Mommy FTW

Yesterday I was talking to a few moms about Cow’s Milk vs Goat’s Milk for babies over 12 months.  According to one mom Goat’s Milk is a better choice for several reasons – it’s more easily digestible, and is less likely to cause lactose intolerance in your baby (and later in life) and is closer to human milk.  I did a little research to learn more for myself.  I found this article which explains the differences between the two milks – here are some highlights:

Unlike cow’s milk, goat’s milk does not contain agglutinin. As a result, the fat globules in goat’s milk do not cluster together, making them easier to digest.

Goat’s milk may also have advantages when it comes to allergies. Goat’s milk contains only trace amounts of an allergenic casein protein, alpha-S1, found in cow’s milk. Goat’s milk casein is more similar to human milk.

Goat’s milk contains slightly lower levels of lactose (4.1 percent versus 4.7 percent in cow’s milk), which may be a small advantage in lactose-intolerant persons

Goat’s milk contains 13 percent more calcium, 25 percent more vitamin B-6, 47 percent more vitamin A, 134 percent more potassium, and three times more niacin. It is also four times higher in copper. Goat’s milk also contains 27 percent more of the antioxidant selenium than cow’s milk

Goat’s milk contains less than ten percent of the amount of folic acid contained in cow’s milk which means that it must be supplemented with folic acid in order to be adequate as a formula or milk substitute for infants and toddlers.

Read the rest of the Article HERE.

If you are interested in trying Goat’s Milk – the next step is finding it!  I’ve been told that Fairway sells it, and so does Fresh Direct – 32 Oz is $6.99!  This mom has a little bit of sticker shock, I must admit!

$6.99 for 32 Oz? Holy Cow... er...Goat!

So is Goat’s Milk right for your baby?  I suggest doing a little more research and talking to your pediatrician.

Back in early October when Cameron had his first bad cold it left him with some diarrhea.  At first I thought it was just loose poops because he wasn’t eating much solid food during his sickness.  But it went on and on, even after he got his appetite back.  His poor little butt was suffering with some terrible diaper rash, he was having trouble sleeping, and I was getting worried.

Other than the issues “down below” Cameron was fine.  His cold was gone, he was eating, and drinking plenty – so I wasn’t too concerned about dehydration, but I had to solve the problem so I referenced my fail safe, baby 411, and hit up google to see if I could find some advice from the internets.

I read that sometimes babies that are not normally lactose intolerant can become so once they already have diarrhea.  This sounded kind of crazy to me – Cameron has been having milk based formula pretty much since birth – but I was desperate, and willing to give anything a try.  I called up my pediatrician and asked her opinion.  She agreed with the info I had read on line, so I switched Cameron to Soy formula.  I thought he wouldn’t drink it because it might taste different, but he seemed fine with it.  And in 2 days his poops were back to normal.  Yay!  I saw her this past Friday for Cameron’s flu shot, and we talked about the diarrhea.  She said keep him on the Soy formula for a few more weeks, and then transition him back to dairy.

the Soy Solution!

So if any of you out there have babies with diarrhea that won’t seem to go away, try taking them off dairy…. it might be the thing that does the trick!