When can you give goat milk to an artificial baby? How to choose goat milk for a baby: rules you need to know. Correct inclusion in the diet

03.07.2019

Is it possible to feed a child goat's milk? This question is asked by many mothers who do not have breast milk, let’s look at what are the disadvantages of such feeding and what are the advantages.

Cons of goat milk

Goat milk is popularly considered a healing product. Is it similar in composition to breast milk? According to doctors, it is fattier, which will lead to longer digestion and stress on the digestive tract; in addition, it lacks the so-called lipase enzyme, which is involved in the process of fat breakdown.

In addition, goat's milk contains a lot of the mineral component phosphorus, which creates an additional load on the baby's still fragile body, in particular on the newborn's kidneys.

In addition, milk obtained from a goat lacks important folic acid, which can cause the baby to develop anemia. Is it possible to feed a baby with it?! The obvious answer is that no, but not everything is so simple...

Pros of goat milk

If you have a choice between cow's or goat's milk, then, according to doctors, it is better to give preference to goat's drink, since it contains less casein, and it is known to take a long time to digest and turns into a dense clot in the child's stomach.

In addition, goat milk contains more different vitamins, in addition, it contains a lot of mineral components such as calcium, which is perfectly absorbed by the baby’s body, as a result, the child’s teeth begin to grow earlier.

It is recommended to take goat's milk to babies prone to so-called regurgitation, since this product is better absorbed, unlike cow's milk. It is worth noting that goat milk practically does not cause allergies in children, that is, it is a hypoallergenic drink, which is important for children who have, for example, atopic dermatitis or other allergic reactions. As you can see, in some cases it is not only possible, but also necessary to give goat milk to an infant.

When can you give your baby goat milk?

How to properly introduce this product into a child’s diet?

If you decide to introduce goat's milk into your newborn's diet, then you should first consult with your pediatrician, after which it is important to adhere to some rules.

Try to buy goat milk from friends or by recommendation. It is worth looking at the condition in which the animal is kept; in addition, do not be too lazy to come at least once for the so-called milking.

If you plan to purchase milk on the market, then it is recommended to ask the seller for a special certificate from a veterinarian, which will indicate the health status of the goat.

If milk is purchased in a store, it is important to carefully examine the date of manufacture of the dairy product on the seam of the package, as well as its expiration date. If it is expired, you should under no circumstances buy it and give it to your child.

When feeding a child with such milk, it is recommended to first dilute it with boiled water so that it is less concentrated, and three parts of water should be used for one part of the product. This procedure must be carried out, since milk is quite fatty and can cause problems with stool, in particular, constipation is possible in a child, so it is better to add water.

It is worth remembering that the milk must first be boiled, since heat treatment will contribute to the death of possible bacteria. It is advisable to store it in glass containers, but ceramic or enamel containers are also suitable.

When the child gets somewhat used to using the new product, you can dilute the milk in a ratio of 1 to 2, and after one month you can start using undiluted milk.

As you can see, the benefits of goat milk still outweigh its disadvantages. Of course, for an infant it is optimal to use mother's milk, but in the absence of it, goat's milk may well be its replacement. When transferring a baby to artificial feeding, it is recommended to consult a pediatrician.

Of course, nothing can replace mother’s milk for a child, but sometimes, in its absence, you have to look for options to replenish it. Many young families use cow milk, but the child may be allergic to it. In such a situation, pediatricians recommend using formulas based on goat products; they are as close as possible to mother’s milk.

It is worth remembering that before using milk from a goat, you should consult with a pediatrician; perhaps the doctor will first recommend some mixtures for the baby, and then, depending on the age of the child, you can use this milk, but it is important to boil it first . After which it is filtered through a strainer, cooled and given to the child.

It is important to use the milk within 24 hours; it is recommended to discard the remaining product. Do not experiment and do not give your child raw milk, as this can lead to negative effects on the digestive tract, in particular, vomiting, diarrhea, and possible pain in the abdomen, in addition, constipation is possible.

