Goat's Milk vs. Cow's Milk - weaning has begun

Now that Caden is one we are able to give him whole milk. We are not able to get him in for a well baby appointment until the middle of July so I'm unable to ask our doctor several questions I have about nutrition until then. Thankfully I'm a pretty good researcher and have a lot of intelligent friends who can help me out, including those who read my blog.

I am starting the weaning process. I was so happy to make it the first year of giving Caden only breastmilk. Not that there is anything wrong with formula I just really wanted to try and breastfeed him. Honestly, I was happy to make it to six months. Now that we have hit the year mark I'd like to start weaning him completely. Right now I still nurse him three times a day. Morning, before nap, and before bed. I'm working on weaning him from the middle of the day feeding now. I hope to only nurse morning and night after another week or two. Then I'll drop another and then the last one. I read that it's a good idea to go slow so your body can adjust.

We have a good routine right now, thankfully. He goes to bed at 8pm, wakes at 7:30am, and takes a one to two hour nap at 11:30. He goes down easily and our routine is working. I hate to mess up a good thing but I know we can do it. Which by the way, he's been able to sleep through the night on breastmilk since he was 3-4 months old. We put him to bed asleep and he sleeps through the night. Sometimes he wakes up, we hear him, but he puts himself back to sleep. If he wakes up crying or screaming we go in there, change his diaper, rock him, put him back down. Which several books I have read say don't do that. It usually takes all of 10 minutes and has not become a habit. Now that we're using cloth diapers he has stopped crying from a wet diaper in the middle of the night. I'll do a later post of how we're cloth diapering at night. Bottom line, don't let people fool you into thinking that you have to put them down awake or you can't go in there if they wake up crying. Sometimes we put him down when he's partially awake, sometimes he's not. We always kiss him goodnight and say "goodnight" before putting him down. A few weeks ago we started letting him choose stuffed animal to hold while we read to him at night and before bed. I also let him play in his crib some everyday. These tips have helped us. Our thoughts are, he's still young. As he gets older and is able to communicate better we may have to adjust things. Or if he was waking up every night we'd have to adjust things. But for the most part he sleeps through the night without waking us up or fully waking himself up.

Okay, back to the milk topic. I bought organic whole cow milk and organic goat's milk. I have been thinking about it and researching which milk to give him for a while. I wanted to have both on hand for the big day (the day in which I truly want to start weaning him). That day happened to be today. I drank goat's milk as a child for many years. My dad told me that it was a long time before me or my siblings were given cow's milk. My mom was what some would call a health nut. I remember going to a small mom and pop health food store and getting organic foods before it was cool. Also I ate a lot of vegetarian meals as a child because she was a vegetarian. Anyway, since my mom is no longer alive (due to a heart problem she was born with, another reason she watched what she ate), I don't have her to ask questions of why she did what she did. Like everyone, I want to give the best to my child(ren). Therefore, I have to do most of the research on my own. Which is hard to find time when you have a toddler running around.

Some of the research I have found regarding the difference between goat's milk and cow's milk is as follows:

· Nutrient content of goat milk is slightly less than cow milk but goat milk is more digestible because the fat molecules are one-fifth the size of those from cow milk -- making it easily tolerated by those with compromised digestive systems.

· Seventy-two percent of the milk used throughout the world is from goats. It is one-third richer than cows milk but more nourishing and easier to digest.

· Goat milk has no cream separation because of smaller fat molecules.

· Goat milk contains pre-formed Vitamin A in the milk fat that allows it to be readily available for use by the body.

· Goats milk contains a more highly-evolved cholesterol than cows milk, making it more available for absorption to the brain and body. (Cholesterol is essential to the health of the myelin sheaths "white matter" of the nerves in the brain.)

· Goat milk is closer to human milk and is therefore easily accepted especially by those young or frail.

· Goat milk has an alkaline reaction the same as mother's milk. Cow milk has an acid reaction

· Goat milk does not form mucous (phlegm) and is therefore better tolerated by asthmatics and those with allergies.

