Dairy- i cant bring myself to give her any

[Olive]

DD2 is 9 months and i cant bring myself to give her any dairy and im not sure why!!
id love to give her yogurt, put milk on her cereal but for some reason i just cant! yep maybe im just weird!
anyone else felt the same?? or am i just weird!!

[Jaycee]

Is there a reason for you not wanting to give it to DD?
Did you have any trouble with dairy with your DD1?
My DS was having dairy at that age and we had no problems what so ever.
Are you giving DD other solids?
Lots of questions, sorry, just something for you to think about

[Olive]

thanks GG!
DD1 had no issues with dairy!
we do a combo of BSL and spoon feeding with DD2, i sort of think the reason is that to me all she needs is breastmilk and why give her cows milk when i have milk, i do express some mornings for her cereal but not always

[Inanna]

Go with what you feel I say Olive! I was the same and still am. Imogen has no dairy - aside from yoghurt. I wouldn't have given her yoghurt at your DD age either.

She doesn't need it - so go with your feelings I say!

[Peach*]

I hear what your saying Olive, I dont understand dairy really... especially when we have the best milk coming out of our own boobies. If your DD is fine without it then why bother?

[Pinny-mum]

I have not tried L yet either, have you tried it in cooking???

[kelebek]

I had given DS cheese and maybe yoghurt at about this age but I couldn't bring myself to give him cow's milk. DP gives him cow's milk cause I went back to work part time at 11 mnths and it was like a replacement for 'boo' while I am not here.

I really hate giving him cow's milk, I do give it to him before his afternoon nap because it's become a sleep association

[Janie]

Oh hun, I've probably freaked you out

Seriously though, go with your gut. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it! After all the reading I've done on dairy, I feel that we have little need for it in our diets, and alot of it is not that healthy! Your little Miss M eats like a champion, I really don't think you need to stress about introducing dairy right now .

[AliBaby]

With DD's cereal I dont use cows milk. I just put water in it (rafferty's) and add half a jar of puree fruit. DD loves it (DP calls it crud ) I havent given DD yoghut for ages. Dont think she really needs it seeming she is getting calcium from my milk. She has a tiny but of cheese in her diet (occasionally melted on vegemite toast for breaky.
Apart from that she doesnt really have any.
Just go with what you feel is right for her. Baby steps xo

[Jaycee]

Olive, just adding to my previous post, I was only giving DS cows milk on his cereal and in cooking and the odd yoghurt here and there at that age, mainly because I found it very difficult to express any more than 10mls. If you're able to express, or find no need for milk on cereal etc, then do what you feel is best! If I was able to express, DS wouldn't of had any what so ever at that age

[Heaven]

I am the same Olive!! I give DD Jalna yoghurt but that's it. I know they say milk is ok on cereal and in things etc but I don't do that. I express for her if I need milk.

[Jennifer13]

I gave DD yoghurt and cheese, but never any cows' milk until a fair bit after 12 mths. I still don't like giving her cows' milk to drink, even though she has it on her cereal. As a baby, I used EBM on her weetbix until she was over 12 mths (picture me in the morning, half naked in the kitchen, aiming at DD's breakfast bowl!). The yoghurt and cheese thing I was fine with because my DD absolutely loved them, but I can see where you'd make the link in your mind and they really aren't essential.

If you're doing BLS and you are having either in the course of a meal (or DD1 is) you could give her a try, rather than introduce it to her specifically. Otherwise, you're right, your BM is much better.

[Yael]

My views have changed after all the health problems i went through with DD

She was fine up until 6 months, exclusively b/f etc, but still putting on constant weight. From 6 montyhs i introduced solids, but witheld dairy & wheat as i had read that it could reduce allergies with a family history etc.

From 6 months on DD had severe weight issues, putting on 400g in 4 months and began to look terrible.

