When to Start Dairy?

I was a strict follower of this guide! The only thing I don't remember being included on here is green peppers and my daughter claimed she 'didn't like them' recently (she's now 3) but then I said, Oh, I love them and gave her another little bite & she said they were good!
She loves her vegetables and usually gets a different kind at both lunch & supper every day! She even requests brocolli with her mac & cheese!
Good luck!
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/foodsbytypeandage.htm

You can try dairy foods at this point as long as you don't replace his formula yet. They say no cow's milk yet because their little tummy's won't break it down enough to get enough vitamins and formula is already broke down, but as for just trying new foods dairy is good for them as long as their tummy's can handle it. Just don't replace his breast milk or formula for a few months. Hope this helps.

Dear M. S.,

I believe your son is old enough to begin eating different flavors of yogurt. I would just try one fruit flavor at a time for a week or two so that if an allergy develops you will know which fruit he is allergic to. Don't do more than one fruit a week unless you have already established in the past that he is not allergic to any fruits. Some fruits can give a baby a nasty diaper rash if allergic to them. Doctors say that teething does not cause diaper rashes but I saw them on my own daughters and then on my granddaughters whenever they were trying to cut teeth.

Hope this helps.

L. C.

It should be ok to do some dairy, cheese, cottage cheese should be ok, introduce it slowly, so to make sure there is no allergy. Just about any diary should be ok, but start slow, and no cows milk til 1 year old. Good luck and God bless

Always talk to your pediatrician about when to introduce foods. You'll get a 1000 different responses on this website that are only everyone's own opinion and still be confused.

M.,

Here's a website that gave me great information about food. www.wholesomebabyfood.com

It helps you to decide when to feed, how to feed, recipes, and nutritional information about each food. Also, check out about combinations of vitamins which go together, like Vit D (milk) and Iron (Breast-milk or Formula) which don't help each other, hense waiting for 1 year to give Milk.

Have Fun, M.

I gave both of my children a sippy cup with Whole Milk on their 1st Birthday!! I think that everyone says that because typically their pediatricians tell them to wait until the kids are old enough to "stomach" something that to them, is a strong liquid. Formula and breast milk is a thinner liquid. Some people have given their own children cereal in their bottles early on as well, which I never did. I only gave it to them in true cereal form. That being said, if he is able to handle MOST table foods, if you feel ready to give him Milk, go ahead and try it. Watch him for a day or two and see how he reacts to it. I am assuming that you have given him things like a taste of you Ice Cream cone and things like that, Ice Cream tends to be made out of Whole milk. I would think that if he was going to have a reaction to Dairy, he would have had some signs of that by now. Do what your gut tells you. Just watch for some symptoms. Good Luck!! Isn't parenthood Wonderful!!!! I love it!!

I didn't give my daughter any dairy until 12 months. You can look at La Leche League's website for info on starting solids. They have a lot of great info under "resources". The site is www.llli.org and they also have a great book THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, that you can get at most bookstores.

I found the whole dairy thing to be confusing also. I gave my daughter cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, at around the 9-10 month range. She had no allergies so I figured why not. Milk I waited until 1 year somthing to do with the whole pasterization process. I would say if she eats it with no problems/ allergies give it to her! My baby eats just about anything now, she is a remarkable eater. I think in part to the variety and timing of all the variations of foods she ate. I say go for it! BTW- Tofu is an awesome source of protein that you can add to just about anything. She loves it!

M.,
In my opinion, I would be very careful with dairy products. Many are allergic to dairy (if sounds like you've nursing.. so it's good that you haven't seen a reaction yet through him getting it from that), but he could still have a reaction to milk through drinking it. Cow's milk is very hard to digest. The longer you wait to introduce highly allergenic foood, the better (dairy and wheat are HIGHLY allergenic to many.. and the reactions might be minor).

I waited till after a year to give my son any dairy products... there's no reason I felt to introduce it early. The first year should be mainly formula or breastmilk anyway.. they'll have a lifetime to eat! : )

I started with cheese and found that was fine, then yogurt. I still don't give him straight milk at 17 months. I highly recommend getting dairy without hormones and additives too.. if you're by a Trader Joe's you can get it there for a cheaper than the store. After cutting out additives in my own diet a couple years ago, I can feel the difference when I have them now so I don't want my son to have them on a regular basis either.

I give my just turned 10 month old cheese and occasional bite of yogurt or cottage cheese. We too have no allergy issues. Our pediatrician says at this point the baby can eat whatever we are eating. Last night for dinner he had applesauce and orzo with feta, onion, cucumber and olives. He loved it!! I very specifically asked my pediatrician about dairy and he said there was not enough to be worried about in an occasional bite or some cheese and we have never had anything adverse happen by feeding it. With that said I KNOW my baby needs no other calcium than what I am giving him in his bottle so if you family thinks he NEEDS cottage cheese that is not correct. In fact a baby can technically survive on breast milk alone until past 1 but if you ask my little guy he would say not true LOL he loves his food!

Hi, Shelly.

From everything I've read, and from talking to my pediatrician, it's fine for you to start giving your son cottage cheese, "hard" cheeses (like cheddar chunks), and whole milk yogurt. These are all processed differently from plain cows milk, which makes it okay to give them before one year. Make sure that you don't give him lowfat or nonfat stuff, though, because he needs the fats for his brain development. Some pediatricians feel that it's fine to give babies cows milk starting at eleven months, provided the babies have handled the other dairy products well. I hope this information helps!

