Baby's Milk

In other societies that are less.... technologically advanced... women often breastfeed until the child is 3-5 years old. Sometimes it's longer. A child's most complete form of nutrition will come from its mother.

I am personally conflicted about the inclusion of substitute milks in a childs diet. Cows milk and goats milk are fine- if they are raw. It is possible to find a provider of raw goat and cows milk. You should check out websites for local dairy farms in your area. Most reputable farms will have the milk tested rigorously for bacteria and other issues. It's important that the milk comes from "organic" cows/goats that are pasture raised and not treated with antibiotics and growth hormones. Pasteurization ruins some of the proteins. Nut and grain milks have their own issues. Soy inparticular is a bad choice because it is has an estrogenic effect on the body. Another issue with grain and nut milks are that they tend to come from GMO plants, and are chock-full of synthetic supplements that the body can't necessarily absorb.

Anyhow- if I had been able to breast feed my children longer than 5 months each (breast surgery) I would have fed them via breast for as long as they asked for it. It is the best way to give them the absolute strongest start in life- imo.

Best wishes!

Kids don't EVER have to have any milk other than what comes from mom. Humans are the only animals on earth that never truly wean. The main reason to serve milk or its processed products is for protein and calcium- two things that are readily available from other food sources.

If you never give your child milk, he will never miss it! My oldest drinks milk like its going out of style. My middle son wont touch the stuff. My youngest only eats cheese. I force none of this on them- it is by their choice. Their diets are balanced enough that they don't need what milk has to offer.

Sorry if I am repeating others but I believe the AAP says babies NEED breastmilk or formula until age 1 and then recommends milk in some form (animal, plant, bm, etc.) until age 2. After 2 kids don't need milk, though many authorities would say it is a good source of nutrition and preferable to many other drinks. I nursed mine until 20 months or so, but started offering soy milk at around 14 months. They are almost 3 and 4.5 now and typically drink two servings of soy milk per day. Their doctor knows this and has never mentioned it should be different.

I'm pretty sure that nutritionally the plant based milk is pretty comparable to cow's milk. So if that is the route you want to go I would just nurse as long as possible (at least a year and as long as you both want after that) and when your baby starts moving away from that try giving some of those alternative milks in a cup. I would be a little leary about straight soy milk too cause I have heard about the hormone problems with that as well. But otherwise I would probably just use the alternative milk just like any other Mom would use cow's milk, not until after a year, and then gradually transition them to just that when the nursing ends.

anthropological studies involving more traditional human societies and other primate societies indicate that human babies should probably, biologically, nurse for at least 3 years and more likely as many as 5 or 6 (some studies show it could be even longer than that). since it sounds like you're already committed to nursing for as long as your child wants to, then relying on child-led-weaning to determine how long it goes on is probably sufficient to ensure that you are meeting your child's needs in terms of breast milk. you can also pump breast milk to use in case your child self-weans earlier than you'd like, and also to use in lieu of animal milk in recipes, etc., and you can, of course, offer your milk in a cup to get your child used to drinking from a cup (water will do just fine for that purpose as well, of course).

as far as how long a human NEEDS breast milk, there are nutrients in breast milk that will be beneficial to a growing child until, well, until they're done growing. there are social constraints that will probably limit your nursing time (and, IMHO, unfortunately the "shame" costs of nursing past 3 or so years -- in our society -- outweigh the biological, physiological or bonding benefits of it, but that's just me -- I really believe that a 5-year-old who is still nursing can sense the secrecy of it (I don't know a single mother who's nursed passed 3 who isn't, on some level and in some way, secretive about it, if for no other reason than they get tired of feeling judged) and that's an unhealthy burden for child and mother, but again, that's just my opinion and experience, ymmv), but if you're up for it there's nothing to stop you from pumping and continuing to provide your milk for your child for as long as your body will produce it.

lastly, someone touched on this earlier, but it's not just the estrogenic effects of soy that are concerning; many nut milks these days, and particularly non-organic soy milks, are made from genetically modified beans and nuts. if you're going to go the soy milk route, make sure you limit it and make sure it's organic and preferably part of the non-GMO project (check the label).

my understanding was if you can breast feed for up to six months that is best for warding off cancers and getting the most bennifit. i had to use formula for my kids. once they turned a year it was requested they were put on whole milk. i was all for it because the cost of formula. they still need the fat from the cows milk (not sure about the other soy or almond). that is awesome you have access to raw milks. really educate yourself on all types of milk and what is best for your baby. go to a hemopathic (sp??) and find out what they recomend and your pedi and who ever else. then make the final choice!

I completely agree with you. Why would you want to give your baby another animals milk when they can have milk especially for them.

I know that babies need milk for at least the first year of their life. I've heard that at 2 years a baby doesn't need milk, probably because they are taking in a lot of calories from food at that point, but I don't remember where I heard that or have any research to back that up.

My just turned 2 year old nurses. It's really nice because I don't have to worry about it when she's teething or only wants to eat strawberries for a week, because I know she's getting what she needs from the breast milk.

There's lots of research on breastfeeding and nutrition on Kellymom - http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/index.html

My daughters and I eat (organic) soy products. There's a lot of the web about it's negative effects. I've been searching for years to find the source of this information. I've asked drs to show me the studies. The only thing that I've been able to find is that GMO soy products are not good for a body. I personally think the rest of the misinformation is put out there by the dairy industry, because they know that most people will read the headlines and aren't going to look into any further.

I never gave my son cow's milk. He transitioned away from the breast at about 1 year, because that's when most pediatricians say they should become more reliant on solid foods and we started giving him almond or soy milk (although he still nursed about twice a day). His pediatrician said that was completely fine. I would have kept nursing longer, but my son self-weaned between 15-16 months. Other children will continue to nurse for years, but I used a don't offer, don't refuse kind of approach and he stopped asking after a couple of months and never looked back.

At about 1 year of age when you are feeding him less breastmilk and more food, pump and mix the breast milk with the milk you choose. I think a lot of people who are lactose intolerant use Soy. Mix it at first 2 oz. of soy to 6 oz. breast milk, about a week later if that is working well, then go half and half. Then next week mix 6 oz milk to 2 oz breastmilk. It will get his stomach used to the alternative milk and not cause him to have odd pooh or stomach upset. He will be able to still nurse but also be able to drink milk in a cup with his meals.

himam milk 4 human babies!
I too believe in allowing self-weaning & avoiding chemivals in formula... I nursed my 1st child for 35m, amazing benefits! Research 'extended nursing' or 'toddler bf.' They never 'need' milk. My doc said to go to water after weaning if the're getting ftas & calcium from other foods: nuts, broccoli... I pumped & froze my milk for cereal, cup... to have on hand for when he was around sick kids... read lables on almond & rice milk, many are just sugar & no protein.