Goat's milk as a supplement to breasfeeding?
This is in response to your answer to another question on goat's milk for babies. I fed all four of my children goat's milk as a supplement to breastfeeding. They all have become very healthy adults and were not deficient in anything because of it. They actually did better because they could not tolerate cow's milk.
My father was a 7 month preemie when he was born. He was fed nothing but goat's milk because it was all he could keep down to survive. He thrived very nicely on this back in 1923 and is very healthy and active today. I also have a sister-in-law who fed her children goat's milk and to her Doctor's amazement charted her children while they were on this supplement and was very pleased with the results of their growth and health during this time. Her doctor now recommends goat's milk to her other patients to use as a supplement instead of regular formula.
Goat's milk has been proven in the past to be the closest to breastmilk as a supplement despite what some may say to it's shortcomings. Breastmilk is also low in Iron, and Vitamins C and D. Should we tell women not to breastfeed?
Question:Sue Gilbert
Sue Gilbert works as a consulting nutritionist. For many years she worked with Earth's Best Organic Baby Food, integrating nutrition and... Read more
Thank you for your comments on successful accounts of using goats milk in the diets of young children. No doubt goat milk may help to supplement breast milk. I just want to discourage people from using it instead of formula. There is a real danger of dehydration if it is used exclusively for very young infants because of the solute load and the subsequent stress that it puts on the baby's kidneys. I think there is a lot of value in anecdotal evidence, however, when there is sufficient scientific evidence that counters it, I opt to go with the scientific. Particularly with babies there is no room for playing guinea pig.
Of course we shouldn't tell moms not to breastfeed, and I imagine you intended that question to be rhetorical. However, you brought up some good points. That is, nursing moms do need to be concerned about vitamin D, and therefore must be sure that baby gets plenty of sun exposure each day, or that a supplement is given.
The iron in breast milk is very low, however, it is well absorbed. Newborns and babies up to age four to six months rely on birth stores of iron and what they get from mom. After that age, it is recommended that supplementary iron be given to nursing babes. I have not read any studies that discuss the absorbability of iron from goats milk, and so do not want to suggest that parents feeding goats milk to babies, depend on it as an iron source.
Vitamin C is also a necessary supplement for nursing babies which is why a vitamin C enriched fruit or juice is one of the first foods to be recommended to add to a baby's weaning diet, along with an iron fortified cereal.
It is fine for you to share your stories of success with goats milk. However, as a professional nutritionist, I must rely on proven, well supported, scientific information to make recommendations. That does not, in any way, mean the experience others have had are not valid, it just means that statistically, they do not yet safely apply to the population in general.
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