthy, nutritious and delicious dishes obtained with the addition of this drinking product. Cow's milk is given to children under one year of age with caution. Many pediatricians agree that it is administered only after one year of age. And the experience of grandmothers testifies to the early introduction of the product. To accept correct solution, you need to understand the composition and basic properties of cow's milk.

There is no need to rush to introduce this product. Knowing the peculiarities of the influence of milk on the child’s body, the mother herself must decide at what age to offer it.
This drink is considered allergenic due to its high content of casein protein.. In addition, this type of protein is poorly absorbed by the infant’s fragile gastrointestinal tract.
The effect that cow's milk has on the body of a small child is as follows.
Contains a lot of fats and proteins. There are relatively few carbohydrates.
Another feature is that the composition contains more minerals than vitamins. This combination has an adverse effect on the functioning of the baby’s digestive organs, especially increasing the load on the kidneys.
An increased calcium content leads to early overgrowth of the fontanel. As a result, the skull bones will not reach their true size, and the risk of intracranial pressure increases.
The high calcium content promotes the removal of iron from the body.
Insufficient levels of copper and iron can lead to the development of anemia.
It is necessary to take into account that the risk of colds increases. This is due to the lack of antibodies that activate the body's defenses.
High fat content promotes the accumulation of bad cholesterol. The cardiovascular system deteriorates.
If you switch your baby to cow's milk too early (about 6 months), the gastric mucosa may not cope with its task. There is a risk of internal bleeding.
Due to the absence of the lipase enzyme, complete breakdown of fats does not occur. They begin to develop only by the age of three.
Breast milk serves as both drink and food for the baby. Cow's milk does not serve as a thirst quencher, so the baby should be constantly fed.
Low linoleic acid content also negatively affects the development of the child. It is necessary for the full development and functioning of the brain.

It is difficult to determine the exact period from which cow's milk can be given. Some experts do not recommend introducing this drinking product to a child under three years of age. Since milk has a bad effect on the functioning of the digestive organs, endocrine and cardiac systems. It is better to wait until the enzymes begin to be produced (about three years). Others talk about more early stages– can be given from one year of age. But everyone agrees that cow's milk should not be given before 8-9 months.
What to consider when consuming the product in your diet
At what age can milk be introduced into the diet? IN small quantity allowed to be administered to children over one year of age. In extreme cases, older than 9 months, but not earlier than 8 months. You can cook your baby’s favorite dishes on it: porridge, puree. It's best to make curds. Fermented milk products are less allergenic products. Before use, milk must be diluted with boiled water. As the child gets older, milk can be offered as a drink.
The best option would be to buy the product from a dairy kitchen. If this is not possible, then you must choose a well-known manufacturer.
It is important to know when the finished product is bottled. To do this, you need to carefully monitor expiration dates.
The milk must pass heat treatment. Without boiling, dangerous bacteria can enter the child’s body along with milk.
It is better to choose a product with a fat content of 3.2%, but not more than 4%.
The amount of milk per day should not exceed 150 ml. When the child turns two years old, the dosage can be increased to 200 ml.

How much milk should a baby be given for the first time? You need to start giving it with one teaspoon per day. If there is no response from the child’s body, then the dose can be gradually increased. Don't forget to dilute it with boiled water. You should get: 1 teaspoon of milk and three teaspoons of boiled water. Mix and give to baby from a spoon. After a couple of months, the amount of milk can be increased to 100 ml. The amount of added water should gradually decrease. And then you can completely remove it.
If a mother decides to switch her child to cow's milk, she needs to make the right and safe choice.
It is better to give special baby milk from famous manufacturers. It includes vitamin complex and enriched dietary fiber which improve digestion. The ideal solution would be to get milk from the dairy kitchen.
If milk is taken from store shelves, be sure to read the ingredients. It should not contain preservatives or flavors.
Pasteurized milk is produced by heating it to high temperatures - boiling for a few seconds and cooling. Finished product bottled in sealed sterile bags. When milk is produced in this way, it retains all the nutrients. This eliminates all pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, this milk is the best choice.
Sterilized milk undergoes long-term heat treatment at high temperature conditions(up to 100 degrees). The finished product does not contain pathogenic microbes and has a long shelf life. When milk is sterilized, there are no nutrients left in it.
It is better to take milk with a fat content of 3.2%. Calcium and other vitamins contained in a low-fat product are poorly absorbed by the body. If the fat content exceeds 3.2%, the product will be difficult to digest.

