With my first we gave yogurt around 8 months. We just started with my second and my husband brought up a good question. We don't give cow's milk until they're 1 year old yet we give yogurt earlier. It says on the container that we can give it to him and I've seen feeding schedules and all say that yogurt is fine. However, I don't get it. Why can he eat yogurt now but not drink cow's milk? Not sure why this didn't occur to us with our oldest. I guess we didn't know any better!
My kids went straight to table food at 12 months. I tried baby foods and cereals but since they didn't care for it I didn't stress over it. All nutrition needs to come from breast milk or formula before 1 year old anyway.
One of my favorite sites Wholesome Baby Food http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ has a couple great articles that go into great detail about this. Yogurt and cheese has been cultured and contains nutrients that straight milk does not. It also makes the proteins easier to digest. We are lactose intolerant and can't drink straight cow's milk but we can handle yogurt and cheese because it's been cultured. Before a year a baby needs as many nutrients as they can get from breastmilk or formula. You should not replace them with solids and it would be too easy to replace them with cow's milk were to to start giving it before a year.
The cultures break down the lactose making it easier for baby to digest. Also, there is no fear that yogurt will replace breast milk or formula.
ETA: It doesn't have to be baby yogurt. Baby yogurt probably just comes in a smaller package and maybe has less sugar.
It is kind of a marketing thing to get parents to buy anything that says "baby" on it. Many parents think it's the newest and latest craze for raising a child.
We don't need it as your hubby says. Use your common sense and if you don't feel good about giving it don't. There is no food police yet telling you have to feed x, y, z to baby. There was no baby yogurt when my kids were little. They ate regular food after the age of 15 months regularly. Prior to that they practiced food eating when they wanted.
Enjoy the baby for a few months as they soon become toddlers and are not that dependent on you and want to explore their world. I agree with Mindy Ton this one.
the other S.
a bit of yogurt is fine.. so are other baby foods and table foods.. but all nutrition for the first year comes from formula or breast milk.. food is practice for eating later.. so go easy on solids.. nurse first..
Gamma G is right - baby doesn't "need" yogurt. Foods are just a supplement, for experience, but their real nutrition until a year comes from their milk. They really don't get any nutrients that they need from food.
There is some reason why yogurt is okay, due to however it's processed, I guess, but if you don't feel comfortable about it, I wouldn't give it because it's just not needed and won't benefit baby in any way.
I don't know if they made "baby yogurt" when my kids were tots, but I always bought plain unsweetened regular yogurt and mixed in a baby food fruit for flavor.
I actually asked my doctor about this for my oldest. THe amount of yogurt they are eating is really not much compared to the amount of formula or breast milk they are getting.
I will say I got plain, whole fat yogurt. I was only able to find it in the large containers, usually organic. Sometimes I did mix a little baby fruit in it just for taste. I did not get the "baby" ones as they had sugar. Yes, plain yogurt is really sour, but he never knew any different and he loved it. He actually still LOVES sour stuff and he is now 10!!! LOL
As long as YOU realize that an infant does not need any other food except breast milk or formula then you "get it".
Every bite of food you give your child deprives them of nutrients. The ones they get only from Breast milk or formula. They do not need baby food, yogurt, juice, nothing except breast milk or formula.
They get every vital vitamin and nutrient from that bottle or mom's breast. When they eat they starve and eat more and more, they gain weight because it's fat. They are still starving so they get more food and they are still starving.
Because they need the nutrient rich formula to provide for their needs. They starve and eat and eat and eat because the food they are getting does not have anything they need,
So always each and every time offer them the breast or a bottle of formula first.
Baby food, yogurt, fruit, any food item is only a tool, to teach the baby to chew and swallow. No more. They should not be used to "feed the baby" the formula or breast milk of food for the baby and should not be lessened until they are ready to wean off. Then their food intake will increase due to stopping the nutrient rich formula or breast milk.
Yogurt contains probiotics and cultures which break down the lactose making it digestable.
Be careful about the different yogurts out there. Some of them contain a LOT of sugar, and some of them contain artificial sweeteners instead of natural sugars. Your best bet is to go with the plain stuff and add your own pureed fruits.
The proteins and lactose are partially digested and easier on the baby's tummy.
Which is the same reason that people with lactose intolerance can often eat yogurt even though they can't drink a glass of milk.
And, I agree with everyone else. My baby LOVED yogurt. And I like it too. So I bought a pint container (the big one at the store) of organic vanilla yogurt made from whole milk, and we all ate it (and still do). So much less expensive than yogurt labeled as for babies.
The reason you can give yogurt and not milk is that yogurt is fermented, so it is partially digested by the bacterial cultures before baby eats it.
And I didn't use "baby yogurt" either. I gave her the same yogurt I ate.
Because yogurt is not their main source of nutrition. They need formula or BM as their food. Yogurt just a snack.
