# Goats milk vs cows milk at 12 months



## pachamama

Hi ladies,

I'm sorry if this has been asked many times before, I can't find it on the search facility though!

I'm looking to stop expressing soon (been expressing since lo was 5/6 weeks old due to multiple bf'ing issues) and would like to start making the transition to cows milk. However, a friend of mine told me goats milk was easier to digest than cows. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks,

x


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## bky

Goats milk has uniform size fat particles, whereas cows milk does not. Cow's milk is homogenized to make it so (and so you don't end up with a lump of butter in your milk), but the natural particles in goat's milk are generally regarded as easier to digest. Goat's milk has a cholesterol molecule closer to human cholesterol than cows, is alkaline like human, rather than acid like cows, and some other stuff.
The very brief window I got mine to take substantial amounts of either milk she experienced some constipation with both-worse with cow though, but tummy pain with cow (eats cow yogurt, cheese butter, milk in cooking fine). Right now I'm trying (and probably soon giving up on *sigh* stubborn kid) a 2/3 goat to 1/3 coconut (for the lauric acid-also found in human milk) mix. Tastes ok to me, but while mine sips (improvement over plain cow or goat) it she won't really drink it.


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## pachamama

Thanks. Maybe it's going to be a bit of trial and error then...

I might start by slowly mixing my breastmilk with goats milk and see if I can make a smooth transition...

Thanks for the info.

x


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## Babushka99

I have read that goats milk can inhibibit the absorbtion of vitamin B12. I'm also unsure whether to use cow or goats milk


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## littlestar

i use both, mainly as i'm intolerant to cows milk protein and can't drink fresh cow milk products so i use whole goats milk for me and i started DS off on goats milk and gradually introduced cows milk. he will now interchange between the two with no issue.

i think the initial changeover is the hardest, i breastfeed for a few months and topped up his bedtime boob feed with an ounze or two of goats milk. he gradually weaned off the breast at 19months as he began to loose interest in the breast an shown increasing interest in his bottle i slowly increased the amount offered in a bottle. 

in the end he was happy with the transition and so were his nappies. i think a gradual transition will allow you to take note of potential issues. 

just a note he was 12 months when we did offer minute amounts in his cereal etc as i have intolerances we wanted to be sure the he didn't if that makes sense.


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## princessellie

ive just moved my babies from cows milk onto goats milk as ive heard its better for them too, the one i bought from tesco said its homogenized so maybe it will be as bad as cows milk??


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## pachamama

Thanks ladies.

So, what is it about homogenization (?sp) that is bad? I too bought goats milk from waitrose and it is homogenized. 

Which is worse, homogenized cow or goat milk?

x


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## bky

I'm a bit skeptical tbh on the homogenization of goat. The way the fat particles are I'm just not sure how/what/why they would? It's naturally homogenized which mainly means the cream doesn't separate out, like a glass of unprocessed cow milk would. Cow milk has various sizes of fat particles (which homogenization standardizes mechanically) and they tend to stick to each other and glom up, making cream rise, and eventually butter. I don't think any is particularly 'worse' per se, but the fat particle size in goat's is meant to be better as it is more readily digestible is all.


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## lynnikins

basicly homoginized milk has been heat treated then cooled to uniform the fat particles not nessacary in goats milk but it will give it a longer shelf life than fresh milk would have


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## Babushka99

When they homogonize milk they spray it really hard against metal to distribute the fat particles more evenly because they believe in the UK we like milk with the cream mixed in rather than the cream at the top. But I used to love the cream on the top of the milk! It isn't harmful or anything.


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## MidnightSun

I will be trying Rose with goat milk. I suffer from very bad IBS and had tried absolutely everything to try and make the symptoms a little more bearable...

For some odd reason one day whilst out shopping I saw that goat's milk was on offer and I picked it up. My IBS literally vanished overnight, it's like a miracle in a glass for me :happydance:

The taste does take some getting used to, but I really do prefer it :thumbup:


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## Pikkle

I still use BM as LO's main source of milk. My eldest is dairy intolerant, so for cereals etc he has soya or oat milk, so we have been using the same for LO. 

Would you say that Goats milk is more nutritious? DS can't have any animal milk, but I wondered what would be best for DD?


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## princessellie

i didnt notice a difference in the taste tbh, its a tiny bit less sugary but really not much :shrug:


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