Many parents believe that milk is incredibly beneficial for children. It contains calcium and bacteria beneficial for digestion. Naturally, from an early age the child begins to be taught to drink and eat dairy products, even if the little one desperately resists and shows with all appearances that he does not like them. Is it necessary to insist and is milk as beneficial as is commonly believed, says the famous pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky.

Beneficial for children but harmful for adults

In order for milk sugar (lactose) to be absorbed in the body, a special enzyme is produced - lactase. In newborns, the level of lactase is very high, a lot of it is produced, since breast milk is the only food for the baby. As you grow older, the amount of lactase produced decreases, and an adult has practically no enzyme in the body, since biologically it no longer needs dairy food. But the adult body accepts and digests fermented milk products quite normally.

A decrease in lactase levels in some people begins at 3 years of age, in others at 10 years of age, and in others later. This is an individual feature of the body and there are no norms in this matter in principle.

If nature has provided the child with the opportunity to eat milk, this does not mean that he needs to eat the milk of farm animals. Nature has made sure that the baby absorbs mother's milk well, and not goat's or cow's milk.

Benefits and harms

Milk from cows and goats for children in the first year of life is not just harmful, but dangerous, says Evgeny Komarovsky. But this fact is quite difficult to explain to parents, who from their own childhood remember the saying that milk is a source of health and energy for a growing body. It is very difficult to explain to parents that due to the lack or lack of breast milk in a nursing mother, it is best to choose an adapted milk formula.

Firstly, this is important from a composition point of view. The mixture contains vitamin D, which prevents the development of rickets. But if you feed your child cow's milk and give him vitamin D supplements separately, then rickets develops very often. And this can be explained by the processes that occur in the body after a child consumes cow's milk.

Cow's milk contains more calcium, than in breast milk, almost 4 times. The phosphorus content is 3 times higher than that of breast milk. The calf needs these amounts of phosphorus and calcium to help its bones grow faster. However, rapid bone growth is not the most preferable development option for a human baby.

In addition, excess amounts of calcium and phosphorus entering the child’s intestines cannot be fully absorbed. The body will take only the amount it needs, the rest will be excreted in the feces.

With phosphorus other story. His body does not take as much as it needs for normal life, but approximately one third of the amount received. Thus, drinking cow's milk leads to an overdose of phosphorus. The child’s kidneys react to the increased content of this substance and begin to quickly remove excess phosphorus from the body. Unfortunately, it goes away along with the resulting calcium, which is so important for the harmonious development of the baby.

The kidneys mature closer to the age of one, and around this time you can start giving the baby milk, gradually introducing it into the diet.

There is no need to give the baby liters of water; it is quite enough to give a one-year-old child about half a glass of milk a day, a two-year-old child - 1 glass, and a two-year-old toddler - no more than 2 glasses a day. By the age of 3, all restrictions are no longer relevant, and children can be given this product, be it cow or goat, in any quantity that they are able and willing to “handle.”

Another not very “useful” aspect is intolerance to cow protein, which occurs quite often in children in the first years of life. It manifests itself in the inability to absorb protein, which the baby’s body regards as foreign. The immune system is activated and an allergic reaction begins. If you have such a child, you should not give him any milk. Only adapted mixtures are suitable, preferably hypoallergenic, in which milk protein is processed in a special way and neutralized.

In recent years, cows and goats have also been eating little natural food, and many of the feeds that their owners give them contain hormones and antibiotics. Naturally, this entire set passes in certain quantities into milk. This is another reason not to give this product to children under one year old, although the final decision remains with the parents. After all, it is quite difficult to dispute the fact that without milk it is quite difficult to provide a varied diet to a child.

Formula or milk?

If after 12 months a decision is made to introduce whole milk into complementary foods, Evgeniy Komarovsky advises making an informed decision. This product in measured quantities will no longer cause harm, but an adapted infant formula, in which the amount of phosphorus is reduced and the amount of calcium and vitamin D is increased, will still be more beneficial.

The amount of iron in cow's milk is insufficient and regular consumption will lead to anemia. In adapted formulas, this composition parameter is provided, and the child will receive the amount of iron he needs.

If the family budget allows, it is better to choose a formula appropriate for age - from 12 months. Typically, such mixtures are designated by manufacturers with the number “3”.

