The juice on cow's milk for babies

June 23, 1999
Web posted at: 10:24 AM EDT (1424 GMT)

In this story: Reducing the risk of allergy Keeping your child's blood iron-rich Reducing the risk of dehydration If you decide to go with cow's milk RELATEDS

By Daphne Miller, M.D.

(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:

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.