Is it possible for a child to have goat's milk. Cow and goat milk for babies and children. Rules for introducing into the diet
Modern mothers often look for a worthy alternative to breast milk for feeding a baby, citing certain reasons: lack or lack of their own milk, employment, illness, do not trust manufacturers of infant formulas for nutrition. Questions arise: can goat milk be considered an analogue of breast milk? Is it suitable for an infant? Let's talk about everything in order.
The benefits and harms of goat milk
Goat milk is growing in popularity, and for good reason. It is believed that the assimilation of such food in the children's body is much easier and faster than cow's. This is explained by the obvious similarity of goat's milk with mother's. The vitamin-rich composition of the goat gift does not contain lactose, which causes allergic reactions in infants and is often not digested even in adults, causing stomach and intestinal upsets. Lactose was adequately replaced by the protein beta-casein (it is also present in the mother's breast milk).
In addition to hypoallergenicity and fortified composition of the product, milk has high percent fat content, and the body of the child infancy not yet ripe for the production of enzymes for the breakdown of fatty acids. Lack of goat milk product - a negligible amount folic acid, which controls the reproduction and growth of cells of a young organism. The product contains an excess of minerals, which can damage the baby's kidneys.
A child who is fully fed with goat's milk runs the risk of iron deficiency anemia due to a lack of iron, which is part of hemoglobin. Therefore, it is impossible to fully replace breastfeeding or infant formula with goat. This is fraught with unpleasant and dangerous consequences: disruption of the digestive system, weakening of the body's defenses.
How to give goat milk to children before and after a year
Goat milk has a large percentage of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A, B6, its nutritional value for the body is enormous. Modern manufacturers of infant formulas manage to rationally combine this product in a dry form with additional missing minerals. This mixture will be suitable for breastfeeding. Doctors also recommend that infants consume goat milk no earlier than 6 months as a complementary food, but not the main food.
Since the dairy product of this animal harms the immature children's body, then for babies aged 5-6 months, try to introduce milk complementary foods starting with a teaspoon. If there is no indigestion, allergies, colic and other warning symptoms after taking it, feel free to continue, but increase the daily dose gradually, as the child grows older. So, by a year old, the daily norm of such nutrition is equal to 150 ml, and by two years, daily consumption of up to 700 ml is allowed.
How to breed
They say that whole, uncooked milk retains all the vitamins. Do I need to boil the goat product? It all depends on the age of your child. Be sure to boil for up to a year. So you protect the immature body from all kinds of infections and pathological microflora. Indeed, under poor conditions for keeping a goat, milk acquires bad smell and may be a breeding ground intestinal diseases if the product has not been heat treated.
At the age of one year, it is not necessary to boil milk, but this is allowed under the following conditions:
- If you purchase a dry version of the product, then carefully look at the expiration date of the latter on the package.
- Whole milk should be of different quality. It is better to order a product from one person, making sure good conditions animal content and liquid product quality. Be sure to ask what the animal is fed with, whether they give chemical additives of dubious quality.
- If the quality of the dairy product is OK, remember to dilute the contents for feeding a baby.
Step-by-step instructions for introducing goat milk into the daily diet of an infant
- For babies up to one year old, be sure to boil milk and water: collect and remove the foam.
- Strain through two layers of cheesecloth and refrigerate.
- If an infant from 5 months old is just getting acquainted with the taste of a product produced by a goat, dilute the fat content of the latter in proportions of 1x5 (one part milk to five parts water).
- With the age of the baby, dilute the mixture in a lower concentration. For a one-year-old strong man, dilute 1x3.
- From a year and a half, the drink is diluted 1x2, and after two years undiluted will do.
- Milk formula is stored in the refrigerator for no more than 2 days. After the expiration of this term, the useful substances of the product are lost.
Is it possible for children with allergies
Atopic dermatitis or diathesis is a problem known to many, firsthand, that almost every third new mother faces. Often, diathesis is manifested by the use of cow's milk by infants. Milk product goats do not cause allergic reactions, at least, this happens only in some cases. Goat milk is a powerful antihistamine.
It was noticed that infants who had symptoms of dermatitis when drinking cow's milk got rid of them by restructuring their diet to the second option - goat's milk. It is also useful for frequent colds and weakened immunity. Babies up to six months receive vitamins of a goat product as part of their mother's milk. This will happen if the mother herself uses the healing milk of the mentioned animal, taking care of her health and the health of the crumbs.
Lyudmila, 35 years old: She drank goat milk herself during pregnancy and during breastfeeding. The baby felt great, no bloating was observed. It is true that goat's milk is healthier than cow's milk.
