Have a 3 month old and am wondering if I can give him any type of cow's milk, whether it be whole, 2%, etc. I know its not RECOMMENDED, but am wondering what will happen. Thank you.

No, It is not recommended until a baby is at least one year old. To start introducing cows milk.

Here is a website.

From formula to cow's milk: Making the transition (http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/formulafeed/1334703.html)

Nurses and other care givers that we have had has all said the same thing. Introduce cows milk at 12 months of age.

If you are having financial problems purchasing formula; check with your local health department as to where you can receive vouchers for baby formula.

Many, many years ago, I received a monthly supply of baby formula for a year; I had to apply through one of the city run health clinics.

Oh yeah I'm already on WIC :) It was just a curiosity question, I figured it might get him off formula sooner, since I heard somewhere formula has things in it that aren't that great for babies.

Babies can not digest dairy products. Like said above - you should not introduce milk until he is 12 months old. When you do so, you need to do whole milk. But not before he is a year old. In all actuality he should not be on any thing but formula until he is 6 months old.

Well I gave my first son whole milk at 7 months and he was fine with it. But thanks for your response, I figured it wouldn't be good for him, I was just wondering if I can introduce it yet or not. :)

Wow. What does your ped. Say? When it came to feeding my daughter - I was freaked out about trying anything - afraid of allergies or whatever. Since I was a "newbie", I did everything by the book (written by her dr.) :)

My son was an eater. At 7 months he was already completely eating nothing but food, and didn't want formula. All he wanted was something to quench his thirst, so I gave him 4 oz. milk bottle and waited to see how he would react to it. He was fine. My Ped said as long as he is handling it OK, then he would be fine. :)

I would not recommend it at this age, his belly is not developed enough yet. I have 4 boys and I am not a mother "by the book" at all. I will admit with my youngest he did get cows milk a lot sooner and that was only because when he became mobile he would find his brothers cup left on the floor & from time to time and he would drink out of their cups. He seemed OK and still is, but he wasn't 3 months either.

Babies under 1 can not igest cows milk. It gives then diahrea and can actually dehydrate them and they are also more prone to allergies if you give it to them too young. I started giving my daughters soy milk when they were around 8 months old instead of forumla because they started eating baby food all the time and didn't really like the formula anymore.
Also only whole milk for children under 2, after the age of 2 then you can use 2% :)

No you can not give your 3 month old baby cows milk.:eek: not until one years old. It doesn't have enough iron in it and your baby can't digest it. Formula has to meet certain requirements so i don't know what bad stuff is in it that you are talking about. A 3 month old baby should only be drinking breast milk or formula.

have a 3 month old and am wondering if I can give him any type of cow's milk, whether it be whole, 2%, etc. I know its not RECOMMENDED, but am wondering what will happen. Thank you.
You can make your own formula with evaporated milk you can Google it..! You can ask your doctor about it I'm sure the doc will agree

You can make your own formula with evaporated milk you can google it ....!! you can ask your doctor about it i'm sure the doc will agree

Wow are you serious? I never knew that.. lol.

People are misunderstanding why I asked that question.

Its not that I can't afford it. I have WIC, and whatever extra I need besides what WIC gives me, I can more than enough afford it. One of my friends (admittedly not the smartest person in the world) told me that cow's milk is healthier than formula. That's why I asked. :)

Goat milk is a perhaps somewhat safer, if considerably more expensive and far less readily available alternative in the US, though neither one is highly recommended. Some good info here:

GOT GOAT'S MILK? (http://askdrsears.com/html/3/t032400.asp)

Hope this is of some help.

Thomas I was always told that goats milk would cause the teeth to turn brown or dark colored. Now this may be an old wives tale as I am from the South.

About the cows milk, my son, almost 18 years ago, when he was put on enfamil every time he had a bottle he had a bowel movement with 5 minutes of nursing, dr took him off it and put him on soy, then he coldn't have a bm. So I came up with 1/2 enfamil and 1/2 cows milk and his bm's were fine. I could not let him have a bm with each bottle nor could I let hem be constipated either.. But my other children did fine on formula, the last one did not give up formula until she was about 16 months old. She loved it. Also I came from a family that always gave their children cows milk, sometimes directly from the cow, and added iron and karo syrup to it. Just my experience.

Wow, I never thought of half formula half milk. Did any of your kids have a bad problem with spitting up? Mine spit up regular formula, so I put him on soy thinking that would be better, but he spits that up too. I burp him and all that stuff you are supposed to do. Any suggestions on what I can do about this? Someone told me its because it is so hot here in Florida the formula curdles in his stomach causing him to spit up. Is that true?

Sounds like he may have reflux. Have you talked to your ped about Enfamil AR? For acid reflux, made a world of difference with my son. Tennessee heat is not much different from Florida heat.

The only problem was that, 5 years ago, it was not covered by WIC, but I was able to get it covered by medical insurance through a doctor's prescription.

Sounds like he may have reflux. Have you talked to your ped about Enfamil AR? For acid reflux, made a world of difference with my son. Tennessee heat is not much different from Florida heat.

The only problem was that, 5 years ago, it was not covered by WIC, but I was able to get it covered by medical insurance through a doctor's prescription.

Wow, I didn't even know that existed. All WIC covers, as far as I know, is Nestle Good Start. He is on the soy version of that right now. But I will definitely check into that at my next appointment.

Yes, it was what stopped my youngest from "spitting up." He had Acid Reflux, hence the AR in the Enfamil. Doesn't have it anymore, but did as an infant.

It is NOT covered by WIC, again that was 5 years ago, and is relatively expensive, but I was able to get it covered by insurance as the doctor prescribed it.

Nali my daughter had reflux and so did my nephew. They were both on soy. I don't think I would try the 1/2 cows and 1/2 formula if I were you not for reflux. Have you tried feeding your baby slowly and holding it in a semi upright position and elevating the head of her bed. These things will help, also her ped. Should be able to give her medicine for it.

Thomas I was always told that goats milk would cause the teeth to turn brown or dark colored. Now this may be an old wives tale as I am from the South.

Not sure about this myself. Never heard that before. I know you must exercise caution in prescribing certain meds to children, such as specific antibiotics (tetracyclines), for this very reason. Personally, I love goat cheese myself, but then again, I've been called a "dental nightmare" by a former dentist of mine. :D Hope someone here knows for sure. :)

In some cases it can go beyound dehydration and can build like ulcer like things, it can cause stomach bleeding. And can lead to allergies in the future... really not recommended

I have a 6 month old baby boy and I am struggling to get him to have 2 bottles a day so I went to the health clinic and my gp and they said to top him up with other milky foods like yoghurt etc and put cows milk in his vegies and cereal because he wouldn't eat his food if it had formula in it
So I think from 6 months you can put it in his foods!

Well, star, I would suggest talking to either your child's pediatrician, or the department where you apply for your wic. Either one of them should be able to answer your questions there with plenty of reasons not to introduce the milk now. That is like corn, they say it will not digest in a child's stomach. Well I haven't been a child for a long time now, and not to be gross, but sometimes I still don't digest corn either. So maybe they don't know it all.

This question is over 3 months old. I do believe, and NS correct me if I am wrong, that this problem has been solved by now.