Fat or low fat?

Today, the food industry offers many options for skim milk. It is considered preferable for adults and children who cannot tolerate full-fat cow's milk. However, in the very concept of “low-fat”, according to Evgeniy Komarovsky, there is a catch.

Baby milk differs from regular milk by ultra-pasteurization. The percentage of fat content in it is reduced, but is not at the minimum level. The box usually indicates at what age manufacturers recommend the product. Most often it is 8 months. Komarovsky calls for giving such milk if the mother really wants to do it, no more than once a day and in small quantities.

Children after one year can dilute regular milk with a fat content of 3% with plain water by about one-third of the volume.

Dairy products

It is very good if a mother learns how to make homemade fermented milk products for her child. For them, you can use regular store-bought cow's milk with a fat content of no more than 1.5%.

Complementary feeding in the form of fermented milk products is not very desirable for children with mineral metabolism disorders and signs of rickets. Therefore, before introducing such complementary foods, it is advisable to consult a pediatrician.

Many doctors confirm that goat’s milk is much healthier for feeding small children than cow’s milk, which is more familiar to us. It is advisable to introduce goat milk itself and products made from it into the diet of pregnant women and already nursing mothers. They are also useful to add to the menu for bottle-fed babies, preschoolers and even teenagers. Goat's milk is especially useful for infants; mixtures and porridges based on it are absorbed much better by the fragile body.

Goat's milk contains many vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for children.

In terms of its protein composition, goat's milk has a number of significant differences from cow's milk. Being heated to a temperature of 70 degrees and above, such a product is better absorbed by humans, and it also lacks most of the allergens present in cow's milk. Goat's milk is beneficial for children and adults; it is especially recommended for people suffering from allergic reactions to cow's milk.

The following components, which are abundant in goat milk, will also be useful for the baby:

calcium - important for bone formation;
potassium - improves the functioning of the heart and blood vessels;
vitamin B12 - used in blood formation;
magnesium - allows you to remove heavy metals and strengthens the nervous system.

In addition, this product has a beneficial effect on health when:

various ailments of the joints and skin;
cholelithiasis and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
childhood epilepsy;
asthma and jaundice;
anemia;
high cholesterol.

Let’s add to all of the above the special attention paid to goat’s milk by nutritionists. It is known that this product is absorbed by our body by 97 percent, while cow's milk is only 65 percent.

Goat's milk on the menu for children with allergies

Goat milk has long occupied a special place in folk medicine. It is strongly recommended to be given to weakened children, as well as to those children who suffer from food allergies when fed with adapted formulas based on cow's milk.

Unfortunately, doctors around the world note that over the past decades, the number of newborns suffering from intolerance to cow's milk proteins has increased significantly. This is due to modern ecology and other, including social, factors. But there is no mass rejection in society towards products made from goat’s milk, which contains proteins of other fractions.

Being thermally processed, goat milk also loses those allergenic proteins that are present in its composition. An acceptable temperature for heating is 68 - 70 degrees.

In what form to give

Kabrita formula based on goat milk for supplementary feeding of children under one year of age

Of course, not raw, but only boiled. Thus, you completely get rid of such risks as infection of milk with encephalitis mites. The product should be boiled for about five minutes, and due to its high fat content, it must be diluted in a certain proportion, which depends on the age of your child.

However, pediatricians strongly do not recommend introducing goat's milk for cooking to children under the age of one year. As for the product itself, it would be desirable if you had your own goat or if your good friends had one, so that there would be a 100% guarantee of quality. But high-quality formulas that are sold in baby food stores are still considered more preferable. And then what can we say about mother’s breast milk, to which there is simply no alternative in nature!

People called goat's milk the “juice of life”; very often, timely introduction of it into the diet made it possible to literally save fading children suffering from diarrhea and dehydration. Considering the high fat content of the product, if it is still given to infants up to one year old, then it is advisable to dilute the first portions in the proportion of one and a half glasses of milk to three glasses of boiled water. Milk, as we already mentioned, also needs to be boiled in advance.