Natalia, 30 years old: When my daughter was three months old, breast milk disappeared. We tried various infant formulas, but a nutritional formula based on powdered goat's milk came up. The baby liked the mixture, her body took food one hundred percent. After a year, I decided to use natural goat milk for making milk porridges. I was satisfied with the result: my daughter grew, gained weight, and her teeth appeared quickly.
Goat milk is a valuable product because it contains many components necessary for the human body.
Experts say that goat's milk is much healthier than cow's.
Useful properties of the drink
Due to its composition, goat's milk has the following effect on the human body:
- Controls metabolic processes
- Improves blood formation
- Eliminates allergic phenomena
- Affects the growth and development of the child
- Strengthens the immune system
- Reduces the likelihood of development, reduces regurgitation
- Rejuvenates the body
- Improves digestive processes
Ancient doctors considered the drink an elixir of youth. In addition, the product improves the absorption of calcium, which effectively prevents the development of rickets.
How to consume goat milk
Goat milk - valuable product nutrition
Determines how many months you can give your baby goat's milk by an experienced specialist who takes into account individual characteristics organism.
It is important to remember that such milk begins to be introduced into complementary foods in small doses. If the baby has enough breast milk, then the product is given from the age of six months. Some experts argue that it is better to introduce goat milk into complementary foods from nine months.
In any case, the first portions should be small - from two and a half grams. Milk must be boiled and diluted with water in a ratio of 1:4. As the child grows and develops, the amount of water should be reduced. At the first feeding, it is important to observe the reaction of the baby. If he normally tolerates it, then such a product can become complete for the child.
Experts note the high fat content of milk, as a result of which constipation, digestive disorders associated with disruption of the pancreas may occur. If you have such problems, you should consult a pediatrician about how best to give goat milk to a baby and in what doses.
There are some restrictions on the use of goat's milk.
Contraindications to the use of the drink in large doses are the following conditions:
- Pancreatitis
- Excessive body weight
- Disrupted work of the endocrine system
It is not allowed to drink goat's milk if a person has an individual intolerance to the components of the drink.
Also, pediatricians do not recommend drinking whole, undiluted milk, as it is considered very fatty and can provoke digestive disorders in children.
More about goat milk - in the video:
Dairy products must be present in the diet of any person. Babies can't do without them. Of course, just the best food is the mother's breast milk, but sometimes, due to various circumstances, it is impossible to continue breastfeeding. Mothers begin to look for an equivalent substitute and quite often opt for goat's milk. But is this product safe? At what age can children be given goat's milk? Feeding is a delicate matter, we will understand all the nuances.
Before giving goat milk to a child, it is worthwhile to figure out what benefits it will bring to a small body. The product contains the following necessary for proper development baby vitamins and minerals:
- Manganese;
- Iron;
- Phosphorus;
- Vitamin B12;
- Potassium;
- Unsaturated acids, causing high fat content.
If we compare it with cow's milk, which is more popular among the population, then goat's mother's liquid will be much more useful. The point is not at all in the substances that make up these products, but in their balance.
Goat milk can be drunk even for those children who have been diagnosed with lactose intolerance from birth: there is much less milk sugar in this liquid than in other similar products obtained from other animals.
But first of all, you should know at what age can goat milk be given to children - the body is ready to assimilate the product as early as 9 months when the digestive system is fully formed.
The product is not classified as hypoallergenic, but is close to this indicator: the content of alpha fractions of casein, which can cause a negative reaction of the body, is much less in it than in the bovine analogue.
White liquid, in addition to direct feeding, performs a number of other functions: it protects against rickets, normalizes the digestive tract, raises immunity, and improves heart function.
Possible harm and contraindications
A balanced composition suitable for children does not mean at all that goat's milk can be given to children in the first year of life. It will be quite difficult for a newborn to cope with such heavy food for him. The disadvantages of such food are:
- Large percentage of fat.
- The absence of folic acids in the composition, which creates the conditions for the appearance of such a disease as anemia.
- Additional burden on the kidneys due to the high content of phosphorus.
But before you treat the baby with a milk treat, you need to boil the liquid. An alternative to boiling is industrial pasteurization.
It's important to know! Raw milk is not recommended for adults or children.
It may contain microbes that provoke the following diseases:
- Tick-borne encephalitis;
- Brucellosis;
- Tuberculosis.
Important! Boiling evaporates not only harmful microorganisms, but also some useful substances. The nutritional value of the product subjected to heat treatment becomes lower.
