Does My Son Need Cow's Milk?

no - baby cows need cows milk, humans do not NEED cows milk.
Your son can get all the iron, calcium, vitamin D etc that he needs from your breastmilk combined with other foods. Dairy products of course - cheese, yogurt, ice cream etc. But there are tons of options for getting these nutrients - just read up on food labels and take a look at the fruits and veggies you give him - dark leafy grean veggies are excellent sources of iron, calcium etc.
Our bodies make vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, so as long as he gets a few (5-10) minutes of daylight exposure daily (thru a window is fine!) he is ok

No your son does not ever need any cows milk. Consider that the real purpose for mother's milk is to feed it's infant unti it is old enough to have teeth to chew food, whether that be a human baby or a calf (baby cow) or otherwise. Each species milk is specific for it's young. Therefore cows milk would be for a baby cow and human breast milk for the human baby. I believe the dairy industry would like us to believe otherwise, but your chld will benefit from not having cows milk which causes allergies and mucus which allows bacteria of all kinds to grow. Calcium can be supplied many other ways, through almond milk, broccoli, molasses, figs, and other green vegetables. Hope this is helpful to you. Sincerely,
B. S. RN CCM

Hi!!!Wow, you got many answers already but here is one from a mommy of 2 grown ups and 2 pre-schoolers, my youngest is 2 and I stopped nursing him a few months ago. whether you are a regular cow milk fan or a soy/almond milk fan, you choose. In my household we always loved cow's milk, no one has had any allergies thank God. Recently I started to buy soy milk for my nutritional shakes and the kids who already loved the shakes, tried the soy milk so they drink it quite often! For them I usually buy the fortified with vitamins and calcium ( I added soy milk for the extra protein).

In my case once I introduced cereals to my children, I prepared hot cereals using cow's milk, I tried with breast milk but it tends to lack consistency for the older babies. That and other milk products like cheese and meals with cheese, yogurt, and other veggies rich in vitamins and calcium are part of our regular diet so the kids, especially the youngest, are good eaters. But related plain milk, it was a different process with the youngest who at times would drink milk and other times he didn't, he wanted me and I nursed him until his teeth would hurt and the night shifts were too long.
Each woman might have a different story. Some can nurse longer, some nurse and offer calcium rich options, others like me try to make slow changes.
One thing that's healthy with both adults and babies, if you eat a balance diet, veggies, meats/source of protein, whole grains, fruits, water, chances are your baby will develop better habits. Let him "play" with yogurt on his high chair, taste banana bites, strawberries, later on cooked veggies in bites, bites of chicken, etc. While you still nurse him, you are giving him the best source of nutrition, eat the best you can so your milk will benefit him to the fullest!

hugs, R.

Since he's still nursing, he doesn't need cow's milk.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/toddler-foods.ht...

It's great you're still nursing him!

I won't be giving my youngest son cow's milk. My other two kids and I have a dairy allergy and it is an allergy to a protein (casein) found in all dairy foods. My littlest one is only 8 months old, but I do not plan to give him any dairy. The National Dairy Council will have you believe that milk products are the only way to get your calcium needs. Try visiting a website called www.milksucks.com It is rather biased in the opinions that they think you need to be a vegan (extreme vegetarian), but it is rather informational in how it explains that they way that dairy products today are being processed in a way that is very detrimental to our health. Just another tidbit of info here. . . My older two kids were getting sinus infections, ear infections, respiratory problems (needing a nebulizer--symptoms similar to asthma) and after I got them off of dairy, the worse things they get are childhood colds, no more infections. I will also mention that my 8 1/2 month old son has had not even one ear infection. I don't get sinus infections and bronchitis anymore either. Sorry to get on a total soapbox here but you really ought to research it. If you have a doctor for your child that tells you that you HAVE to use cow's milk, I urge you to find a different doctor who is open to the idea that cow's milk isn't the only way to supply calcium needs for your kids.

I agree with the others. He doesn't need cow's milk....he needs his mama's milk! And children/babies/toddlers don't need cow's milk. Calves (baby cows) need cow's milk. Whether you continue breastfeeding until 2 years like the World Health Organization recommends, or you wean him, you can meet his nutritional needs without cow's milk.

You will eventually stop breastfeeding so I would continue trying to give him cows milk. I swore I would never do this, but with my second child I flavor her milk and she loves it. I asked her Dr and he said it was better to flavor her milk than to have her drinking only juice, which he says is mostly sugar water, but she loves her juice. I put much less flavoring in the milk than the package recommends. She will also drink white milk from a mini tea cup (I bought my 3 yr old a set and she pours the "white tea" for herself and her sister)it also has the bonus of teaching her to drink out of an open cup, she's 18 mos and likes her sippees and no spill cups with straws. I do agree that he can get much of the nutrients from yougurt and cheese. And www.healthatoz.com states you cannot get vitamin D through a window because UV light cannot penetrate glass, which is why you don't get a sunburn in the car.
I'm not advocating giving him chocolate milk, because I never would have done that with my first child! Just give him some time and he may learn to like cows milk eventually.

No, breastmilk gives him all the nutrients he needs. Don't worry about cows milk.

