Milk and Eggs- When to Start

Susan posted ALL the links I have in my favorites!! So, my two cents when it comes to babies and food stuff. This is something where in spite of my deep desire to 'think outside the box' in other areas that I stuck to the philosophy of the doctors and dieticians.

There are reason why, and how we start kids on certain dietary changes at certain ages. If he's almost 11 months old, will less than two months really make a difference?

These kinds of concerns should be addressed with his Pediatrician.

I wouldn't start dairy products this young, but if you feel that you must, try goat milk rather than cow milk. It is closer to the makeup of breastmilk and more easily processed by humans.

Here's a GOOD link to answer your questions:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_foods-that-can-be-unsafe-for-...

http://www.babycenter.com/0_foods-that-can-be-unsafe-for-...

http://www.babycenter.com/0_introducing-solid-foods_113.b...

With my son, I was in a similar predicament. My milk supply was waning and I was having trouble keeping it up...so I asked the pediatrician and she said NO MILK until OVER 11 months, then I could introduce the milk, but not completely wean until after he was a year old. So that's what I did. I introduced milk in the sippy cup after 11 months; he just turned 1 last week and at this point we are down to night-time feedings, all milk during the day is from the sippy and he nurses around 9pm and then again when he gets up in the morning around 6-6:30ish. Eventually I'll cut out the 9pm feeding (this is a couple hours After he has gone to bed) and the morning will be replaced with cows milk, but we are not quite ready to comletely wean. Hope that helps! You may want to contact your pediatrician to confirm thei recommendation.

On eggs...I gave my son eggs atarting around 9.5-10 months. He never had a problem and whenever we'd go out to breakfast he'd really be wanting them off my and his sister's plate. I never asked on that one, just did it so I have no idea what the true recommendation is.

My son was exclusively breastfed for about 10 months when pumping at work stopped producing enough to sustain him the following day. We started using formula during the day and I cut down to just breastfeeding in the morning and before bed. Anyway, the day he turned one, my husband didn't feel like mixing a formula bottle and tried some 2%. My son sucked it down faster than he ever did the formula like, "Where have you been keeping this stuff all my life?" Point is, I wish we'd tried it a bit earlier. After that, weening him was super easy. I'd just offer a bottle (cup in your case) in the morning and at bed time to see how much he'd take and if he pushed it away and wanted the breast, that was fine with me. After about two weeks, he quit nuzzling at my chest and I quit offering. It was all so much easier than I had anticipated. My advice would be to double-check with your pediatrician first, but if you're both ready to ween, it doesn't have to be traumatic. As for eggs, I still avoid them (he's now 15 months) because my husband had a bad reaction when he was a baby (needed an adrenaline shot in the ER) and turned out to be allergic to poultry through his young adulthood. My son seems fine with chicken, but with eggs specifically on the "list" of things to avoid, I just avoid. Hope this helps and best of luck. Happy Holidays!

I think it depends a lot on your family's history of allergies. Mine had none and I started both of my daughters on milk around 11 months (didn't figure that the day they turned 1 was that magical). Not because I was weaning, but because they started taking a cup with their meals and mixing formula for every meal became too much trouble (granted, I had some significant personal challenges at the time that were making me cut corners!). I also fudged a little on eggs, with both having scrambled eggs a smidge before their first birthday. You can follow the guidelines precisely, or be extra conservative, or fudge a little. Just use your mommy's intuition about what your child is ready for.

At weelicious, we highly recommend that milk not be offered to babies until 1 year of age. Egg YOLKS are a fantastic source of iron for babies 8-12 months old, but you don;t want to offer egg whites until 1 year of age. I usually hard boil eggs and then mash the yolk with a little water to make a thick paste. It was my son's favorite food for a long time.-www.weelicious.com

I gave miy son milk, eggs, cheese... at 9m. No rush to wean though, breastmilk is the BEST thing for them. Look into the benefits.

The feeding guideline that my ped gave me says egg yolks at 8 months and whole eggs at 1 year. Hard boil the egg and just feed them to yolk at 8 months. Best of Luck and Happy Holidays!

Hi. My pediatrician says no egg whites til 12 mos. I guess the yellow part is okay. As for the milk, I'd say (though I'm no doctor) to give your little one a little milk and see what happens. If he spits/throws it up or has a tummy ache or other irregular reactions, discontinue for a while longer. Both my daughters had milk products by 11 mos. old, thanks to grandma :-) and they were fine. It's just that some babies have a bad reaction to cow's milk, so they blanket all babies with the same warning.

Hi W.....I have 2 little ones who are now 41/2 and 31/2. Neither one of them liked formula and I nursed them both to 10 months going straight to homo milk. I never had a problem with either one of them. They say not to feed them milk until one year because it's harder to digest but my babies had no issues with it. As for eggs, as far as I know, it's an allergy concern. If you're confident with your child and are unaware of any egg allergies in your family, I wouldn't hesitate on giving your son a small amount to start. He is after all, only one month from being a year! Good luck!!