The benefits of goat milk for children under one year old

If we compare goat milk with the dairy products of other animals in terms of the degree of similarity to breast milk, then it occupies an intermediate position between cow and donkey milk. Donkey milk is much more reminiscent of breast milk and is more suitable for a newborn, but it is very difficult to find it nowadays. If we raise the question of feeding a baby who is barely a few months old, then goat feeding is still preferable to cow feeding.

The benefits of goat's milk for babies who are not yet one year old are provided by the following properties:

the presence of vitamins and minerals in milk that contribute to more successful development of the child’s body;
the presence of sialic acid, which strengthens the immune system;
rapid absorption by the body;
low lactose content, which allows it to be recommended for children suffering from allergies to milk sugar.

It has been noticed that children who are prepared with dishes based on goat's milk are less susceptible to colds, and they have a reduced risk of epileptic seizures, dermatitis and cholelithiasis.

And yet, if possible, a child up to one year should be fed with mother's milk. Goat should only be considered as an extreme replacement.

Negative effects on the children's body

Goat's milk should be given with caution to a child under 2 years of age.

However, not all pediatricians share such an optimistic attitude towards goat milk. It can, like any product, have a negative effect. First of all, this applies to children under the age of one and a half years. The main negative factors of goat milk are due to the following reasons:

The product contains certain vitamins and microelements that can be harmful to a newborn baby in large quantities. The kidneys of a one-year-old child are not yet developed enough to remove high concentrations of mineral salts, and therefore the load on the urinary system increases;
there is a risk of diapedetic bleeding from the intestines, which leads to iron deficiency anemia;
milk contains little folic acid, which can lead to folate deficiency anemia;
There is much more casein in goat's milk than in cow's milk, and such fatty acids are very toxic for the fragile body of a child;
milk contains a lot of calcium, but little iron, vitamins A and D;
milk fat content is increased.

Don't forget that goat's milk has a specific taste and smell. Children may simply not like it, after which there will be a risk that the baby will refuse milk from other animals. But even if you start feeding your child with it, it cannot be called full feeding. You will have to supplement the baby’s diet with the same folic acid and iron, and enrich it with other missing elements.

Goat milk, according to experts, would be more beneficial to drink for preschool children, as well as teenagers. If you dilute it too much to feed a one-year-old baby, then all the beneficial properties of milk will be lost.

At what age is goat milk given?

It is not necessary to give goat milk in its pure form - products based on it are also useful

Many mothers are interested in how many months can goat milk be introduced into a child’s diet? Nothing definite can be stated here. The main rule is that everything must be done in moderation. Firstly, each newborn has its own individual characteristics, and secondly, a lot depends on the health of the child at the moment. Of course, you should start feeding goat milk only after consulting with your pediatrician, and nothing else.

It is necessary to start feeding children up to one year old with goat milk in small doses, however, the same applies to any other product. It is advisable that at this point the child is already 9-10 months old, but if you are forced by a lack of mother’s milk, then you can give it much earlier.

often gets sick (weak immunity);
there is a risk of developing rickets.

Thanks to goat's milk, in such cases it is possible to accelerate the baby's growth, thereby saving him from negative developmental deviations.

Correct inclusion in the diet

This product can be used in different ways - both for preparing baby porridge and for adapted milk formulas. When preparing any dish, it is important to follow the following rules.

When using dry formula purchased at a baby food store, it must be diluted correctly, as indicated on the package. There is no need to add anything extra to it, just water; everything you need is already in its composition.
If you purchased fresh goat milk, then before cooking it must be boiled for at least five minutes. You can only buy fresh milk, and always ask the sellers about the conditions in which the goat was kept and what it was fed. It will be better if the seller has a certificate that the goat is not infected. And it is better for the parents to drink the first batch to make sure that there is no allergy to it.
After boiling, the milk is diluted with cold boiled water. When the temperature of the product becomes acceptable, you can give it to your child to drink. Remember that it is hardly worth boiling milk a second time: there will be practically no beneficial properties left in it.
It is advisable to store milk and give it to your baby in glass or ceramic containers. It is better not to use metal containers.

In what proportion should it be diluted?