· Goat milk contains more chlorine, fluorine and silicon than any other domestic livestock. Chlorine and fluorine are natural germicides and fluorine assists in preventing diabetes.

· Goat milk contains 2% curd, which precipitates in the stomach. Cows milk is 10% curd.

· Goats are naturally immune to diseases, such as tuberculosis, and are used in third-world countries to actually cure tuberculosis because of their inherent antibodies.

· Goats milk is tolerated by a compromised /damaged liver because of the smaller fat molecules and it's naturally homogenized.

· Goats milk has the ability to "sweeten" the intestinal tract and assist with constipation.

· Goats milk contains a higher evolved carotene (pro-Vitamin A). Researchers have found this to have cancer preventing properties.

Source: Natures Prescription Milk by Gloria Gilbere, N.D., D.A. Hom., Ph.D.

Today I decided to give Caden goat's milk. This is his first livestock milk. He seemed to like it okay. I offered it to him after breakfast, so he wasn't very hungry. Then I offered him goat's milk during his mid-morning snack. He still prefers water but I want him to get used to drinking milk. I was just excited to find organic goat's milk.

Another major reason for me choosing goat's milk over cow's milk is because of the following:

"Goat milk is higher in minerals, calcium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, chlorine and maganese; but it is lower in sodium, iron, sulphur, zinc and molybdenum." For more information see here.

Also...

-There is no antibiotic residues, growth hormones, BST, or other contaminants used on the animals. In addition, the mechanical pasteurization process used for cow's milk releases xanthine oxidase, and enzyme which can create scar damage to the heart and arteries.

-The goat's milk product must meet the same health standards as pasteurized cow's milk.

-Goat milk does not contain the complex proteins that are the main stimulants of allergic reactions to cow dairy products.

-Certain cow milk proteins have properties, which suppresses the immune system. Goat milk does not have these immunosuppressive properties.

-Children on goat's milk have been observed to sleep through the night and remain more satisfied between meals.

-Goat's milk has an alkaline pH, so it does not produce acid in the blood or intestinal system.

-Acidic blood and intestinal pH levels are associated with fatigue, headaches, muscle aches and pains, sore pressure points, excess weight, blood sugar imbalances, and Candida Albicans infections.

-Goat's milk does not stimulate an immune response as cow's milk does, so there is no mucous formed.

-The trace mineral selenium, which is often deficient in the human body, is necessary for its immune modulation and antioxidant properties. It helps control the human immune system and works directly on viruses by preventing reproduction.

-Goat's milk contains the highest source of selenium of any milk (2.5 time more than powdered infant formulas, 35% more than pasteurized cow milk, and more than human breast milk).

-Natural milk contains many bioactive components, which serve to retard the growth of harmful organisms, and to protect the health of the person consuming them. Goat's milk contains the same important bioactive components as mother's milk.

These facts and more can be found here.

The only thing I am conserned about is the smaller amounts of folic acid. Dr. Sears says, "The fact that goat's milk contains less than ten percent of the amount of folic acid contained in cow's milk means that it must be supplemented with folic acid in order to be adequate as a formula or milk substitute for infants and toddlers, and popular brands of goat's milk may advertise "supplemented with folic acid" on the carton." Other than that he supports goat's milk over cow's milk. You can read his article here. I need to check the carton on my goat's milk to see if it's supplemented with folic acid.

I'm curious if anyone else has used or considered giving their children goat's milk. If so, what lead you to decide to give goat's milk instead of cow's milk? I'm not sure how long I will give Caden goat's milk before cow's milk. I have a carton of organic whole milk so I may let him try that now too. I'm not sure. I just thought I'd post my reasons for trying goat's milk first and see if anyone has any thoughts about it one way or another.

I personally drink organic cow's milk. I tried goat's milk this morning but did not like the taste. I also do not like the taste of whole milk from cows. Collin is lactose intolerant and drinks soy milk, another reason we decided to try goat's milk.

Sources cited:

http://altmedangel.com/milkcomp.htm
http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/milk
http://www.crohns.net/Miva/education/aboutgoatsmilk.shtml
http://askdrsears.com/html/3/t032400.asp