Everyone knows how good breastfeeding can be for a baby. The many benefits may include protecting the child from illness and infection, from allergies, and it may enhance a baby’s development as well as intelligence.
We have been taught to avoid cow’s milk until the baby reaches 12 months. Some of the reasons given by experts are the fact that the baby can’t digest the milk proteins and that milk doesn’t have all the vitamins and minerals needed for growth and development.
But, a study led by Professor Yitzhak Katz of the Department of Pediatrics at Tel Aviv University says that giving a baby a small bit of cow’s milk during the first 15 day s of life can also be beneficial.
The study, published in the July issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, involved 13,019 babies given a bit of cow’s milk in their formula for the first 15 days after they were born. These babies were found to be 19 times more protected from developing cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) as were baby who had formula without cow’s milk the first 15 days.
CMPA can cause rashes, respiratory problems, shock, and possibly death. Katz said, “Women who regularly (daily) introduced their babies to cow milk protein early, before 15 days of life, almost completely eliminated the incidence of allergy to cow milk protein in their babies.”
While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women switch babies from being breastfed to bottle fed at six months, Katz said that is the wrong time. If not given cow’s milk during the first 15 days, he recommends that babies not have it until the age of 12 months.
Katz said even mothers who breastfeed should give a single bottle-feeding at night to see benefits. He said this formula feeding gives the dads a chance to bond with the babies as well.