Is it safe for babies to drink goat milk?

If you want to give babies goats milk instead of formula, you should learn carefully about the ingredients and safety of this food.

Are you planning to wean your baby early and want to look for some natural foods instead of marketed formula such as goat's milk? If so, let aFamilyToday Health follow up on the following shares to find out if this milk is safe for your baby.

1. Is goat milk safe for babies?

When starting to breastfeed less, most parents will choose cow's milk for their baby to drink. However, in some parts of the world, goats milk is thought to be a better choice than cow's milk. Therefore, in recent years, the trend of choosing goat milk for babies has become more and more popular.

2. Benefits of goat milk for children

When your baby is 6 months old, you can start to breastfeed other types of milk instead of breast milk. Before deciding, however, see your doctor to see if the milk you choose is right for your baby.

If you feed your baby goat milk, choose pasteurized goat milk to eliminate bacteria and also easily digest your baby.

Contains hypoallergenic protein

No matter what kind of milk your baby loves to drink, the protein in the milk tends to be concentrated in the stomach.

After a while, these proteins turn into curd. It will be easier for your baby to digest this curd if it's soft and small. After drinking goat's milk, the milk proteins slowly build up in the stomach and turn into a small, soft curd. Therefore, goat milk is easier to digest than some other types of milk.

Cow's milk often contains allergens, which are not good for babies . However, in contrast to cow's milk, goat's milk almost does not contain any allergens. If your baby does not like to drink cow's milk, drinking goat's milk will not cause any problems.

Contains easily digested fats

The fatty acid chains present in milk are the deciding factor in whether the milk is easily digested for the baby or not.

The fatty acid sequence in goat milk is usually short or medium, and therefore easy to digest.

Cow's milk usually has long chains of fatty acids, so it will take longer for your baby to digest.

Low in lactose

If your baby has lactose intolerance , goat's milk will be a wiser decision than cow's milk because goat's milk contains much lower lactose content. However, consult your doctor before giving your baby goat's milk because sometimes only a small amount of lactose is enough to cause the problem.

3. The secret to choosing goat milk for your baby

Here are a few things that you should keep in mind before choosing goat milk for your baby:

Always give preference to goat milk containing folic acid.

Carefully read the information on the package to see if the milk you choose contains allergens.

Keep track of whether your baby feels uncomfortable or has any symptoms of allergy after drinking goat's milk. Usually, allergy symptoms will appear immediately. Sometimes, these symptoms can take several days.

However, no matter how good goat's milk is, in the first 6 months it's best to still breastfeed your baby.