Has Anyone Used Goats Milk???

Hi W., a friend of mine used goat's milk after reading the ingedients on a can of formula. Hope it goes well, it did for her. S.

Hi:

Many years ago in first-born was allergic to cows milkand hatedsoy. We could then buy goat's milk in a can. It worked very well and milk issues were gone.

H.

Hi W.,

My husband is a homeopath and he recommends goat's milk. When I had my son, I went back to work for 6 weeks so we could close on our mortgage... I couldn't pump enough and had to substitute one bottle per day, and so my mother would give him 1 bottle of goat's milk from weeks 6-12 (then I returned home and nursed full time). My son did EXCELLENT with this, and both my sons still consume 4-6 ounces of goat milk yogurt per day, which seems to do wonders for their health and immune systems. I was living in the city of a state that does not allow the sale of raw milk so I used the Meyenberg canned goat's milk diluted with water per can directions; I am now in the country and am able to procure raw goat milk, which I wouldn't hesitate to use as a less processed alternative provided you know how the goat's living conditions and diet are.

As for talking to your pediatrician first- quite honestly, goat milk has been used for centuries as a substitute for mother's milk when it was unavailable and "pediatricians" have only been around for a century or less... so I would be more confident in the collective human experience than our society's short-term experiement in children's allopathic care.

There is a good recipe for making your own formula from raw milk in the cookbook "Nourishing Traditions".

My midwives suggested supplementing our baby with goat's milk at a time when I thought I was not making enough of my own milk. He was about 3 months old at the time. I ended up being okay and did not supplement.

Goat's milk is supposedly very close to human milk, as you have been told. Some people say drink only raw, unpasteurized goat's milk; some people say to not do that. Some people say you should add a natural sweetener and a little water to make it more like human milk; some people say don't do that. You can read a few articles at www.mothering.com.

If I had to supplement, I would use goat's milk, but not packaged formula because I think that is worse than goat's milk (read some of the articles about formula at www.mothering.com). I'm not sure what the pros and cons of this would be, but you can try mixing the goat's milk with your own milk. I tried that once, but my son did not really like it and again, I ended up not needing to supplement so I didn't offer it to him again.

Are you drinking Mother's Milk tea or taking fenugreek in capsules (or another way)? It doesn't sound like you are having a production problem, but in case you are, these are supposed to increase supply. I take them. Also, I have seen some meditation/visualization CDs to help you produce more milk. I found them through Google when my milk was down. Although I did not buy them, they looked helpful.

Congratulations and good luck!

My best advice would be to call your pediatrician NOT your chiropractor. If your child has allergies maybe a soy formula is needed.Only your pediatrician is qualified to make that decision for the safety of your child.

Hi W.
My youngest daughter who is now a year. Was brought up on goats milk. Nothing seemed to settle her down. One night we went out and my parents were watching the kids and we came home to a calm and happy baby. They had given her goats milk. I was a little upset because i was nursing and to see that my own milk was not working for her hurt but she is now A year old and is on whole milk and doing great.

Hey W. - I've never tried goats milk, but I have heard the same thing. So your chioropracter isn't being wacky. Good luck with your growing brood!

yes they have it in the supermarket, it was a little pricey but i had to use it for my daughter, i diluted it so there was more. ya gotta do what you gotta do, good luck!

hey there- so goats milk is definitely not a good choice. it can lead to anemia and also malnutrition. I would speak with your pediatrician about the problem and or a lactation consultant too. keep up the breastfeeding as it is so good for your babies, even though hard work for you! they are getting all they need from you! congrats on the babies!

My daughter is now 9 and lactose intollerant so she sometimes drinks goat milk. Don't know anything about giving it to babies (although a lot of other Moms here do). Wish I knew that when I was spending a fortune on Nutramagen years ago!

Anyway, my father was raised in Italy and was born in 1930. His mother wasn't able to nurse him because she worked in a tabacco factory (they knew the nicotine got into the mily supply back then). He had a "wet nurse" for a while as an infant and then was given goat milk from their own goat for his entire childhood. He has never had cow's milk except maybe some cream in his coffe. He's 78 years old and in very good health - so I guess it didn't do him any harm. Good luck.
Elaina in NJ

I never had twins so I never had to supplement breastfeeding, but my children drank goat's milk all the time after they were weaned. Your chiropractor is correct with the information that goat's milk is the mammal's milk that most closely resembles human milk in composition and pH. I would definitely recommend it.