Cow's milk is a valuable and nutritious product. However, is it really that good for babies? The product contains a large amount of animal protein, which is quickly and efficiently absorbed in the digestive system. Especially if you compare it with a similar component of meat and fish. Cow's milk for infants can also pose a number of dangers. That is why it is allowed to be given to a baby only if he is already one year old.

Main features of the product

The difference between cow's milk and mother's milk is significant, so you need to be extremely careful with it. Its advantage is its high content of vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates. Giving cow's milk to infants is not recommended because a large number of carbohydrates can lead to malfunctions gastrointestinal tract. The product can cause serious allergies, which develop due to the body’s unpreparedness to digest the main components. Parents have a question: at what age is cow’s milk safe for babies? GW specialists recommend gradually introducing it into the diet of children over one year of age.

It is not allowed to feed a baby cow's milk. It may seem only at first glance that both liquids have the same structure and composition. Actually this is not true. Cow's milk can be very harmful to infants, since its composition is adapted to the animal's digestive system. It contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals, but they can only become useful from a certain age.

Flaws

According to traditional medical concepts, cow's milk is prohibited during breastfeeding. In order not to harm the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, it can be given to children from three years of age. During this period, the body will fully adapt and will be ready to digest all components of the composition. Some mothers give milk to their newborn, and it does not cause a negative reaction. However this process associated only with the individual characteristics of the baby’s body.

Whether this product can be given to a baby can only be determined by a breastfeeding specialist. Parents should not make such a decision on their own, as it may negatively affect the child’s health. is a common occurrence, so everything must be done to avoid it.

The composition of cow's milk in infants can cause serious disruption to the digestive system. The situation arises against the background of the presence of a large amount of minerals and proteins in the liquid. Not all components will be useful for a growing child's body. On the contrary, they can lead to worsening kidney function. Cow's milk also removes phosphorus and calcium from the body, which are vital for the proper growth and development of the baby. If the situation continues for a long time, the child’s risk of developing rickets increases.
For an infant, the value of the product cannot be compared with mother's milk. The stomach cannot yet fully cope with its digestion, so the risk of internal bleeding and other life-threatening symptoms increases.
In an infant, this product can cause severe allergies. Not all babies can digest lactose and milk protein from the first days of life.
It is impossible to completely exclude the possibility of anemia developing in a baby. Milk creates a situation in the body with a lack of iron and hemoglobin. If the mother begins to feed the child only this product, then he develops anemia. The disease is serious and can lead to dangerous consequences.
If you feed your baby a cow's lactation product, the risk of breast refusal increases. Therefore, such complementary foods should be used with extreme caution.
Scientists were also able to establish that this feeding option increases the risk of developing many pathologies and chronic diseases. This feeding option does not introduce into the child’s body the immunoglobulins necessary for proper growth and development. Due to this, the body’s protective functions are significantly weakened, so the child cannot cope with infections and viruses on his own.
A nursing mother does not need to store milk, so the baby always gets it fresh. In the second case, the risk of food poisoning increases significantly.

Beneficial features

The question of when can you give milk to a baby can only be answered correctly by a pediatrician. As a rule, this process is allowed gradually from eight months. At the first stage, it is allowed to give the child a little cottage cheese. If intolerance does not occur, then you can continue introducing foods from this group into your diet.

Breastfeeding mothers are advised to use products that have been specially formulated for children under one year of age. These cocktails combine everything perfectly. beneficial features, vitamins and minerals. When consuming them, the likelihood of food allergies is minimized. Cottage cheese must be present in the baby’s diet. With its help, it is possible to create the correct intestinal microflora.

The baby ends up with bad symptoms after drinking drinks with big amount preservatives. Flavors and dyes are dangerous for a growing organism. Only infant formula may be used. The adult version of the drink cannot be diluted and given to a child. Today, not only sterilization, but also pasteurization is used for processing. This different ways, which have a number of features that parents should familiarize themselves with before giving the drink to their child.

During pasteurization, the temperature treatment exceeds one hundred degrees. The drink should not be diluted, since it contains a small amount of vitamins and minerals beneficial to the body. Healthy drink produced through gentle processing. As a result, its shelf life is reduced to several days. It can be given to a child only if the parents are confident in its freshness and high quality. In the store you should also carefully study the composition, processing method and expiration dates.

Agusha is a safe drink for infants

Negative symptoms in the baby will not appear if you use a drink with minimal fat content. In this case, all useful components are guaranteed to be well absorbed in the child’s body. At high percentage fat content increases the risk of harm to the digestive system.

