The juice on cow's milk for babies

By Daphne Miller, M.D.

	WHICH MILK WHEN?
	Milk allergies and anemia are much less common after a child's first birthday, and many parents switch their child to fresh cow's milk without difficulty. Generally, after age 1, your child should be drinking between 16 and 24 ounces of milk a day (that's about 2 to 4 glasses) and getting a lot of calcium, iron and protein from solid foods. Most children drink whole milk until age 2, and then begin to switch to low-fat milk. Do not try to switch your child to low-fat milk before the age of 2: a baby's growing body needs the fats in whole milk for proper development. It's best to make all of these decisions with your child's pediatrician at your child's one-year visit.

(WebMD) -- Whether you're breastfeeding or bottle-feeding your baby, you may be wondering when you can begin giving her cow's milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends waiting until a child is a year old before starting her on fresh cow's milk. There are several important reasons for this:

Reducing the risk of allergy

Waiting to give fresh milk to your child may prevent or lessen a cow's-milk allergy. About 2 percent to 3 percent of infants will develop some or all of the following allergic symptoms when they drink cow's milk: a red bumpy rash, a runny or stuffy nose, coughing, wheezing, constipation or diarrhea. Bywaiting a year to give fresh cow's milk to your child, it is possible that you are giving her a chance to build up her immune system, which may decrease the likelihood of a serious allergic reaction once she does drink fresh cow's milk.

It's important to note, however, that many formulas also contain broken-down cow's-milk products, mainly proteins. Even though allergic reactions to formulas are not as common as reactions to fresh cow's milk, they do occur. If your infant has any of the allergic symptoms mentioned above, talk to her doctor. The doctor will probably suggest that you switch her to a soy-based formula that doesn't list cow's-milk protein as an ingredient.

Keeping your child's blood iron-rich

By giving your child fresh cow's milk before 1 year of age, you may increase her chances of developing iron-deficiency anemia (a low number of red blood cells). Iron deficiency in infants can harm brain and nerve development, and can happen for several reasons:

Fresh cow's milk has less iron than breast milk or iron-fortified formulas. The composition of fresh cow's milk -- calcium, phosphate and vitamin C -- can cause a decrease in the absorption of iron in a baby's intestine. Fresh cow's milk can cause slight intestinal bleeding. This bleeding cannot be seen with the naked eye, but can be enough to make your child anemic. Some studies have shown that around one-third of children who are regularly given fresh cow's milk before 12 months of age will be anemic before they are 12- to 15-months old. Reducing the risk of dehydration Finally, the high amount of sodium in fresh cow's milk compared to formula or breast milk can draw water out of your child's body. If your child already has diarrhea or vomiting from a stomach flu or other problem, fresh cow's milk might cause or worsen dehydration. If you decide to go with cow's milk Despite these risks and the thumbs down from the AAP, people do give their babies whole cow's milk before age 1. Some parents dislike the idea of commercial formulas or have a strong family tradition of giving cow's milk. If you should decide to give your baby fresh cow's milk, you should share your decision with your child's physician. He or she may suggest that you start your baby on an iron supplement or test her for anemia soon after she begins drinking cow's milk. Copyright 1999 by WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.