Fresh boiled milk for babies under 12 months can only be diluted in a ratio of 1 to 3 in order to reduce its fat content. If after a couple of doses you notice that the baby is starting to get stronger, reduce the concentration, dilute it 1 to 4.

When the baby gradually gets used to it, or he is older, in the second year of life, this ratio can be reduced, taking two servings of water for one serving of milk. After two years, the child can be given the undiluted product to drink.

You shouldn’t experiment too much and increase concentration ahead of time. Even if your baby tolerates large portions of milk normally at first, this does not mean that it does not harm him. Negativity in a child’s body tends to accumulate little by little, and when this cup suddenly overflows, sores can appear immediately and from all sides. And this can happen by the age of 5, and even by the age of 20.

How to start feeding

As we have already mentioned, you need to start with small portions. Start with 25 milliliters, diluting them with the same amount of boiled water. After feeding your baby for the first time, take a break for a day and observe his reaction throughout the day. You should not continue if:

you notice a rash on your baby's skin;
the baby's tummy will swell;
the stool will be disturbed;
other negative consequences will appear.

But this does not mean that you should give up goat milk completely - try again in three to four weeks or a couple of months. After a second test, problems usually do not arise, but if an allergic reaction does appear, it is better to refuse milk.

If the baby tolerated the first feeding without problems, then at the next feeding its portion can be doubled. In the future, gradually increase the volume of milk so that by the age of one and a half the baby already drinks 500 milliliters, by two - up to 700.

How to cook porridge

To make the porridge very tasty, cook it according to this recipe.

The cereal should be cooked only in water. Cook according to the chosen product: oatmeal will take 10 minutes, semolina will take about 20, and corn grits will have to be cooked for three hours, no less.
Add a little warm goat’s milk, diluted to the desired proportion, to the cooked cereal and cook again until boiling.
Remove the ladle, add a teaspoon of butter or vegetable oil to the porridge, then stir, scooping from below.
The finished mass for infants needs to be crushed. To do this, grind it through a sieve or use a blender.

conclusions

No matter how healthy goat's milk is, you should not regard it as a source of complete nutrition for a child if he is not yet one year old. Yes, milk contains a lot of useful substances, it is much preferable to cow's milk, but it lacks many important components. Therefore, it should be used only as a supplement, diluting it with water in the required doses and gradually increasing the portions.

After two years, children can be fed goat milk without fear, their nutrition will no longer be limited only to it, children will receive everything they need with other products. And their immunity at this age is much higher.

Is goat milk good for babies? The natural, best nutrition for a newborn is breast milk. But when, due to certain circumstances, the mother cannot breastfeed her child, she has to look for alternative options.

Artificial formulas based on powdered cow's milk are the easiest to choose - fortunately, the range of products in the "baby food" category today is more than diverse. However, natural goat milk for infants is better and healthier in all respects.

What qualities of this natural product make it so valuable?

Does it have any disadvantages in terms of infant feeding?

In what form, doses, and at what age can goat milk be given to a child?

All these issues are important and require detailed consideration. Let's answer them in order.

Beneficial properties of goat milk

Let's start with the fact that goat's milk is safer for infants than cow's milk. It contains 2 times less fat, the breakdown of which requires enzymes that are not yet formed in the digestive tract of infants.

Goat's milk is closer to women's milk in terms of lactose and casein content, chemical composition and structure than cow's milk.

In addition, the benefits of goat milk for young children are confirmed by the following factors:

In terms of the percentage of taurine content, goat's milk is as close as possible to breast milk, thanks to which the baby's body receives substances that form a strong immune system.
The predominant content of beta-casein (as in woman's milk) reduces the likelihood of an allergic reaction in the body.
Contains vitamins A, B6.
Like women's milk, when it enters the gastrointestinal tract, goat's milk forms loose flakes, soft homogenized clots and small balls of fat that do not stick together. Thanks to this, it is easier to digest, absorbed almost 100%, and causes less regurgitation.
Contains many amino acids (cystine, histidine) that are beneficial for infants, which have strong antioxidant properties and can bind heavy metal salts.
The composition of goat's milk is dominated by unsaturated fatty acids, which do not require energy consumption for digestion and are directly absorbed from the intestines into the circulatory system.
Goat milk is useful because it contains less lactose than human milk. Thanks to this, it is allowed to be used in the nutrition of infants with lactose intolerance.