Features of introducing the product into the diet

Before drinking cow's milk, you need to make sure that the child is not allergic to animal protein. A baby can be given a small amount of the drink for the first time only at nine months. In this case, parents must adhere to a number of rules:

Before drinking, the drink must be boiled and mixed in a 1:3 ratio with water.
The first time it is allowed to give no more than one teaspoon of the drink to the baby. Next, you should carefully monitor the reaction of the baby’s body.
If an allergy has not been noted, then it is allowed to double the daily portion.
The maximum daily volume should not exceed one hundred grams.
Over time, it is necessary to reduce the volume of water used for dilution.

The drink in its raw form is strictly contraindicated. All cows are carriers of the harmful bacterium brucellosis. When this virus enters the body, it negatively affects the functioning of the spinal cord. If treatment is not started on time, the child may remain disabled for life. You can avoid the situation if you take a protein test.

Fresh milk is a favorite drink of many adults. That is why many parents mistakenly believe that this type of complementary food must be introduced into the diet as quickly as possible. You should only buy a certified product. Therefore, when purchasing a product on the market, it is necessary to check the availability necessary documents. Remember that harmful bacteria can get into the milk if basic milking rules are not followed.

Gradual introduction of the product into the diet

Before introducing milk into your baby's diet, you should consult your doctor. He will be able to advise which complementary foods to start with. In some cases, on the contrary, a woman should adhere to a diet that does not include milk. pure form. It is important to limit yourself in drinking this drink, because otherwise the child’s risk of developing allergies increases. Milk should not be given to a baby immediately after birth, because it can cause significant harm to the functioning of organs and systems.

If a woman is unable to continue natural option feeding, then you should not switch to animal milk either. This option may seem cheap, but it will only harm the formation of the baby’s organs and systems. Even if a woman is told by relatives that they themselves acted this way, their experience should not be repeated. Just a few decades ago, people did not know about the characteristics of all food products. Modern research has confirmed that beneficial properties can only be obtained from a later introduction of the drink to the menu. For all parents, the health and well-being of the child should always come first.

In the time of our grandmothers, cow's milk helped feed many babies when breastfeeding was impossible, but nowadays formula milk copes with this task perfectly. This causes controversy between young mothers and the older generation.

Is it worth giving milk from a cow? small child instead of a mixture or is it dangerous for his health? How to switch a baby from breast milk to cow's milk? What are the benefits and harms of this product for a child’s body? At what age is it best to introduce children to it? Is it necessary to boil it or can it be given straight from the cow?

These and many other questions concern almost every young mother. Let's try to understand them, and also find out why it should not be given to young children, as modern pediatricians say.

How is it useful?

It is a source of healthy proteins, from which children receive all essential amino acids.
Provides the human body with calcium and phosphorus - elements without which the formation of teeth and a strong skeleton is impossible.
Includes a large number of vitamin compounds, including vitamin D, which is important for children.
Helps strengthen the immune system.

It should be noted that all these beneficial properties can be obtained only with the correct and timely introduction of such a product into the diet of children.

At what age should it be given?

Cow's milk appears in the diet of breastfed children at the age of 9 months, as an ingredient in milk porridge. An infant who is fed formula can start preparing this porridge a little earlier - from 7-8 months. In this case, the daily dose of cow's milk is no more than 100-150 ml.

If we are talking about replacing breast milk or an adapted formula with cow's milk, then it is not recommended to do this until 1 year of age. If it is impossible to breastfeed the baby, the best substitute for children in the first year of life is formula milk. Although it is made from cow's milk, during the processing process it undergoes purification, and the composition is as close as possible to women's milk.

Children over one year old can be given cow's milk as a drink in small quantities (up to 200 ml).

You can regularly give this product in larger quantities to your child every day after 3 years.

Separately, we note that the child is offered a product with a fat content of 2.5-3.2%. If a mother is wondering when to start giving her baby skim milk, she should know that a low-fat product is not recommended until the age of 2.

Calculate your complementary feeding table

Why is it harmful?

The harm of cow's milk for infants is associated with significant differences in its composition from that of mother's milk.