This is coming from a mom with 2 boys who both developed food allergies, so take it for what it's worth, I may have a stronger opinion than others! Dairy and eggs are supposed to wait until one year because of their potential to be allergenic. I would wait as long as possible. If you don't have allergies in your family and your other boys haven't had any allergies then you're probably safe to "fudge" it a little early but I would err on the safe side if it were me! Def. don't introduce peanuts/nuts until after 3 years!! (BTW by allergies in the family, that means ANY allergy not just food. We don't have any food allergies in the family but our allergist said my husband's cat allergy and my hay-fever can translate to ANY type of allergy in our kids! I had never heard of that!)Anyway, like I said, take it for what it's worth!

As for milk that's about the age we started teaching them to drink out of a real cup, I would just give them a drink out of my cup. One month isn't going to make that big of a deal. Fill his sippy cup about 1 1/2 inches full and give it to him with meals or snack. This will get him use to the taste and save you on the formula expense. Plus formula is powdery tasting, he might not even go for it. Which would be a waste. My kids are all older and healthy, 18, 13 & 8. They love milk.

Good luck and trust yourself, you know your kids best. J.

I'll tell you this is not professional advice, but I started my son early. He was exclusively breast fed, but less because I was determined, and more because he refused any form of a bottle. That was UNTIL he was 10 and 1/2 months old, and I tried a bottle of whole milk. He slowly transitioned from breast feeding to bottle feeding in the next month or so. By one year I had him over on the bottle and off breast feeding. I was under the impression that the food stages were guidelines. Watch for any kind of allergic reaction, and take you son in to a doctor if you see anything alarming. That would be my advice.

There is no one with a stop watch on you, go ahead. I would not want to give my kids formula either. My boys were eating milk before a year (goat milk OH NO) and eggs. I have twins so stopped breast feeding at 6 months. I started feeding oatmeal and banana puree and veggee puree out of my garden at about 7 months. There are so many things that we are told not to do or make sure we do, it gets kind of crazy. You wonder how we all grew up if all that stuff is so harmful. My boys are well over 6 feet and healthy as horses.

Any allergy issues are another thing, mine did not have any then and don't now.

My pediatrician (who is with the American Academy of Pediatrics)recommends that you wait until 2 to give egg whites, but egg yolks are ok at 12 months. As for the milk - I know a few people who started 3-5 weeks early, and their kids are fine! ;)

I just gave my daughter a cup with water in it at about 12 months. It cut down on the breastfeeding a lot, but I didn't have to worry about allergies. My daughter is just about 21 months now, and is just now starting to like skim milk. Won't touch whole or 2%...
Eggs, I was told that the yolks are ok, but the whites are too hard for them to digest, at least for a couple more months...
Also, your son should be on solids. That should have let you cut back on breastfeeding...
Good luck!
R.

Hi W.,
11 months is close enough. Just use 100% whole milk until the baby is 2 then you can switch to low fat. I don't remember the age on the eggs but I know my son had a slight allergic reaction the first time we gave it to him. He was fine after he was older. Check with the doctor on this one.

Good luck.

Dairy products cause intestinal bleeding. People are not meant to consume dairy products. The reason why dairy is not meant for infants is because their digestive systems are too immature to digest dairy products.
Dairy products caused my twins countless ear and sinus infections. Unfortunately my kids pediatrician was ignorant and kept on prescribing antibiotics for their dairy allergies. Al least 50% of the world population is allergic to dairy. If your children start getting ear or sinus infections and ADHD, remove dairy from their diets.
D. Merlin
Mother/author
www.victoryoveradhd.com

At a week before 11 months, I had had enough of breastfeeding, and 3 different formulas were rejected at the first sip. I poured milk (I had 2% I think) in a bottle and when it was time, I offered that and she took 2 ounces before she realized. WOOHOO! I stopped cold turkey, so as not to confuse her (after a day of monitoring any allergic reactions) and she was fine. She didn't LOVE it, but she would take it. Good luck, and ask your ped. for better advice, I'm just wing'n it, lol.

i started to transition my daughter to milk at 11 1/2 months it took 2 weeks i just mixed 2 scoops of formula in with her milk and when the can was gone that was it she was on straight milk. she has been eating eggs since like 9 months. i make them over hard so i know they are fully cooked for her.

Not sure about early but I started both of mine right at their one year birthday! I bet if you went with an organic pure milke you'd be fine. Eggs, I'd wait but I belive my firts son tried them around 13 months...

hi i am a single mom, My baby girl just turned 1 on december 6th and i started giving her a little bit of milk product at 11 months and she is fine now with a bottle of milk and eggs i have given her them as well just try a little at a time and see if there is a reaction, thats how i weened her.