Goat Milk for Babies: Benefits & Recipes

As a new parent, it is essential that you do everything possible to take care of your baby’s health. A large part of that is the understanding of baby nutrition. Understanding the nutritional needs of a baby can not just help you plan out their diets better, it can help you plan their diets out smarter as well. One extremely tasty must-have for any baby’s diet is milk. In a world where there are numerous types of milk like soymilk, almond milk, buffalo milk and the traditional favourite – cow milk, a lot of doctors have begun recommending goat milk for your baby.

Is Goat Milk Safe For Your Baby?

Milk contains something called lactose. This is generally considered one of the hardest elements of any food group to break up into the systems. Traditionally used cows milk, while rich in calcium, has a lot of lactose in it, this can make it harder for a baby to digest. While goat milk for a newborn baby is not completely lactose-free, it is known to have a lot less of it. So why is goat’s milk healthy or healthier than options like soymilk, rice milk or almond milk? It has a much higher calcium content and is nutritionally much better for babies. Milk is an essential part of a baby’s diet because a baby’s body develops from the nutrients available in milk. Most non-dairy milk products like soymilk are healthy for adults, but for the developing body of a newborn, it is essential to have dairy as such, goats milk which could be more beneficial for your child than cow milk or non-dairy milk.

When Can You Start Giving Goat Milk To Your Baby?

It is important to understand that goat milk is not an alternative to breastfeeding. This means your baby still requires you to breastfeed or bottle feed a child. It is not recommended that you use goat milk for formulas. Doctors suggest that you start feeding your child goat’s milk or products made of goat’s milk like goat cheese by around the 9-month mark. Any earlier could cause problems with the child’s nutritional balance.

Benefits Of Goat Milk For Infants

Switching your child to goat’s milk can have numerous benefits, some of these are:

1. Lower Risk Of Allergies

Cow milk consists of proteins that can be highly allergenic. These are present in the lactose of the milk. Those allergic to this have a condition called lactose intolerance. This condition can cause severe discomfort for your baby. Goat’s milk has considerably less lactose. This means the risk of severe allergies is lower. Goats milk is not as allergenic as cow and buffalo milk.

2. The Good Fat

Compared to cow milk, goat’s milk is easier to digest, it also has a higher content of good fats like polyunsaturated fat. This means that your baby can digest goat’s milk better and the good fat absorbs into their body more. This good type of fat is essential for the growth of your child.

3. Better For The Intestines

Lactose is extremely hard to break down, and it is slow to digest. Another issue with lactose is it can harm the intestines. The low quantity of lactose in goats milk may actually help preserve your baby’s intestine health.

4. Prebiotics

Most milk types have healthy bacteria known as prebiotics or probiotics. When compared to other dairy-based milk, goat’s milk has higher prebiotics. This helps your baby stay healthy and maintain a good amount of healthy gut and digestion-based bacteria.

5. Lower Cholesterol

Goat’s milk has smaller quantities of bad cholesterol and lower amounts of all types of cholesterol in general. This is considered very healthy for both adults and babies as cholesterol imbalances later in life could lead to issues like hypertension or blood pressure issues.

Recipes Of Goat Milk For A Baby

The great part about goat’s milk is it can be used identically to cow milk. Ensure that you boil the goat milk or buy pasteurised goat milk, so your baby doesn’t fall sick. You can feed your baby goat milk from a bottle, and if they are old enough, you can mix in drinking chocolate, or you can use it in cereal.

Should You Give Goat Milk-Based Infant Formula Or Goat Milk Yogurt To Your Child?

Depending on the situation, you may be considering giving your child goat milk yoghurt due to the added healthy bacteria available in yoghurt in general. Before you do that, it is highly recommended you talk to a nutritionist or doctor first. There are some nutrients that milk has that yoghurt does not, it is essential to replace these nutrients when feeding your child.
If your child is younger than a year, it is recommended that you start with goat’s milk and introduce other goat dairy products to their diets gradually.

Why Goat Milk May Not Be A Proper Substitute For Cow Milk-Based Dairy Products?

Like with any ingredient you should consider goats milk for babies danger signs. Although lower in lactose than cow’s milk, goat milk still has lactose and as such your child could develop lactose intolerance. Another thing to consider is that goat’s milk doesn’t have folic acid which is a crucial part of your baby’s nutrition and is present in cow milk. It is recommended that you talk to a doctor in detail and understand the risks of using goat milk instead of cow milk.

Tips To Keep In Mind While Choosing Goat Milk For Your Infant

As with any ingredient, there are a few things to keep in mind while feeding your child goat’s milk, here are a few tips:

• Goat’s milk is low in folic acid. This is important for a baby’s nutrition, always buy goat’s milk with added folic acid.
• Vitamin B-12 is an important component of your baby’s diet. Cow milk has higher quantities so if your baby is on goat milk, ensure you give them some form of vitamin supplements.
• There is a risk your baby could become dehydrated with Goat milk or any other milk, ensure your baby is hydrated regularly.

It is recommended that you seek medical advice before shifting any nutritional needs for your baby. Always listen to your doctor and understand the benefits and risks of making dietary changes. Never make drastic changes to your baby’s diet. Gradually build it up and ensure that if your baby reacts badly to the change that you see a doctor immediately.