So, what's the deal with dairy?

[MantaRay]

Heaven, I know you are not talking about cows' milk, so it's a bit irrelevant for you. However for others, while the guidelines now say that dairy is ok from 6 months (wrt allergies at least), this does not include cows' milk. Once a baby has had more processed forms of dairy and seems to be ok, small quantities of cows' milk could possibly be introduced before 12 months - but ideally it is better to wait until 12 months.

[Inanna]

I am so glad you posted that MR.
It does have to be remembered that we are one of the few countries that have such a huge preoccupation with dairy foods. We are also one of the handful of "industrialised" countries that have such a high incidence of asthma and other autoimmune conditions, allergies and cancer.

Everytthing in moderation is often used as a happy saying - but with dairy it just isn't as necessary as our culture believes and could possibly be harmful.

Some kids will be fine at first - but autoimmune conditions often don't surface until much later, as with asthma, diabetes etc.

It's just another way to look at it - and as with all areas of parenting a decision that only the parent can make. However, just because 'everyone' does it doesn't mean it is always the best way.
I know how conflicting all the info is - it's an absolute mindfield. You can only do what your intuition, knowledge and research leads you to as the best decision for you & yours...

[Heaven]

So everyone is saying it's better to wait a bit with dairy but also that yoghurt is different?? So when is yoghurt ok?
Man I'm confused, lol.

[Inanna]

Heaven it IS confusing isn't it?

Personally I think dairy foods should be avoided totally for the first 12 months of a child's life at least... My kids didn't have dairy foods for the first 2 years - aside from yoghurt.

Good quality yoghurt (not the baby miam etc etc that really doesn't resemble true yoghurt except for a few very weak bifidus's) is different. I have been sitting here for 5 minutes and can't find the right word (sleep deprivation!) it has been .. I"ll find it. Any way in days of old dairy products were fermented. This breaks down the proteins that cause reactions and makes the product much more suitable for human consumption. This is loosly what happens to yoghurt. So yoghurt can often be tolerated by even those with an intolerance to lactose.

So, it is a fairly "safe" dairy product for babies. As I said the yoplaits etc are just glorified desserts. Piles of processed sugar and it's not a suitable baby food.
Cheese is VERY hard to digest for babies and can lead to allergies and constipation. It isn't necessary for them so I just would steer away... (but that's my humble opinion).

The pasteurisation process really affects the balance of milk - it is really interesting to google raw milk and educate yourself.

In my babyhood custard was thought great for babies - but it is just a sweet food with no dietary input and lots of sugar and dairy. I wouldn't feed it to a baby... REally yoplaits etc are much the same - it just has a healthier connotation due to being labelled "yoghurt"

Good luck with your decisions my love...

[Heaven]

Thanks FC, that makes sense. The only thing I was thinking of giving DD before 12mo was yoghurt. And I also want to avoid her having much sugar or any preservatives or anything for as long as possible too. We have the Jalna yoghurt here, but wasn't sure whether I should give her a taste or not.
It's just so confusing how the recommendations change so much and now they're saying after 6mo they can have basically anything.

[SamiH]

Heaven - can I just say - if you want to still introduce it, try it after you have done a range of vegies and fruit - you will find yourself (I mean your bub!) around 8 months anyway by the time you do that!

[sas85]

:yeahthat: If you're gong the traditional way it works out that way anyway by the time you introduce everything slowly. DD only was introduced to dairy earlier because she started solids early as her weight was dropping too much (started on individual medical advice and has thrived) That and I wanted to do some BLS as well a bit later and I use dairy in pretty much ALL my dinner dishes - cheesey italian and veggie bakes mmmmm . . (I guess a benefit is we all now eat less salt since had to take it out of our dishes for DD )
You'll be fine hun - trust your instincts and your baby, take it slow and don't do anything your uncomfortable with, have a plan of action in case bub does react to anything and take all our advice and the conflicting guidelines 'with a grain of salt'

[Heaven]

Well she is actually having a range of fruit and veg already, lol. We've only been doing it for 2 wks but we're doing BLS and we didn't introduce one thing at a time. We just give her a range of stuff and she eats what she wants. But she hasn't rejected anything yet.

