Feeding

It is because there tummys are not ready for all the bacteria's that are in the milk. The stomach is still not strong eough until about a year. If starting milk to early it also can cause allergy's in some babies.

Here are just a few of the reasons:

1. Babies under a year are more at risk for allergic reactions.

2. Babies who are exposed to cow's milk before their first birthday are more likely to be anemic, have diarrhea or vomiting, and/or experience an allergic reaction (the proteins in milk are more numerous than those in other milk products, such as the yogurt). The excessive protein load in cow's milk can also overload a baby's kidneys. It is deficient in vitamins C, E, and copper. It is harder to digest as well, often causing intestinal blood loss. A number of studies have also indicated that early introduction of cow's milk may contribute to the development of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus.

You can read more on this subject on Kellymom.com its a great resource for infants.

Cows milk is produced for baby cows thus it lacks many of the nutrients neccessary for human babies, my motto...cow milk for baby cows, human milk for human babies. :-)

You really don't want to give your baby whole milk at 7 months is because it will make your baby's bowels hard.A baby under 12 months old cannot digest whole milk. Believe me, it will hurt your baby and hurt you more to see him in pain. My brother gave my son (6 mths at the time) Diluted whole milk because he didn't know how to mix baby formula. My baby screamed and hollered trying to have a bowel movement. As a long term effect my son has a problem digesting certain things.(some dairy) He is not lactose tolerant! You can however begin to give him tastes of table foods like mashed potatoes, rice kernels, and soft things like that. But don't overfill his mouth of course. Good luck mommy!

It's really not an issue of cow's milk not having what your baby needs nutritionally (though that's true, too). More importantly, it can't be digested yet by young infants. You have to wait a year because that's how long it takes most babies to develop the enzymes to digest cow's milk. Giving it to them before then could cause a severe allergic reaction and
digestive problems. But ask your doctor about YoBaby yogurt- that mixed with plain, full-fat yogurt (like Stonifield Farms brand) may be fine for your baby because something in yogurt breaks down the milk sugars (lactose) that young babies can't digest on their own.

it doesn't give an adequate amount of nutrients for that age.

An infant should not be fed cow's milk exclusively because it does not contain the nutrition that a human needs. Humans need other foods to fill in the nutritional gaps. So the short answer is if you feed an infant only cow's milk it will be malnutritioned.

because their belly can't handle it right now

yes you can give that baby anything barring too much junk and other things that may cause an allergic reaction. if you haven't already started testing single foods on the baby to check for allergies yet you should start soon. but my baby was eating everything by nine months. and i remember starting out with fruits and vegetables. then moving to more complex foods like breads and crackers. then the meats. if your baby doesn't have any reactions then you know that the food is not going to cause an allergic reaction. just start with an apple. wait for a day and move in the next thing. i am sure you're feeding the baby baby food so you have already tested for food allergies to some degree. go from there.

Babies bellies aren't mature enough to handle regular milk until 1 year old, plus they need all the nutrition from formula for proper development. They're really not supposed to drink anything but formula or a little bit of water that first year. As for table food, if your baby is able to eat all baby foods (at least the stage 2 kind), then go ahead and start trying some table food and see what he does. I think rule of thumb is, when he can sit up in a high chair by himself and pick up the pieces of food of the tray to feed himself, that's when to start table foods. You can always make your own baby food-just mash up fruits or cooked veggies.

I'm not exactly sure on the reason for waiting on the milk. I think it has something to do with avoiding alergies or digestive issues - someone correct me if I'm off base.

As far as table food - go for it! Baby food gets expensive & as long as you're cutting things small enough or mashing if he doesn't have teeth yet you're good to go. My sister-in-law never gave her daughter baby food.

Good luck!
L.