Goat milk contains much more easily digestible macro- and microelements (calcium, molybdenum, manganese, iron, copper) than breast milk.

Official medicine classifies this product as a dietary product and is considered the best of all natural breast milk substitutes. Plus, goats are less susceptible to dangerous diseases such as brucellosis and tuberculosis, so goat milk is safer for children than cow milk.

Disadvantages of using goat's milk for infants

Despite all the value and benefits of goat milk, some characteristics force us to limit its use as an independent product in the diet of infants. So, goat milk should not be given to children with a milk protein allergy. There are fewer allergens in it than in cow's milk, however, their quantity is enough to provoke a painful reaction in the body.

The disadvantages of the product as a breast milk substitute include:

casein, even in small quantities, leads to milk curdling in the stomach, which can cause colic in a newborn;
high percentage of fat content. This indicator is reduced by diluting with water, as a result of which the content of useful substances in goat's milk is significantly reduced;
the high concentration of vitamins, micro- and macroelements compared to woman’s milk creates an increased load on the baby’s kidneys and excretory system;
Low iron content increases the risk of anemia in a child.
insufficient percentage of folic acid for normal hematopoiesis;
Vitamin D deficiency can trigger the development of rickets.

Considering the above, the decision about whether goat's milk can be given to an infant is cannot be taken on your own. In this case, consultation with a pediatrician is mandatory. Only a doctor, having assessed the baby’s condition, possible risks and contraindications, can recommend or, on the contrary, prohibit the use of goat’s milk for infants.

Rules for the use of goat milk for infants

Since an infant has an undeveloped digestive system, it is important to know from what month you can give him goat milk. Pediatricians are unanimous on this issue: the diet of artificially-fed babies up to six months should consist exclusively of adapted milk formulas. Infants under 6 months should not be fed whole goat milk.

Attention! Transferring a newborn aged 0-6 months to feeding with natural goat milk is extremely dangerous.

Pure goat milk is allowed to be introduced into complementary foods and given to infants at the age of 9-12 months. In some cases, on the recommendation of a pediatrician, these dates are postponed until the baby reaches 3 years of age. Goat milk is used to cook porridge, soups, make cottage cheese, and use it for natural feeding.

There are certain rules for giving goat milk to infants. They are as follows:

Start complementary feeding with 1 tsp. If the baby feels normal and the child does not develop an allergy to goat’s milk, the dosage can be gradually increased, bringing the daily portion to 100 ml.
Unadapted goat milk is boiled in an enamel glass container.
Be sure to dilute with water (also boiled) in a ratio of 1:3. As the baby’s body gets used to the new type of food, the proportions of milk and water are equalized to 1:2.
Whole goat milk can be given to children after one year, 1-1.5 months after the start of complementary feeding.

Store dairy products intended for feeding an infant only in glass, ceramic or enamel containers.

Criteria for choosing goat milk for baby nutrition

An equally important point is where, from whom and when you can buy goat milk. A specific smell and taste is considered as one of the indicators of product quality. The basic rules are:

purchase dairy products only on recommendation from trusted sellers;
if possible, look at the animal, attend the milking, make sure that the goat is kept in normal conditions;
When buying milk at a farmers market, do not hesitate to ask the seller for a certificate from a veterinarian;
When shopping in a store, be sure to study the composition of products based on goat milk.

But most importantly, you should never buy dairy products that have expired or are approaching their expiration date. If you approach the issue of feeding responsibly, goat milk is the best alternative for infants. Do everything right and your baby will feel great!

Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova

Reading time: 4 minutes

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Article last updated: 11/02/2018

Can infants have goat milk?

Mothers often wonder: is it possible to introduce goat’s milk into complementary feeding for a baby? It happens that without consulting a pediatrician, they start feeding it to the baby from 3 months of age.

Naturally, nothing can replace real breastfeeding, but due to certain factors (stress, cesarean section, illness, etc.), when a mother’s lactation disappears or decreases, parents have to look for alternative options for feeding their infant.