[Sammiejane]

If you are following BLS - give dairy as soon as you feel like it.
We gave DD cheese early on.
yoghurt was introduced when she was able to feed herself... again in line with BLS you shouldnt be 'feeding' your baby.
i cant remember the exact age that MJ had yoghurt, but i gave her only plain youghurt and sweetened it with pureed fruit. that way i knew what she was getting in terms of sugars etc.

Go with your gut, there is so much arguement for and against this issue, i am from the school of thought that says that early introduction can stop allergies, but of couse i have no allergies with MJ, if she did that may be a different story... what i can say is that BLS says if there is no DIRECT allergy link(ie mother father sibling not uncle aunt cousin) then there is no need to delay.
I think i have said this in PP to you though, YOU have to be comfortable with the decission that you are making.

FWIW a lot of formulas are dairy based - something to think on!

ETA - we gave cheese as small sticks or grated cheese

[SamiH]

i am from the school of thought that says that early introduction can stop allergies, but of couse i have no allergies with MJ,

i dont agree with this at all, having an anaphylactic child who had early intro to a wide variety of foods. I think you still have to be careful and watch for reactions with every new intro.

[Inanna]

I second that! I had early intro and I am paying now... My DH sister had early intro and all four of her boys are allergic to something.

I think we need to step outside the circle. Australia is one of the few countries in this big wide world that is so obsessed with dairy products.

Making your own decision is hard - but we need to be factual that there are lots of foods beside cheese and milk that babies can eat that are known to be benign.

I think we live in a culture where gluten and dairy are consumed at scary proportions - we also live in a culture bereft from autoimmune disease and cancer....

It's worth thinking about.

[LimeSlice]

We did BLS here too for the most part. However, we did intorduce foods one at a time. She ate a new thing by itself for abotu 2 days - this is important to guage her reaction to them - you never know what she may have a reaction to, but if you are isolating foods for a short while as you first introduce them, you can accurately see what reaction she is having from what food.
There are no food allergies in my family, so we werent very strict with many things, but she doesnt have ot be allergic to something to have a reaction.
Charlotte has a topical reaction to eggplant that is quite severe - if I wasn't isolating foods I would have had no idea what caused that reation until I worked through an elimination diet (PITA)
HTH

[Indadhanu]

We gave yoghurt from 6-7 months and she loved it although it did some funky stuff to her poo!

We started cheese and a little milk on her breakfast at 10-ish months, we did the cheese in mashed sweet potato and potato, some white sauce and pasta/rice, things like potato bake etc, and a slice or two to nibble on sometimes too, but I get a bit funny with giving her a lot of cheese as its so high in salt! She does LOVE toasted cheese sandwichs, and will eat half a sadnwich and then try to seagull mine!

She now drinks some straight cows milk from a sippy cup. Has since 11.5months. We don't push it though, its there if she wants it and sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. I like to give her the option.

[Inanna]

Limeslice - if she has a bit of a reaction to eggplant - just be careful wiht the other night cap veges. It is not unusual for a reaction to these vege to occur... Just in case you weren't aware.

[Indadhanu]

I also started a thread a little while ago you might be interested in...

Ponder question... why is yoghurt ok but milk isn't?

[Heaven]

Oh thanks Leash, I'll check that thread out too.

[LimeSlice]

That is one of the reasons it surprised me FC!
She has had no other issues with any nightshade, LOVES tomatoes like they are going out of fashion.
She has trouble digesting red capsicum though, that always comes out the other end but she loves eating it and has no reactions. We only gave her eggplant at about 14 months. My girl is odd! lol
Thanks hun!

[sas85]

Aw, poor allergy people - don't what-if. If it makes you feel any better I was formula fed, introduced to all solids early (including all the scary ones) and I am fine-diddly-ine. My friend was breastfed, introduced to solids later and is allergic to pretty much everything. If it was vice versa I know people would say 'must have been the solids' - but in the end it all came down to genetics.

With regards to dairy let's not forget Europe has used dairy for a loooong time without the problems we experience today as with other common modern allergens (we always seem to forget them and talk about the goat and soy countries)

FC - You need to work with my boss. He is the MD of a new chain of healthy fast food restaurants (GF, vegan options etc) but he had a phase where he was right into the evils of dairy and pasteurization like you. You sure you're not my boss in disguise as a woman