W. -- absolutely you can use goats milk. I never used formula. I breastfed and supplemented with goats milk and eventually went to exclusively goats milk (all at different ages). The milk in naturally pasturized by the goat and therefore easily digested by infants. And certainly much better than any formula out there. Yes, I too had been advised that is is closest to mothers milk. My kids THRIVED on it. My mom lives in PA and she would get me gallon(s) of goats milk from a mennonite farm and I would freeze it until I needed it. At the time (04-05) it was $3.50/gallon. It is much more expensive in a store. Good luck!!

Congrats on the babys and your ability to nurse both of them! If you want to supplement, you should really use a commercial formula!- it undergoes extensive and rigourous safety and health screening to make sure it has just the right nutrition and balance for babies. it is not regulated like other foods- it is regulated much more heavily because feeding babies animal milk before one year of age can lead to lots of problems. Goats milk, specifically, causes B-12 and folate anemia! To those who worte about it for allergies- it used to be sued before we knew so much about infant nutrition and what to put in formulas (in our parent's generation they gave babys cows milk and corn syrup as formula, so of course goats milk was better). The closest thing to human milk that is not human milk is formula! The closest animal's milk to human milk is actually camel's milk (there have been several studies published proving this). Aside from anemia, your baby can get many infections and/or electrolyte imbalance causing permanent brain damage from using goats milk, so please don't risk it.

Hi W. K
Congratulations on your twin girls!!! Our boys were 19 & 15 years when our twin girls were born. OK it is different. But it was hectic, with college entrance and sports. I would not have missed it, not any of it for anything. Enjoy it as it passes quickly. The girls are now 18 and in college themselves but it was only yesterday that I would simply invite people into their playpen when they came.
As for goat's milk, we tried everything.
K. SAHM married 38 years with the kids now 37,32he made us grandparents in July and 18.

Yes, but not until after he turned 1 year old. My son had a runny nose for 2 month on cows milk. When I took him off cows milk the runny nose stopped immediately. After a few weeks I put him on goats milk and he was much better and he liked the milk. Although I do have to add after a couple months I noticed he was constantly congested (not a runny nose though) so I am suspecting that may be from goats milk but not 100% certain. It is also pasteurized and some would say raw is better - it is very confusing. But I definitely would recommend trying the goats milk - it appears less likely to provoke any kind of reaction than cows milk and definitely has all the health benefits.

first, congrats on the twins!!! how exciting and hectic it must be!!
I would absolutely talk to their pediatrician before changing their diet.. Their little digestive systems are so immature right now, that you don't want to fool around with it!!
good luck!

COngrats on your twins, and on the breastfeeding! It sounds like you're doing a great job. I know that you can use goats milk later on (at LEAST 9 mos, and like someone else said, a year is better), but as mentioned by others, they aren't quite mature enough to digest it. Actually it can even make them anemic due to problems with absorption of iron in goats milk. If you are still considering it, I would talk to your pediatrician about it first. Congrats again!

Hey W..

We grew up w/goats milk. People who had allergies would come over for some. Yes, we had goats and milked them.

The goats milk in the store is not the same (to me). It's very strong tasting.

If you can find it fresh, it's almost like regular milk.

I grew up on LI so finding milk for you (unless you live in the city) will be easy. If you need place to call, I'll ask my mom for peoples names. Just post to let me know what county you live in.

J.

First, congrats on nursing twins. You have your hands full! You can use goat's milk later on, but it's pasteurized and your baby girls are not ready to digest it. Breast milk is the best thing for them. Other milks are not suggested until at least 9 months, some schools of though (myself included) are a year. Are you able to pump at all?

My ds drinks goat milk and eats goat yogurt due to cow dairy/soy sensitivity. I've done a lot of research on this... I believe there is nothing wrong with you substituting goat milk once a day. Personally I wouldn't use it as their exclusive nutrition until they begin solids (around 6 mo.). Goat milk is much gentler on the digestive system because it is so similar to human milk which makes it a great substitution.