Benefits of goat milk for children

According to research by specialists, it is goat milk that is closest in composition to the mother’s milk.

It is known that milk consists of tiny balls, which, depending on the type, have different sizes and consistency. Human contains the smallest, goat - medium, cow - the largest.

Children's intestines perfectly absorb the first, the largest balls most often cause problems with the gastrointestinal tract. But goat's milk is a kind of golden mean; it can be given to the baby much earlier than whole cow's milk.

This product contains the following beneficial properties:

includes a large number of useful minerals of groups A, C and D;
it contains vitamins such as: B12, which improves the process of hematopoiesis in the human body, and magnesium, which helps remove heavy metals from the body and strengthens the child’s nervous system;
silica helps in the prevention of rickets in infants;
fatty acids are easily broken down in the child’s body;
indispensable for babies prone to constant regurgitation, since the small size of the milk balls allows it to be completely absorbed;
practically does not contain milk sugar (lactose), therefore, it can be safely given to all children with lactose intolerance.

Harm of goat milk

Despite the fact that this milk is healthy and nutritious, it is better not to completely consider it as the only product for feeding:

it contains casein protein, which is difficult for a child to digest and often leads to intestinal colic in children under one year of age;
it contains a lot of mineral salts, which increase the load on tiny kidneys;
contains virtually no iron, so children who drink goat milk exclusively are often diagnosed with anemia;
it also contains an insufficient amount of vitamin D3, which is so necessary for an infant;
A large percentage of fat content makes goat milk not only nutritious, but also not entirely suitable for complete digestion.

It is known that the milk of any animal is what it eats. And if a cow eats exclusively fresh grass or hay, then goats can chew anything, for example, grass that contains heavy metals, or dead plants that contain various toxins. Therefore, it is important: in what conditions the goat is kept, how and what it eats.

When can you start giving goat milk to infants?

Before feeding your baby goat milk, any mother should consult a competent pediatrician, since for any organism there are characteristics and intolerance to a particular product.

Many doctors agree that for children aged three years and older, this milk is very useful, but for infants there are many restrictions. Firstly, each child may have an individual intolerance to one of the components in milk. Secondly, this product has a specific taste, which can cause discomfort in the baby. And lastly, goat milk cannot be a source of all useful substances, which means that this product cannot be given exclusively to an infant.

The well-known pediatrician Komarovsky believes that goat's milk can be given to children from the age of one year, and in some cases, it is better to wait until the age of three to introduce this complementary food. According to the doctor, goat milk in general is given too much importance. But you can introduce it only when you have your own goat, and there is no opportunity to buy a high-quality adapted mixture. And if the parents have already decided to feed the baby this product, then it must be diluted to 2% fat content.

How to properly introduce goat's milk into a children's menu?

To properly introduce goat milk product into your baby’s diet, you need to follow some rules.

Fresh goat milk must be boiled. As mentioned above, if you are purchasing a product from someone, it is important to know what conditions the animal is kept in and what it eats. If the purchase is made in a store, you need to pay special attention to the expiration date.

Since goat milk has a very high fat content, one-year-old children need to dilute it with boiled water in a ratio of 1:4, gradually reducing this ratio. Children after three years of age can be given it undiluted.

Boiled milk cannot be heated or boiled a second time; due to excessive heat treatment, beneficial properties are lost, so it must be consumed immediately after cooling during the first boiling.

This product should be stored in glass or ceramic containers, but under no circumstances in metal containers.

It is necessary to start complementary feeding when the child is completely healthy, with 10 milliliters diluted with 40 milliliters of boiled water. After the first time, you need to wait for some time and monitor the baby’s reaction: does he have bowel problems, allergic reactions or intestinal colic. If negative consequences occur, you should immediately stop introducing this product. Although allergies to goat's milk are rare in children.

Basic rules for choosing goat milk

If parents have decided to give goat milk product to their child, then they need to know a few simple rules for choosing high-quality milk:

buy only from familiar and trusted people;
clarify the conditions of keeping the animal;
if milk is purchased on the market, be sure to ask the seller for the necessary documentation;
If you buy it in a store, make sure that it does not contain any additives.