The evidence shows that witholding any food groups doesn't not influence whether a child will be allergic, so other than whole nuts (due to choking hazard), no food group should be delayed, and if there is a family history to watch out for the signs, but not to not give. Infact, withholding may cause more allergies. This is the current advice of the Melbourne RCH immunology department.

My personal belief is that one should not withhold any major food group without the advice and monitoring of a paediatric dietician. Children need a certain intake of fats & oils, and cheese and non sweet yoghurt are a great source of this. Infact, the first fattening up thing we were told to give was tolds of cheese & butter. I was still b/feeding DD from 6 months on, but i don't think she consumed enough b milk to make up for the amount she would have needed if she was having these food groups. It's easy to think oh i'm bfeeding so i don't need to give a,b,c or d, but you do have to give above and beyond what they would be getting if you were giving it to make up.

I certainly regret my decisions, and wish that i had a dieitican to monitor DD< as perhaps she wouldn't have ended up so unwell.

She was small to begin with, so that didn't help her, but in larger sized kids it might be easy to miss that they really do require these things.

Once again, i urge all parents not to read things on the internet, or to go by their guts feelings all the time (and i'm not saying not to trust your gut feelings, because they are often right), but somebody external with the right training monitoring your child can only help the situation to make sure that your child is having adequate nutrition.

[Shanti]

I felt a bit funny about giving DD dairy at first too....because she's BF but also because I was worried about allergies etc! (I think we are scared too much with allergies!)

But since 7mths, DD has been given Jalna yoghurt and also has cheese and LOVES her cheese and yoghurt!

Since 9mths we've put full cream cows milk on her weetbix but not every day, only probably every 3-4 days..... otherwise she has Rafferty's cereal with water and fruit mixed in....

I admit I am too lazy to express milk for her cereal but only because I did sooo much damn expressing for her in those first 5mths with ALL the problems we encountered with BF'ing and getting milk supply established etc, I just don't have the energy to go near my pump anymore!!! And I think that's fair enough too LOL
She's getting the goodness of BM and thats the main thing. A little bit of dairy won't hurt her but thats JMO. Each to their own I say.

[Floweryfields]

Don't they say no cows milk until after 12months? I remember when we had a parent at work who was giving her 7 month old only cows milk and she had constant tummy issues and trying to advise her that it wasn't the best idea - but then she said the doctor knew?????

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Ausgirl - cows milk not as a whole drink to replace formula or breastmilk in the first 12 months.

There is no need to delay the introduction of dairy. Its important in a growing body which IMO far out weighs the "i cant bring myself to give her dairy". At the end of the day, its not only how u feel, but what she needs.

I too have heard that with holding dairy or other foods can lead to more allergy issues than if they werent introduced earlier.

[Mum2SweetCs]

I never introduced cows milk until 12+ and then introduced A2 to her. But I did feed her yougurt and baby cheese. There's so much conflicting information these days I reckon just go with your Mummy instinct.

If she's not ready for it or you are not ready to do it, perhaps just wait. 9mths is still young.

Ausgirl, yes i thought no cows milk until 12mths+ too, unless the guidelines have changed again.

Good luck with your decision Olive.

[STARRYSKY]

DS wont be drinking cows milk , he gets my milk which is more than enough, a yoghurt here and there, he doesnt tolerate cheese. keeps him (and me) awake alllllll night....
At around 9 months, A doc I saw in ED told me that he had too much calcium, I was feeding him too much milk, he assumed I was formula feeding, the look on his face when I said I BF was priceless!
I grew up on very limited amounts of goats milk and soy (my parents were "hippies! LOL)
cheese and yoghurt were big in our house though.
I understand that if FF, substituting with cows milk is the done thing,(recommended after 12 months, last I read) but if BFing I dont see the need, why give milk from another animal, meant for their young, when we have our own supply? JMO!
anyway, just wanted to say that I felt the same way, hehehe, I didnt even want to give DS solids, cos then he would be growing up and not just need me lol!!