Hi all,

The late Dr. Edward Cerutti from Cleveland OH (and founder of the US's first
BF clinic in the early 1980's) maintained that there wasn't much difference
between cow milk and formula anyway. I heard him say at a BF conference that
the added expense of formula for the over-six-month old was probably not
necessary and probably just a marketing gimmick.

On a related note, a few years ago I met a masters-prepared nurse, head of
the pediatric department at a state health department, who actually did not
know that most infant formulas (the "standard" ones) were made from cow's
milk.  Her 8-month old mostly BF baby was getting repeated ear infections,
yet she insisted that she wasn't giving him dairy products. I asked about
formula. It seems the day care center was giving him one or two bottles of
Simi*** every day. She thought the milk was somehow changed and the
allergenic properties removed when it was made it into formula.  I'm not
kidding, folks.

The main allergen in cow's milk is beta-lactalbumin which has no counterpart
in human milk. It's the "cow" part of the cow's milk that causes most
allergic reactions, not the lactose.  Human milk is mostly
alpha-lactalbumin.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com