About 1,6 billion Chinese didnt wean their baby onto cows milk - just normal food. It
s a part of our western diet, but not necessary for human babies. How old is your baby?
As you know, my kids don't drink cows milk. They drink soy, rice and almond milk and water. They eat foods rich in calcium like green leafy vegies, tahini, almonds, figs. We buy calcium fortified soy and rice milk. We make the almond milk ourselves.
Totally agree with Barb's comments. The dairy industry has been very successful with their marketing of dairy milk. When we think calcium, we think 'milk'. But humans are the only species to drink milk once we have weaned.....and then we drink the milk of another species!
I weaned mine onto nothing but they were all over 12 months old! They drank water in a sippy cup because they didn't like cows milk as a drink on it's own. If they are eating dairy (yoghurt or cheese as snacks etc) as part of their balanced diet then they will be getting their RDI of calcium so there is no need to worry. My health nurse gave me a handout of what foods contain calcium and what quantity of them contribute to the RDI. Ask yours if she has the handout too!
Last edited by ~Raven~; December 29th, 2010 at 11:47 AM.
Thank you all for your replies!
Barb- DD is almost 23 months and is down to 2(sometimes 1) BF a day.
I guess I am just second guessing myself at the moment and am a bit paranoid that DD isn't getting everything she needs, so its great to hear plenty of Babies can survive without cow's milk Thanks again.
I agree that milk is unnecessary. Water and a balanced diet are all that's needed. As others have said, cheese and yoghurt have calcium and here are some ideas for non-dairy calcium foods: http://www.vnv.org.au/site/index.php...mid=66#Calcium
DD weaned at nearly four and we are not big milk drinkers in this family. DD loves cheese and yoghurt, but more importantly devours green leafy vegetables. I tend to not offer milk very often as a drink as I think there is too much emphasis on dairy in our society.
wow this has given me food for thought (pardon the pun!)
I am a big cow milk drinker but dont really want DS to be, so its good to know that i dont have to wean onto Milk for some of his calcium and not have to rely on following the 'norm'
great thread hon, I guess I'd be asking the same question in the not too distant future. dh and I drink oat milk and I had just presumed I'd give DS that.
We drink fortified soy and DD has a cup of that before bed but thats another thing I worry about (*sigh*), her having too much soy I mean. Thats a whole other thread though Is oat or almond milk better than soy?
I think the issue is that cow's milk is 'the norm' like Loula said, so even though Im fine with not having it I worry that my child will somehow be malnourished without it which is so dumb.
DD was raised vegan and like me is lactose intollerant, so weaned onto Soy Milk. Is having Lactose Free cow milk on cereal at the moment just becuase it's cheaper, but we intend to go back to soy ASAP, once this little stash of LF is used up.
Yes, Almond milk naturally contains a load more calcium than soy milk and I think, more than cow milk. You need a *good* blender though and it is more expensive to make. I used to make my own soy milk (non-fortified) and it's very cheap to make.
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Weanng but not onto cow's milk anyone?
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