I work in a daycare with infants and toddlers. Many of the parents start them on yogurt as early as 8 months like pear or apple flavored as they are mild. The texture is similar to mixed fruit with the pudding/desserts that Gerber makes. The children also seem to eat it better at room temperature rather than straight from the fridge. As the children get older 10 1/2-11 months they used the small curd cottage cheese. Many times they spit it out because the texture is strange....you may want to mash it. Good luck.

If your little onehas been on milk based formula w/o problems (and no other allergies) he can do milk based products that have been pasturized like hard cheeses, cottage cheese, cream cheese, baby yogerts, etc. No whole milk until 12 months though. It has to do with the processing and the nutrients your son needs that he is getting from either formula or breastfeeding. However, a lot of the formula companies do have a 9-24 month version of their product. Now would be a good time to switch if you use formula.

The website here was pretty helpful for me. I hope it helps you too.

http://www.parents.com/baby/feeding/solid-foods/feeding-9...

Hi M., I think that the reason they say no milk is mostly because it is harder for the kids to digest. Yogurt and cheeses are different because the proteins are already changed and are easier to digest. I started yogurt and cheeses at about 9 months for mine. I found that people often didn't understand that when breasfeeding, you really don't need to give more than that to keep the kids healthy and progressing. However, I have recently heard about studies with kids being vitamin D difficient (especially breastfed babies) and cheeses and yogurt and such will help with that, along with other things. You can ask your pediatrician about that since it's important for bone health.

is he drinking milk based formula??

if he is drinking milk based formula then he can have milk products..

Kraft cheese crumbles are great for babies... just the right size. Yo baby yogurt is also good. My kids hated cottage cheese but they have texture issues..

I breastfed my son.. but he started gettin milk in a cup at 10 months.

I was told to start dairy at 9 months (along with other table foods). I gave my daughter cheese, Yobaby yogurt and cottage cheese. I didn't give her whole milk to drink until she was a year old. I remember being confused about it too so don't worry :-) Call your doctor and ask specifically about giving him certain dairy foods if that helps you feel better. Enjoy that baby!

J.

My babies are always starting to grab things off the table by then, if they show an interest I'd give them a nibble. As long as he's not eating the whole carton of cottage cheese I'm sure he'd be fine. My mom nursed me for the first 4 months of my life, and then I was on cow's milk after that! And I think I turned out O.K. :)

From my experience the problem with milk (other than an allergy) is when moms replace breastmilk/formula too soon. Milk just doesn't have the nutrition value to support a growing baby in the first year. I have always introduced milk *products* before one year when my kids were ready. Yogurt has been one of my kids' favorites from very early on. My youngest loved milk more than formula but the ped said I had to wait til one year to make the change.

Just as long as your son is getting breastmilk or formula, you can introduce foods one at a time if he seems interested. Most of all, trust your mommy instincts...you'll know what to do!

~L.

I started giving my son yogurt (he didn't like cottage cheese) when he was 9 months old. He was on milk-based formula;if your son is on soy or lactose-free formula, I would wait and discuss this with your pedi. We introduced cow's milk a couple weeks before his 1st birthday by gradually increasing the amount of cow's milk while decreasing the amount of formula.

I know there are a lot of rules. I also know that my doctor allowed me to supplement my children at about 10 months with skim milk. When it came to the other stuff, we introduced one at a time over a 2 week period to make sure there weren't any reactions. I started with the yougurt and then some ice cream and they weren't given in large amounts. I think that cottage cheese was my last one, as well as cheese. The biggest thing I found was going slowly to watch for signs that their bodies were not liking the dairy products.
B.

Some babies tolerate yogurt before one year because the way it is made affects the protein in the milk. But my personal choice was to wait until at least one for all dairy. I guess the question is why give them cottage cheese now? What benefit is there? Will they miss out on anything if you don't give it to them? Why don't you speak with your pediatrician about when to introduce those things? You can say to your family "thank you for your suggestion; I'll follow up with my doctor before I decide what is right for my baby (or I spoke with my doctor to see what is right for my baby).

S

My son is 6 months old so I was reading the responses and most people said is what we recently talked to our pediatrician about. He suggested starting the dairy table foods, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt at 7-9 months (may depend on teeth.) He also stated to NOT start milk until 1 year of age, and it has to be whole milk until at least age 2. My understanding is that once the child turns 1 and gets whole milk, it is not necessary to continue formula. Good luck and always go with your gut!

Both of my boys started milk products between 7 and 8 months. For cottage cheese, I give 2%. For yogurt, I use the plain or vanilla. I'm a big fan of Stonyfield Farms. No additives. I also like to add some Kelloggs Bran Bits in the yogurt. It gives a little extra texture and fiber. For cheese, I waited until I thought they could chew it well enough. My 5yo had 12 teeth by one year, so he got it before then. My 13mo still only has 6 teeth and likes to swallow things whole, so he doesn't get anything too chunky. Milk definitely is supposed to wait until at least one year. The proteins in it are harder to break down than the other products and there is a greater chance of allergies or intolerance. For instance, my 5yo could have small quantities of milk products, but had to drink Lactaid until he was 4. Just start slowly and see how it goes. At this age, you can really start feeding anything but the choking hazards, peanut butter, honey, and eggs.

I have heard of the same thing. I even read you can give them yogart and cheese and things like that just not the straight cows mild until they are one.

The professionals keep going back and fourth on this debating when is the proper time to give your baby dairy products. If you are breastfeeding I would wait unless you really think its nessesary. Yogurt has live enzimes so I think you have to wait. (p.s does anyone spell yogurt right? Not me) Go to the Gerber website. It is an helpful aid when trying to plan your babies meals for the day. It breaks down what to eat and when to eat if for your baby. I have a 6 month old and have used it.