Cows milk and a 5 month old baby

I've not heard anything about it being safe or not, only that it is much more difficult for babies stomaches to digest. Something about their stomaches not being fully developed towards foods, and milk is a food product.

I think most of the people from my generations were raised on cow's milk. I was to be sure as I grew up ona farm. I know what you mean though as through the years so many additives have been put into their feed that you reallly don't know what the milk is like until its' pasturized....so I guess it would be best to ask a doctor.

It is not unsafe as such, it just does not have the enrichment that formulas do, and may be harder for him to digest. Before we had prepared formulas, Moms made formula from cows milk, either from the milk jug, or from canned condensed milk that they then diluted. Usually they added some source of sugar, and possibly a pinch of salt. Before moms knew to do that, if a baby quit nursing or the mom did not make enough milk, etc, babies were given cows milk. Nutritionally it is usually not the best, but my baby sister could not handle formula or the condensed milk homemade formula, and mom ended up giving her cows' milk, from pasteurized and homogenized milk, of course. At one year old I started my daughter on raw milk because the formula I gave her gave her diarrhea to the point she had bleeding sores on her bottom, and I had no other milk in the house except powdered milk. Skim milk, which is what powdered milk is, will give a baby diarrhea. Your friend's child may become gassy, if he is prone to lactose intolerance, it may trigger it, or he may get diarrhea, but it is certainly better than having him go hungry or giving him Koolaid.

I would trust milk over science, too, but presumably one reason is that the formula is fortified with iron and giving cows milk could over time cause anemia. Another is that a lot of the milk sold today has growth hormones and other problematic stuff in it that good old-fashioned milk from days gone by did not contain. Here is an article that might interest you: http://www.cleverparents.com/2007/10/30/cows-milk-pumpkin-pancakes/

I look at it this way...God invented cows and cow's milk...scientists invented baby formula... I trust God more than I trust a scientist. OH what did we do before we had scientist to tell us what to feed our babies?? OH how did any of us survive?? We drank MILK...that is how we survived. Babies have been around a lot longer than baby formula. Formula is not a bad thing, but as for regular milk being unsafe for babies...I don't see why it would be. People drink milk every day...babies are people too...so they can drink milk...