Goat milk mixtures
It is best for a child up to a year to offer breast milk as the main type of food. If natural feeding is not possible, it is worth using not an alternative product of animal origin, but special baby formulas based on it. The most popular artificial substitutes made with the addition of goat's milk are:
- Nanny. Casein blend with no added whey. In the production, whole goat's milk is used in dry form. There are 4 types of mixture of this brand: "Classic" and "Nanny-1" (enriched with prebiotics) can be given to children from birth, "Nanny-2" is suitable for a 6-month-old baby, and "Nanny-3" is enjoyed by one-year-old babies.
- Kabrita. Whey infant formula, the composition is as close as possible to mother's milk. Prebiotics and probiotics are artificially introduced into the composition of the mixture;
- Mamako. The mixture contains the same amount of whey and casein components, which makes it difficult to classify. In addition, the composition contains nucleotides that have immunomodulatory properties.
Important! Hypoallergenic mixtures based on goat's milk do not apply. They are mainly used in case of intolerance to lactose, which is found in large quantities in the maternal fluid of cows.
Goat milk can be given to babies at nine months of age. However, the liquid is first boiled and diluted with water: the pure product is too fatty and can cause digestive problems. Fresh undiluted milk can be given to babies from 4 years of age.
How to give your baby an unusual treat? The introduction to the diet begins with a teaspoon. With special care, milk should be offered to children who have previously had lactose intolerance. Up to a year, the dose of consumption can be increased to 100 ml per day.
For older children, drink in an amount of 400 ml per day, provided there are no negative manifestations from the body. A rather fatty product should no longer be diluted with water at this age - the digestive system contains enough enzymes to digest the product in its pure form.
When asked whether it is possible to drink goat's milk for children at an early age or not, the opinion of pediatricians is unambiguous: you should not introduce the product into the diet from birth, much less replace mother's milk with it. The child's body is too weak and may rebel against such heavy food. If parents can’t wait to treat their baby to such a delicacy, they should think about alternative: infant formula based on goat milk.
But closer to the year, it is very rational to introduce this product: it is able to saturate the body useful substances. Goat's milk is very beneficial for the health of adults and children, if precautions are taken when consuming it.
Here is an interesting article I found. I just thought about giving my daughter a little bit of goat's milk, but now I'll wait a bit :)
Goat's milk is a good enough product to include in your child's diet. It contains vitamin A, B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, manganese. If you are going to use goat milk for babies, then you need to pay attention to the quality of the product, as well as the preliminary preparation of milk for consumption.
properties of goat milk
The absorption of protein and fat from goat's milk is much easier than from cow's. This is due to the fact that in goat milk the protein is in a finely dispersed form and a more tender and easily digestible clot is formed from it under the influence of gastric juice. Consequently, the body spends less vitality and energy on assimilating this valuable milk protein. Therefore, goat's milk is recommended for children, the sick and the elderly. Goat milk proteins, in addition, do not cause an allergic reaction, since they do not pass unsplit through the wall of the digestive tract. Goat milk is characterized by the possession of pronounced antimicrobial properties, as well as antihemorrhagic and antianemic properties. Goat milk has a beneficial effect on the human body in case of violations, diseases thyroid gland. It is useful in the presence of respiratory diseases, eczema, tuberculosis and even in the case of radioactive radiation. In addition, goat milk helps in the fight against insomnia.
Recommendations for the use of goat's milk can be reduced to two points. It should be used pasteurized or fresh. The packaging should indicate the expiration date, which is no more than 10 days, but if its expiration date is longer, then it is not recommended to take this product. Drinking goat milk is recommended slowly, in small sips.
Breastfeeding goat milk
Fresh goat's milk is characterized by the presence of bactericidal properties that prevent the development of microorganisms. It contains immunoglobulin, lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoperoxidase. Goat milk contains many enzymes, it even contains a small amount of steroid and peptide hormones.
Goat milk is generally not used for feeding newborns.
How to give goat's milk to a child
- it is recommended to start feeding with goat milk from the age of 9 months;
- goat milk for babies should be diluted with water in a ratio of 1 to 1;
- before giving goat milk to a child, it must be boiled. Water should also be boiled;
- the consumption of no more than 50 grams of milk is provided per day, i.e. 100 grams of milk diluted with water.
In addition, it is recommended to monitor the condition and well-being of the child after he was given goat's milk for the first time. For the first time, it is recommended to give a little less milk, it is better to start with 20 grams, diluted 40 grams of milk. If you notice a positive effect from the use of goat's milk by a child under one year old, then you can increase the amount of goat's milk up to 50 grams.
