Cow's milk for the child: what, when, how

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Cow's milk for the child: what, when, how
Cow's milk for the child: what, when, how
Anonim

Most of today's mothers cannot even imagine how they survived being fed half milk by their parents as babies - in many cases. The world has changed a lot since then, and now the prevailing view is that giving cow's milk too early can be the source of many problems, such as asthma, a constant runny nose, cough, eczema, stunted growth, as well as lactose sensitivity and milk (protein) allergy. According to the current position, cow's milk is one of the biggest food allergens until the child is 3 years old. Or - according to the latest view - not even.

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Being careful does not mean that the kid will see cottage cheese bars for the first time at the age of 8, because fermented milk products can play a role in feeding much earlier than cow's milk. We have compiled what mothers with small children need to know about cow's milk, and when it is worth starting to give it to the child.

What do mothers know?

The Association of Hungarian Pediatricians (MGYT) conducted several studies asking mothers with small children about their nutritional knowledge and habits around their babies. Almost all of the 400 women who responded knew that it is best for babies to be breastfed until they are at least 6 months old. But what should be done after that, what are the things that today's doctors and nurses recommend? The confusion was much greater here.

It turned out that 14 percent of the mothers surveyed already give cow's milk to their 6-12-month-old children. This ratio rises up to the age of one year, every fifth of 10-12-month-old babies already knows cow's milk. A quarter of mothers were not aware that it is not recommended to feed their child with milk under the age of 1, and 12 percent thought it was a good idea to do so, saying that it was given to them when they were babies.

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According to today's recommendations, this is a mistake. The ingredients and structure of cow's milk (and, for that matter: goat's milk) are very different from mother's milk, and they put a strain on babies' bodies. Protein molecules are too large and the immune system can identify them as enemies and react against them with an allergic reaction. Such a young organization is not yet ripe for this task. If we give our child cow's milk or goat's milk prematurely, we expose him to suffering from lactose sensitivity or milk allergy, which can produce clear symptoms, but can even hide behind another disease.

Of course, milk also has many good qualities, let's not ignore them. We like it because it has a high protein content (3.2 g/100ml), is rich in calcium, magnesium, vitamins A, B and D, is easily available, is particularly cheap compared to alternatives (e.g. dairy-free formulas) and tastes pleasant.

Milk and milk products: when can they come?

In the hospital, every newborn receives a he alth booklet. Attached to this is a feeding guide that follows the currently valid nutrition and he alth recommendations.

According to:

  • From the age of 8 months, we can give natural yogurt and cottage cheese, gradually, at first by mixing only a small amount into other food.
  • After the age of one, milk and drinks made from it (baby coffee with milk, caramel milk, cocoa, milkshakes), sour cream, cheese (grated up to 1.5 years of age) are recommended.
  • Goat's milk is recommended from one and a half years of age, as are cottage cheese, cream cheese, kefir, goat cheese.
  • And sheep's curd, sheep's cheese and cream from the age of two. Sweetened dairy products should be tasted as soon as possible, because they belong more to the category of sweets.

And the dissent

Just like in the case of gluten (and the gluten window phenomenon), a completely new kind of position has emerged regarding milk. In 2010, an Israeli study involving 13,000 babies reported that if the baby is exposed to cow's milk (in small amounts, 1-2 spoons) until the age of 14 days, it is more likely to avoid milk allergic reactions later on. Of the 13,000 infants tested, 66 (0.5 percent) experienced milk allergy symptoms, which is much lower than the average (1-3 %). Those who encountered cow's milk later were 19 times more likely to suffer from a milk protein allergy.

I asked some practicing mothers with babies, several of them claimed that they heard about this approach from a professional (e.g. nurse), or read about this point of view.

Those who need to be very careful

When introducing dairy products, special attention is required for children whose parents already had/have some milk-related sensitivity, such as milk sugar (lactose) sensitivity or milk protein (lactalbumin, casein) allergy. According to the strictest opinion, it is worth waiting until the age of 3, because in many cases the sensitivity ceases after the age of 3.

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What is lactose intolerance?

We present two frequently occurring problems. The "milder" case is lactose intolerance, i.e. milk sugar sensitivity, which produces symptoms after consuming dairy products due to the absence or reduced production of the lactase enzyme. In this case, the milk sugar continues unbroken from the small intestine to the large intestine, where the bacteria living here transform it into short-chain acids and gases.

This process results in symptoms such as diarrhea, fetid stools, thin, foamy, greenish, sour-smelling stools in infants. Common complaints are headache, bloating, cramps, nausea, nausea, malaise, skin rash. The symptoms may appear half an hour to two hours after eating food containing lactose, but they disappear completely within a day or two if we do not consume more food containing lactose. Malnutrition and weight loss may develop as a result of lactose intolerance not recognized in time. In small children (ages 0-5), growth may decrease or even stop.

A longer, completely lactose-free diet can partially or completely restore lactase production. According to literature data, 20-30 percent of lactose-intolerant people can consume a quarter of a liter of milk at a time without symptoms appearing, but usually all lactose-intolerant people start to experience symptoms after one liter of milk.

People who are lactose intolerant can eat mature hard and semi-hard cheeses and cheeses ripening with mold without any problems, because they either do not contain lactose or have a very low lactose content. Cottage cheese also has a low milk sugar content, while preserving the full protein content of milk, and yogurts and kefirs with live bacterial flora can also be eaten.

Tipp: According to the recommendation of the MGYT, if milk is consumed together with other food or lukewarm and warm, or if you choose milk with a higher fat content, you can facilitate the work of enzymes that break down lactose. The above are factors that increase the time of digestion, so the enzymes also have more time to do their job. Goat's milk is also recommended because it has a lower lactose content than cow's milk.

And milk allergy also exists

A much more problematic case is milk allergy (milk sensitivity, milk intolerance), which is a type of protein sensitivity. While the body of those with a lactose sensitivity can handle a limited amount of dairy products, those with a milk allergy react to even the smallest amount.

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The two often occur together, but milk allergy is more common in children and less common in adults. Due to the immaturity of the intestinal flora and the reduced excretion capacity of the kidneys, milk protein taken in prematurely causes complaints in 6 percent of children.

Symptoms may include digestive problems, rashes, eczema, suffocation, vomiting, and breathing problems, which will most likely disappear over time, roughly after the age of 3 (in the case of a diet). In the meantime, they recommend hypoallergenic formulas to replace breast milk, as well as the avoidance of all foods that contain even small amounts of milk protein. In addition to these dairy products, semi-finished and ready-made foods, cold meats, biscuits, margarine, and baked goods can be the most common (foods containing casein and milk powder are included).

Too much milk can also be problematic

Exaggerating milk consumption can also cause problems for those who are not sensitive to milk anyway. According to a 2012 Canadian study, it is not recommended for preschool children to consume more than half a liter of cow's milk per day, because it was noticed that those who regularly survive this amount have lower levels of iron in their blood. This can cause anemia and a weakened immune system. It is not known exactly whether the milk itself may prevent the absorption of iron, or whether those who drink such quantities of milk may be giving up other foods rich in iron. But many other studies have already pointed out the correlation between milk consumption and iron deficiency.

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