My dad tried to give my 4-month old WHIPPED CREAM!!!

[Itsychik]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I'm visiting my parents (it's Thanksgiving in the U.S.) and tonight my dad tried to put some whipped cream on his finger to feed to my LO!!! He's almost 5 months old and (aside from the fact that he shouldn't have dairy at all) we haven't even started him on any type of solids at all

So I saw what he was doing and told him to STOP! And everyone in the room proceeded to explain how babies under 1 shouldn't have cow's milk.

To be fair, my dad didn't mean anything 'wrong' by it, he's just ignorant to all things baby-related and he just wasn't thinking that maybe he should have checked with me FIRST... but still. I was pretty pissed off earlier

... but it got me wondering: what would happen if he DID have cows milk? I know babies aren't supposed to have it, but what would it likely do to him??

 

[SiberianLover]

My parents did the same thing the other day when babysitting, only I wasn't there to.stop it. Ugh.

Nothing happened to my lo.

 

[Emmy1987]

My MIL tried giving my LO ice cream when she was 4 months! Luckily LO had just been fed and clamped her mouth shut.

I've no idea what would happen tbh

 

[Periwinkle]

I think diarrhoea is probably the worst that would happen, not sure how severe though.

 

[BabyViking]

Welcome to my world....
My MIL did that the other day infront of me, with some spraycan wip made from dairy and veg oil.
I said nothing, as it wouldent help anyway. She tried to feed her icecream and jogurt a few weeks ago, and I told her about the no dairy thing until at least 6 months. 12 months if it for drinking. To make sure She understood I got DH to talk to her about it.
I dont think she cared to be honest. Oh and after being presured to start giving her baby rice by DH, MIL and my mom at 4 months, I finally had someone on my side. My midwife told me no solids till after 6 months, as it interfers with her milk intake. I am so happy that I didnt give in more than once or twice to give her a bit of rice.
Because this is my first baby I dont feel like my wishes are respected. Everyone knows better than me. My mother even told me to give her honey this week. Even before having a baby I knew this is a big NO!
I completely understand how you Can find women doing things with their babies, where you just wonder what on earth are they doing? Dont they know better? These women are told by their family
"well I gave you that when you were 8 weeks old, and you turned out just fine".
No one understand that I dont take advice as fact. I need concrete evidence that what I am being told is correct, and I will investigate until satisfied.
I am a graduate student, so I am not completely incompetent and dumba**. Babies do come with a vague users manual, and it changes all the time. no one would use guidlines from 20 years ago!

I feel your frustration.

If I remember correctly, the reason behind not giving them dairy, besides just a little full fat milk in food, is because it is low in iron and other important ingrediens which breastmilk and formula have. And before 6 months old they could develop allergies or something.

 

[steph.4192]

My MIL decided to feed my LO ice cream, and a whole lot of it too, it didnt do anything but i didnt like it. Could be different though cause LO was on solids

 

[XJessicaX]

Babies under 1 can have cows milk. You are just not meant to substitute it for breast milk/formula. Formula is cows milk!

 

[CLH_X3]

My midwife never said my lo can't have dairy to 1 ? How come ?

 

[doggy121]

ive popped a bit of this or that on lo'd dummy here and there, a tint little bit should not cause any seriouse harm unless you lo has an allergy to that product!, my lo's face is soo cute to watch when he realises something different to the norm is in his mouth... my lo is alive and well after all these different taists have been introduced to him. BUT if someone other than myself or dh did this i'd bne a bit peed off as i know what i can pop on his dummy where as milk,lumpy stuff etc i would not be happy with!

 

[Frooty]

It's not that bad one little bit as long as hes not feeding it to your lo constantly.

 

[bigbetty]

From 6 months old baby can have cows milk on cereal, in general cooking and they can eat cheese and yoghurt etc. Cows milk is not supposed to be used as a drink instead of breastmilk or formula until 1 year old.

I started giving Fran yoghurts and cheese from about 5 months old because she's always been formula fed and if she had any cows milk allergies they would have become apparent by then xx

 

[CLH_X3]

Ahh ok thanks

 

[Brookey]

one little lick off the finger wont do any harm. its not like he was giving him spoonfuls of it!x

 

[wishingonastar]

Dairy (along with other allergy related foods such as strawberries and wheat) should not be given before 6 months as its undecided whether giving them before this time increases likelihood of developing an allergy so guidance is better safe than sorry.

Between 6 months and 12 months babies can have small amounts of dairy (yoghurt, milk in mash potato/porridge) but it must not become part of their main diet (ie must not replace BM/formula). Cows milk is not as nutrient rich as either of these and I think I'm pretty sure I read it is higher in sodium too (but that last bit I'm not 100% on)

 

[summer rain]

The UK government do not specifically advise dairy from 6 months, they advise starting weaning from 6 months but they don't include dairy (unless its unpasteurised) in the things to avoid if you do wean before six months. If your baby has already had formula then the chances are you will already know if they are allergic to dairy products because a large constituent of most formulas is cows milk-which is altered but to make it easier to digest and less salty as opposed to less allergenic. Cows milk is not advised as a main drink before 12 months because it doesn't contain the correct balance of vitamins (and most vitamins are absent), plus its hard to digest which can irritate the gut in some babies leading to a form of microscopic bleeding that causes anaemia and also it is very high in sodium as wishing on a star has rightly mentioned, one 200ml cup has just under 1/4 of the salt level an under-1 is allowed in an entire 24 hour period, for a baby between 1 and 2, it is 1/8 of the allowance which is a lot less bad xx

 

[Sarah&Ady]

A little bit of cream given on a finger shouldnt do any harm hun.... go easy on your Dad, he probably feels pretty crappy after everyone giving him a lecture x

 

[HungryHippo]

My MIL is visiting for Thanksgiving and game my LO oatmeal and sweet potatoes. They're flying back home today, thank goodness. LO also slept 11 hours straight last night and I awoke to a lecture on how soaking LO's diaper was. And it was a Huggies Snug 'n' Dry. But still.

 

[Neko]

I might have given my daughter a lick of whipped cream last Easter and she wasn't quite 4 months. It won't hurt your baby. We won't discuss the cupcake yesterday.

But tell your parents that it is your choice when the baby gets solid foods. Unfortunately parents aren't that great about respecting their children's choices.

 

[emyandpotato]

Babies can have cows milk on cereal and things just they need BM or formula as well as food. I was swapped from BM to just plain cows milk at 8 months anyway and it did me no harm.

 

[Itsychik]

Thanks everyone... I had just heard that babies shouldn't have dairy before 1 year, but I didn't know why!

My problem with my dad trying to give my LO is that we (me and DH) haven't made the decision to start DS on anything other than BM/formula, and when DS gets his first taste of something else, WE want to be the one to give it to him! And we both definitely want to be there to see his reaction--not a decision someone should take out of our hands. I know my dad meant well, but I was still a little peeved that he didn't think to ask first.

Thanks for the responses!