Our article is devoted to goat milk, its properties. And he answers questions - how to give it correctly and whether it is allowed for children under one year old.
Positive properties of goat milk
At a time when formulas were not so widespread on the market, our grandmothers most often fattened their babies with goat's milk. The benefits of such milk are obvious:
- Milk is rich in minerals and vitamins. In composition, it is close to cow's, but much richer in calcium, iron, magnesium, proteins and fats.
- It contains much less lactase. Due to this quality, goat's milk can be given to children with digestive problems.
Thanks to the experiments of US scientists, it was found that it is more in line with physiological needs than cow's milk. For allergic tendencies, goat's milk is the best option for breastfeeding.
- Goat milk is hypoallergenic. This is achieved by the fact that the casein protein, which provokes allergies, is in small quantities.
Special Benefits:
- thanks to linolenic acid promotes immune growth;
- serves;
- possesses, thanks to lysozyme, bactericidal properties;
- normalizes bowel function;
- due to the presence of potassium and magnesium, it improves the functioning of the conduction system of the child's heart.
According to myths, the Greek god Zeus was fed on goat's milk. That is why he was so belligerent.
Pradeus A., immunologist: “It should be remembered that animal milk was created for young mammals and it is not advisable to transfer babies to such milk.”
- No folic derivatives. Hence the risk of anemia in the child.
- More phosphorus, which gives additional work to the kidneys.
- High fat.
Of course, goat's milk for babies has a greater advantage over cow's. But you should not violate the age criteria when introducing this product.
Contraindications to the use of goat milk
Unfortunately, there are some restrictions on the use of goat's milk by infants. Among them:
- individual intolerance;
- age younger;
- raw milk from a sick animal.
Goat milk for newborns
It is very important to determine the age range for introducing this product to the menu. You can give goat's milk in its pure form only from 9 months, when the digestive system has already optimally formed, and its enzymes are ready to digest goat's milk.
Newborn babies do not need such supplementary feeding.
This puts a lot of stress on the baby's kidneys and digestive tract.
- Before giving goat milk to a child, you need to find a quality supplier. It can be your own goat or a trusted store.
If you take it in a store, then be sure to look at the packaging for the expiration date - no more than ten days.
- To prevent infection with bacteria and viruses, it is necessary to boil goat milk.
It should be remembered that goat's milk can transmit a number of infections. One of them is brucellosis.
- Be sure to evaluate the organoleptic properties yourself - smell, color, taste. There should be no foreign odors, sour taste.
- It is optimal to give a child goat's milk diluted with water 1:4. At one meal, the child needs no more than 50 grams, so when diluted with water, the volume is 250 ml.
- In the first feedings, it is better to start with small portions of 20 ml.
Look after the condition of the child, the absence of allergic reactions.
With a positive effect, you can increase the one-time volume to 50 ml.
Goat milk in the diet should be introduced only as complementary foods.
Goat milk in infant formula
Goat milk can be given to infants as adapted formulas. Their big plus is that they are close in composition to mother's milk. And most importantly - such a product is hypoallergenic and is good for children with manifestations of diathesis. Such mixtures can be given to a child from birth.
One of the brightest representatives of these mixtures is the Nanny mixture. The mixture is high in calories. It appeared on sale the very first in Russia. The Nanny mixture is rich in casein protein, thanks to which it saves from. But its disadvantage is that it is not very similar to other mixtures.
Thanks to the research, it was found that the mixtures based on goat milk "Cabrita" and "Mil Goat" are of the highest quality.
Julia, 25 years old:“From birth I give my daughter “Goat”, an excellent mixture. There are no problems with the tummy, it does not put a strain on the kidneys.
The opinion of Dr. E. O. Komarovsky regarding the introduction of goat milk into the child’s diet: “Goat milk is given unreasonably great importance. It is of no particular value. I consider it inexpedient to transfer a child, especially a newborn, completely to feeding with goat's milk. Moreover, the lack of folic acid can have a deplorable effect on the hematopoietic system and cause anemia. You can use it if you live in a village, you have a personal goat that can produce pure, uncontaminated goat milk. But still, it should be remembered that even homemade goat's milk should be diluted with water, thereby reducing its fat content.
Of course, before giving goat's milk to a baby, you should consult a doctor. Goat's milk has a number of advantages over cow's milk, but also a number of disadvantages over breast milk. Do not try to completely transfer a baby to animal milk. For full development, in the absence of women's milk, he needs adapted mixtures, and goat can replace only one feeding.