The most important thing is that he gets the correct amount of calcium, vit d and iron above all else

Just supplement his diet with foods rich in vitamins and calcium and iron. My son only drinks milk if it's in his cereal. He has never liked cow's milk or soy milk and once I found out that cows milk wasn't that great for him anyway I just started trying to give him vitamin rich foods and a vitamin supplement. Good luck!

He doesn't really need the cows milk while you're breastfeeding, but you are going to eventually stop and he will have to drink cows milk, so getting him used to it now would be a good idea. I would start giving him cow's milk in a sippy cup, that way you hit two birds with one stone, getting him to drink from a sippy and drinking cow's milk. Don't worry if he doesn't drink at first, just keep trying and he'll eventually catch on.

your doctor is probable the one that can tell if he does but he is getting your milk which I feel is really better and if he is healthy I wouldn't knock it I breast fed my youngest Girl for twenty six months and the only reason I quit then was cause I ran out of milk she was my best baby I have 4 children I tried to breast feed the other 3 but the doctor wouldn't let me so I was real strong on breast feeding my last and she was born tongue tied so my doctor didn't have any choice she couldn't take a bottle till she was 6 months old by then she only wanted water once in a while so check with your babies doctor good luck also something else I thought of if you like breast feeding you child then do it that what your breast were given to you for by God not for looks

A mother's milk has all that a cow's milk has .... so if you are breastfeeding him and he is taking enough of your milk everyday and he is also eating solids, then cow's milk does not add anything extra to his nutrition.
However, the day you stop breastfeeding him, you MUST get him on cow's milk. To start that habit a bit in advance, you could continue giving him some cow's milk along with breastfeeding.
The aim is to make sure the kid is having reasonable volume of milk daily (cow's or mother's), not only for calcium/bones, but also to keep multiplying his brain connections. Calcium is present in other dairy products, but only milk has other stuff thats necessary for healthy brain development at that age.

No. My son doesn't like cow's milk either. I breastfed him longer (until he was 3!), but there were no physical or psychological problems.

When you decide to limit breastfeeding more and transition over to cow's milk, try doing what I had to do with my first 2 children. I have always encouraged drinking water with my kids (which worked because they usually choose water over milk in my house & those are the ONLY options). Anyways, neither of my first 2 liked cow's milk but they did like water, so I diluted it with 3/4 water to 1/4 milk (disgusting I know). They drank it. Then I did 1/2 and 1/2, then 3/4 water to 1/4 milk, & then full-strength milk. I don't want my kids having sweet tooths so I did not sweeten the milk nor do I allow juice very often in my house. My advice too is to purchase organic whole milk if you can. It's one of the few things I fork out the extra $ for since my kids have it daily. You can buy generic organic milk in the 1/2 gallon at WalMart. Also, don't get him used to drinking his other drinks in a bottle (if he's even taking one). He needs to master using cups & it's also one less thing to wean him from. Hope this is helpful. Great job on providing such good nutrition for your little boy by breastfeeding him longer. He is really benefitting from it.

Breast is always best. Cow's milk contains contaminants like antibiotics and until very recently hormones. Your milk is the perfect mix of what he needs, including immune-creating colostrum. If you can or need to, try pumping for times you're not available. I used an Avent Isis with my last and it was perfect. I couldn't have a let-down unless she was feeding, so I pumped while she fed. The one-hand design was great, and I collected an extra 2 gallons in 2 months.

He's more than likely getting the calcium he needs, however he is NOT getting the vitamin D (can cause rickett's disease) and the iron he needs from your breast milk. Ask your pediatrician about viatmin supplements high in iron and D for your child and should be well.

M. and Amara 8/25/01

He does not need cow's milk. In fact, many are concerned about children getting things in cow's milk that aren't good, such as growth hormones fed to cattle, homogenized fat and other things. Your breastmilk is far superior.

Congratulations for continuing to breasfeed at 13 months. NO! You child does not need cow's milk or milk from any other species. No other species drinks the milk of another species except us stupid humans. There are tons of book son this subject. Do some online research and you will see the eisdom of keeping these foreign proteins away from your baby.

By the way, if you are drinking cow's milk, then your baby is too. I would advise you to discontinue cow's milk too.

GOOD LUCK

if you are still breasfeeding he does nto need cows milk yet. my 19 month old just weaned and didnt like cows milk until we were cmpletely done. so rest asure they get there nutrients one way or another =)

I agree with a lot of the responses you have already received. I do not believe in giving my son cows milk. If you are giving yours a wide variety of foods and nursing still he should be great. However, if you are concerned he is not getting the nutrients he needs I suggest an organic toddler formula I am using by Baby's Only. I try to give my son a wide variety of foods but while teething or picky times when he is not eating well I fall back on this. Hope my opinion helps. Good luck.

I nursed my son until he was 13 months as well. He was slow to want milk but went nuts for YoBaby yogurt and Yobaby smoothies. Try those!

I nursed my daughter until she was 13 months old too. When you are first weening your baby it is a little tough for them and they will fight it some. I didn't nurse my son as long as my daughter, only until he was 8 months because I went back to school. He fought weening too. My son just turned 2 and will only drink milk if it is chocolate. Good luck.