Stage 2 Foods with Milk Okay?

I wouldn't risk it due to food allergies. I always found it bizzare that they would even put those ingredients in baby food. After she's one, it's fine to try them. Also, avoid foods that contain eggs. (A lot of the foods with noodles in them have eggs in them.)

If you have ANY history of food allergies in your family, don't give your child ANY food with milk until after age one. I made this mistake, and am paying for it with a child who has severe allergy to milk protein. It wasn't until after she developed the allergy and we were referred to an allergist that anyone bothered to tell me I shouldn't have given my daughter milk. It is the most common childhood allergy and is has gotten much more prevalent since we started homogenizing our milk (so the cream doesn't rise to the top any more). It alters the structure of the protein so that our bodies can't recognize and digest it like they can the proteins in breastmilk. That's why a lot of formula companies advertise that they break the proteins down into "comfort" proteins. It's to make it easier for your child's body to break down. When your body doesn't recognize a protein, it can treat it as a threat, like a virus or bacteria, and make antibodies to fight it off, causing an allergic reaction. Believe me, you don't want to find out the hard way. I had to learn to cook all over again, as we now have to avoid ALL dairy for a minimum of 2 years to let my daughter's immune system "forget" that it ever had milk. We are hoping it will work, but as she is now 7, the chances aren't good. Needless to say, my 3 year old boys aren't getting any dairy products until they are at least age 5. If I can give them a chance of not getting this awful allergy, I will. So, of course, my opinion is to follow the pediatricians advice and avoid milk until age 1. The baby food companies make foods to make a profit, not to make healthy babies. Good luck!

We are on stage 2 foods too but we have also been working in the baby yogurt (YoBaby). It has milk in it but it is for babies and toddlers.

Yes, stage 2 foods with milk is good. It starts them to prepare for the whole milk. When milk is cooked with a product it is more broken down I believe. Children have an easier time with food with milk it them then start whole milk. Also, remember that each child is different. If your child has not had any problems with breastfeeding or formula then you can most likely start her on whole milk before her first birthday. With my first son I was giving him a little whole milk after he turned 10 months of age. Good luck and have fun!

Giving your daughter items that contain milk or dairy products is fine, the doctor just recommends not to give straight milk until after 1 yr. old as the proteins are difficult for infants to break down/digest.

Hi A., this is a very good question. You would think that it is ok for them to have what's in the baby food cause it's made for babies but I would be very careful. If you or your husband have allergies then I would avoid the baby food with milk and egges in it. My son is 2 and we found out after he turned one that he is allergic to milk and eggs and I didn't even known that the baby food I was feeding him had eggs in it. I don't know why they put this stuff in the food when it's suspose to be made for your child. I would say try to avoid it. It will be hard to avoid but it will be a lot harder to avoid stuff with milk and eggs in it when your child gets bigger, if she ends up allergic to them. I would just wait until after she turns one. I hope this helps!!

I was lucky with my son. He had no problems with milk (although I didn't give him straight milk until recently) When he was your daughter's age I was able to give him cheese and yogurt. Unless she is reacting badly, I wouldn't be concerned about small quantities.

Milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese... are FINE and NEEDED, but don't give milk to REPLACE nursing or formula. That's where the confusion is.

My son is six months and he has had both half and half and soy milk in his cereal. I nurse so he hasn't gotten ounces of milk like in a bottle but He eats everything even fish. I spread out introducing a new food over several days but that's about my only rule. That and no honey. One of the first things I gave him that was dairy is cottage cheese. He got the chewing thing down with that. Now he can gum a way all kinds of foods with just his two bottom teeth. I also started solids at four months. That was the cereal apple sauce stage for him, then we just started giving him what we were eating in teeny tiny teeny mushy pieces off our finger. Some things he can pick up and eat but of course I still worry about choking so I don't let him feed himself unless he's useing that net munchkin feeder, which is wonderful by the way.
Anyway, if no body has any allergies to dairy in your family then I wouldn't worry about it. My pediatrician says more babies in the world get cows milk and are fine and it's a very small chance of an allergy coming on latter on in there life. So I hope that helps you in feeding your little one. I think every mom knows what's best for there babies, so fallow your gut! This site is great also for feeling it all out and seeing what other mom's have done.

If it's straight baby food it's fine. I stayed away from direct dairy produts (yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese) till my son was a year. I have a friend that's even staying away from fruit till a year, I think it's a great idea.

A.,
I give stage 2 Gerber foods to my 8 mo. old daughter none of which contain regular dairy. If I were you I'd check out the website babycenter.com which is a great reference for moms. They can answer this question for you and ones you didn't even know you had. I receive valuable emails from them daily with great ideas and updates on what to expect for each week of my daughters life thus far. I wouldn't feed my daughter any milk or products containing milk until she is at least 1 year old.
M. P