Goat’s Milk

I often have families tell me they are using goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk for their older kids, and I say to them, “Okey dokey.” That is as long as those kids aren’t otherwise picky eaters. That is because compared to fortified milk, goat’s milk does not provide sufficient vitamin C, vitamin D, iron, zinc, folate, or B vitamins, which can lead to various deficiencies and anemias.  

Sometimes I have families who try to use goat’s milk instead of formula or breast milk. I do not say okey dokey to them as the discrepancy between breast milk and formula to goat’s milk is much greater. For instance, in infants younger than 6 months, we are looking for 65 micrograms of folate per day. Breast milk and formula have 45-50 micrograms of folate per liter (about 4 cups), while goat’s milk only has 6 micrograms. So if you want a goat-derived source of nutrition for baby, we should look at goat’s milk formula that has been fortified to get those vitamin levels up to levels we expect from breast milk. Families often will change to goat’s milk if a baby is allergic to cow’s milk, but their proteins are so similar that there is often too much cross-reactivity, and kids would be sensitive to goat’s milk as well.