Is Goat Milk Safe For Babies?

If you are a new mom, you know the struggle of finding the right milk formula for your baby. By now, you must have gone through endless options from cow milk to almonds to pea and Goat milk for babies.

Not many people are aware that Goat milk or goat milk formula is a nutritional choice for babies and infants, especially if they are sensitive to cow milk.

If you want to know about the Nutritional content of Goat milk and its benefits, then keep on reading and then decide whether it is a good choice for your baby or now.

Is Goat Milk Good For Babies?

Choosing the right source of nutrition for your baby is affected by various factors. Some of these factors are:

• your personal health beliefs
• availability of resources
• conditions affecting your baby’s health (such as allergies,  eczema, or sensitivities to cow’s milk)

Regardless of all these factors, the safety of your baby always comes first.

Goat’s milk is as safe as cow’s milk for babies, but only if following the right timeline.

Goat milk formula is safe for infants up to 12 months of age. However, fresh goat’s milk is not baby-appropriate until he/she turns one year old.  The reason is that goat’s milk does not have enough nutrition for an infant and can cause serious health and growth complications if consumed. 

An infant’s digestive system is not strong enough to digest animal milk proteins; after turning one year old, you can introduce fresh pasteurized goat milk to your baby.

Common Goat Milk Benefits

One common reason why people switch to goat milk over cow milk is intolerance or allergy to cows milk. 

Around 3% of infants worldwide develop cow milk allergy. Symptoms can range from coughing diarrhea to other life-threatening symptoms like anaphylaxis and shortness of breath. 

People with cow milk allergy do not experience any problem with goat’s milk. Goat milk contains more protein and is comparatively easier to digest. 

Goat VS Cow Milk

Pure goat milk contains more fat and protein than cow milk. Goat milk is also loaded with more potassium, calcium, Vitamin A, copper, and some of the other important minerals and vitamins. There are some minerals and vitamins where goat milk ranks lower than cow milk. For instance, Cow milk contains more folate and B12. 

This makes the Goat vs. cow milk competition fairly equal in nutritional terms. 

Another key difference between both is in lactose; Goat milk contains less lactose, which is why people become sensitive to cow’s milk. People who are lactose intolerant can digest goat milk better.

Goat’s milk-based formulas

Some new mommies cannot or choose not to breastfeed, and that is completely understandable. If you are one of these and are looking for the next best alternative, then you must eye goat’s milk-based formulas.

A study found that infants have healthy development with a goat’s milk formula compared to feeding them cow’s milk formula.

However, the studies are limited on the expanse of nutritional benefits of goat milk for infants. In a study, researchers suggested that formulas based on Goat’s milk mimic closely to human breast milk, compared to based on prebiotics called oligosaccharides. It is a healthy gut bacteria for immune system 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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Goat’s milk for eczema and reflux

When searching about goat milk online, you may come across some claims such as reduced reflux in infants and eczema severity, but there is no such scientific evidence yet.

Can babies drink goat milk?

Goat milk is also an animal product like any other milk. Your child may develop an allergic reaction to goat milk as well if he/she is already allergic to cow milk.

AZ research found that goat’s milk is likely to cause 90 percent more reactions in infants and babies allergic to cow’s milk. 

So before feeding your baby cow’s milk, always talk to your doctor about the safety and different alternatives to milk products. 

One another drawback of goat milk is accessibility and the challenges in making it staple for the babies. You will not find goat milk on your nearest pharmacy shelves and grocery store. It will require a lot of hunting online and running to health food stores, or you may have to get it especially ordered for you.

Also, the taste of goat cheese is different from the cow’s milk cheese. If your babies are used to the taste of cow milk, they might snub at the taste of goat milk. 

If you are confused about where to start, consult your child’s pediatrician for some popular brands and discuss the best goat milk for your babies, depending on their nutritional information.

Safest Goat Milk For Babies and Infants

If your baby is under 12 months, then you should always opt for dense nutrition formulas. Milk formula based on Goat milk should be rich in minerals and vitamins.

Your child’s pediatrician might recommend the meal plan with Vitamin D if the milk formula does not have it already. 

If your kiddo is older than one year, then there is not much to worry about regarding nutritional content in the milk, as they get it from various foods.

Different brand goat milk has different nutritional content; however, it is important always to feed your baby pasteurized milk. Raw milk contains harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness to the kids.

Final Words;

Goat milk is not a very popular choice for babies in the US. However, this does not imply that you cannot feed your baby goat milk. If your baby is sensitive to cow milk products or has other health concerns, you can discuss with your pediatrician about adding goat milk to your kid’s diet.

Studies show that goat milk can be very nutritional and many benefits for your babies after they turn one year old. Although goat milk also has some drawbacks, including higher price tags, different tastes, and harder accessibility.

If these drawbacks do not worry, then consult with the pediatrician and get your hand on good quality goat milk.