Breast milk is the ideal food that should be given to newborns and fed to all babies until at least 6 months of age. But cow milk is inferior to it in a number of parameters:

It will contain too many proteins. The intolerance that occurs in some children when consuming this product is often associated with an allergy to protein.
A large amount of casein in the composition causes difficulties with digestion. This may cause your child to become constipated.
Contains much more calcium and phosphorus than human milk. And if excess calcium is not absorbed in the children’s intestines, since this process has a rather complex regulation in the human body, then excess phosphorus freely enters the blood. This increases the load on the baby’s kidneys, which try to remove unnecessary phosphorus. At the same time, the child’s body also loses calcium. Due to such processes, intake provokes the development of rickets in young children.
It also has too much magnesium, potassium, chlorine and sodium. To remove these elements from the baby’s body, the baby’s excretory system works with increased load. One of the consequences of this situation can be dehydration.
Although there is almost the same amount of fat in mother's milk as in cow's milk, the quality of these fats is different. The fatty acids that the baby receives while suckling are better absorbed and have a positive effect on the nervous and digestive systems. The fats in cow's milk are saturated, making them harder to digest. For this reason, milk with a fat content higher than 4% is not recommended for children in the first years of life.
The iron content in cow's milk is much lower than in breast milk, and its absorption is worse, since cow’s milk, unlike mother’s milk, does not contain lactoferrin. Also, this product contains little iodine, copper, zinc, ascorbic acid and vitamin E, and folic acid And there is no taurine in cow's milk at all.
If introduced too early into the children's menu, the mucous membrane of the digestive tract may be damaged, which can sometimes even lead to internal bleeding.
If cow's milk is given at the same time as breastfeeding is continued, this product may adversely affect lactation.
The child will satisfy his needs with cow's milk, refusing his mother's, because getting food from the breast is harder than drinking from a bottle. Does not include immunoglobulin crumbs that are important for supporting immunity.

When replacing breastfeeding with such a product, the defenses of the toddler’s body may decrease.

Contraindications

Cow's milk should not be drunk in the following cases:
If the child already has symptoms of rickets.
For problems with mineral metabolism.
In case of individual intolerance.

If the child's close relatives have diabetes.

A popular pediatrician is confident that children under one year old should not be given whole cow's milk. He emphasizes that the early introduction of such a product into the baby’s diet instead of an adapted formula provokes the development of rickets and negatively affects the child’s intestines.

If the mother is unable to breastfeed her baby after 3 months or wants to stop breast-feeding at the age of 5-6 months, Komarovsky advises buying and giving the baby an adapted formula.

Komarovsky calls the inclusion of milk in a child's diet after one year acceptable, but at the age of 1 to 3 years, a well-known doctor advises limiting the amount drunk per day to two glasses. He emphasizes that if it is possible to purchase special milk for a child, recommended for this age category, such a product will be much more preferable than regular milk from a cow.

As for cow's milk in the diet of three-year-olds and older children, Komarovsky believes that after 3 years of age, children can consume this product without restrictions if they like it and do not cause allergies.

Should I boil it?

Safety is very important for baby food, so in most cases, cow's milk offered to babies must be heat-treated. Boiling helps to avoid such a serious disease as brucellosis (carried by cows), which poses a great danger to the child’s body.

If mom is not sure about the quality, it must be boiled. Boiled milk retains all proteins, carbohydrates, fats and many other substances. The content of vitamins in it may only slightly decrease, but this is not as dangerous as contracting dangerous infections. It is permissible to give it unboiled to children only if it comes from a cow that is kept by your family or close friends (you are confident in its health).

How to introduce it into the diet of babies?

Due to the risk of allergies, introduction should be careful and gradual, and every mother should know how to dilute this product, since at first milk is given to divorced children. When the baby is 1 year old, you can take 1 part of cow's milk and combine with 3 parts of boiled water.

The first portion that is given to the child in the morning feeding is 1 teaspoon. If there is no reaction to it, the dose can be increased to 200 ml.

Next, start reducing the amount of water until you have eliminated it completely and are giving your baby whole milk. Usually the undiluted product begins to be given from the age of 3. The recommended volume for a child over 3 years old is 500-700 ml per day.

How to choose for a child If you want to buy milk for a child aged 1-3 years, the best option

there will be a product marked “for children”. It is produced in environmentally friendly areas and undergoes more careful control, and is also sold in more secure packaging.

When buying regular milk for a child over 3 years old, you should opt for an ultra-pasteurized or sterilized product. It undergoes careful processing so that no dangerous bacteria remain in it. When purchasing it, carefully read the information on the packaging, checking the fat content and expiration date.

Find out if your baby's weight is normal by using the following calculator.