Cow milk for babies: from what age and how to enter into the diet?

According to the laws of nature, all mammals feed their newborn babies with their own milk, and the organism of each animal produces the milk which in its composition will be optimal for a particular organism. This means that no matter how tasty and nutritious cow's milk, it will have a beneficial effect on the body of the young calf, but not the baby. This fact was established by scientists in the XVIII century.

Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers recalled that they often fed their babies with cow's milk. Of course, the post-war years, the devastation, the poverty that prevailed in the villages, forced the woman to use the milk of goats and cows in cases if for some reason a month-old child did not have enough maternal.

But this measure is extreme, in fact, the use of a cow product by an infant can cause significant damage to an immature organism. And too much casein content often causes allergies in infants, and an excess of protein creates an increased load on the kidneys. Cow's milk contains less iodine, zinc, vitamins E and C than is necessary for a growing body, and the amount of lactose in it is not enough (3% vs. 7% in breast), and the child will also lack amino acids such as taurine and cystine, which necessary for proper development of the brain (their content is 3 times lower than the normative).

In addition, the early introduction of cow's milk to the menu of babies causes the risk of diabetes.

Milk is a real pantry of calcium, which plays a major role in the formation of the musculoskeletal system. In addition, this product contains a large amount of vitamin D, without which calcium in the human body is not absorbed.

Milk provides the child with essential amino acids that synthesize the main building material for cells and tissues, and the carbohydrates in it contain energy for the whole day. Science has proven that if a child consumes too little calcium, the risk of hypertension, stroke, and the development of fractures at an older age increases significantly.

Wherein it is not necessary to stop breastfeeding after the milk of cows is included in the diet - these 2 sources of nutrients combine very well and complement each other. However, the use of this product is allowed only in the second year of life of the baby.

If, for any reason, a young mother does not have the opportunity to breastfeed her baby, then it is necessary to give preference to special milk formulas developed for infants. Usually they are selected by pediatricians, taking into account the individual characteristics of the infant, and have many advantages over simple cow's milk:

• mixtures have a constant composition, and the concentration of certain substances depends on what the cow ate;
• manufacturers of mixtures guarantee the presence of all important trace elements, as well as vitamins in dosages that are optimal for infants of every age;
• The structure of the mixture includes recycled casein, which significantly reduces the risk of allergic reactions.

There are pathologies in which it is better to completely abandon the use of such a product as cow's milk. For example, when a child is prone to allergies, casein, being poorly digested, enters the blood and gives a rather strong reaction of the body.It is not necessary to include milk in the children's diet of the baby in case of lactose deficiency, since in this case the body produces too few enzymes for sugar processing.

Any metabolic disorders associated with digestion are also grounds for refusing milk, a particular danger is such a pathology as a violation of the assimilation of galactose, which is formed as a result of the breakdown of milk sugar.

Milk of cows is not recommended to be consumed in large quantities by children under one year old, because the product creates an increased load on the kidneys, which has the most disastrous effect on the health of the child. Moreover, as a result of such mindless consumption, diseases can be obtained, it will be impossible to get rid of them, and the child will be forced to support himself with medicines for the rest of his life.

In addition, if you have decided to give the baby cow's milk, keep in mind that it is not known under what conditions the animal is kept, what food it is fed and how often the udder is washed. Moreover, on large farms, antibiotics and hormones are often added to cattle food so that animals grow faster - these substances cannot be destroyed even during heat treatment and pasteurization of the product. A variety of intestinal infections are often transmitted through milk, as well as anthrax, foot and mouth disease, tuberculosis, brucellosis, and even leukemia caused by the lymphotropic virus - and this is not at all what a little person needs.

The question that many young mothers are interested in is from what age exactly you can begin to give crumbs of cow milk. WHO and famous pediatrician Oleg Komarovsky do not advise to enter it into the diet before 12 months, and there are a number of reasons for this. Up to this point, the digestive tract of the baby simply cannot yet digest the cow's milk in the same volume as the breast and the mixture. This product should not be given to a two-month, three-month-old or even seven-month-old child - it causes irritation of the digestive organs mucosa, and often this is manifested in the form of blood in the baby’s stool.

Cow's milk should be introduced into the diet of the baby with great care. For the very first complementary food, it must be diluted with water, but even after that you can treat the baby with only 1 teaspoon of the milk solution obtained. It is very important to observe the reaction of the body of the child after the first intake of the product. If you notice the appearance of rashes, redness, swelling, itching, or an increase in temperature - the familiarity with milk should be postponed for several months, at least 3.

If you notice that after drinking milk, the child began to cough, wheeze or breathe loudly - you should immediately give an antihistamine and call an ambulance - most often this means that allergies caused respiratory edema, which is very dangerous for any child.

If the manifestations of allergies are very strong. then you need to contact an allergist to adjust the child's diet.

As we have already mentioned, in order to give milk to a baby, it must be diluted with water, for the first feeding it is better to take water three times more than milk and watch the reaction of the crumbs.If it did not follow within 2-3 days, then it can be diluted slightly less, and after a week take milk and water in equal quantities. By the way, as far back as the XVIII century, famous at that time, Dr. Michael Underwood advised to arrange for feeding babies to take milk diluted in a decoction of oats to reduce the concentration of proteins in it or, if there is no oats, dilute the product with water.

When choosing milk for your child, give preference to special children's products that have a much more adapted to the body of the infant baby. Moreover, baby milk should be the choice of caring mothers and at an older age. It is of higher quality because it is produced only from milk obtained from healthy cows kept in ecologically safe areas. At each stage of the production of baby milk, microbiological control works - the number of certain bacteria at each stage of processing is strictly standardized.

It's important that baby milk has the optimal percentage of fat content for the child’s body - usually in the range of 2.5-3.5%It is also characterized by the Turner acidity index of no more than 100 degrees, which corresponds to current sanitary standards. Milk for children is subjected to pasteurization at ultrahigh temperatures - from 120 to 140 degrees for 3-4 seconds, and then quickly cooled. As a result of this treatment, all pathogenic microorganisms are destroyed, and the useful ones, on the contrary, remain unchanged.

Some mothers give their children skimmed milk - this is a common mistake, because at this stage of development the baby especially needs fats that are contained in milk - they cause him optimal absorption of calcium and vitamin D, and also allow him to gain weight. It is possible to transfer the baby to a fat-free product only after 3 years, and then only in the case when the increase in the body weight of the child conforms to the existing medical standards and standards.

In conclusion, I would like to recall the statements of many grandmothers that, in the absence of breast milk from the mother, the newborns fed cows with milk for centuries, even millennia. You cannot argue with this fact, but you should not forget that all this took place along with the progressive deterioration of children's health, the emergence of complex allergic manifestations, an increased percentage of pathologies of pregnancy and childbirth, and a significant number of various congenital anomalies and immaturity of vital organs and systems. baby - and all this is directly related to improper feeding in the very first months of life crumbs.

If you are determined to feed the child with a natural product, then it is better to give preference to goat milk - it has much less protein than cow's milk, and their form is better absorbed by the body of the crumbs.

Cow milk is loved by many, but few people think about the age at which it can be consumed, and at which time it is better to abstain, in what quantity it can be drunk without harm to health, is it necessary to boil it, and is it possible to drink cow's milk for pregnant women? Dr. Komarovsky will answer all these questions.