Yes, Linda, I've had NURSES like that before now, who think formula is
soemthing else. Well, it is, but...
However, you said quite rightly, "The main allergen in cow's milk is
beta-lactalbumin... It's the "cow" part of the cow's milk that causes most
allergic reactions, not the lactose." I agree. The lactose mostly causes
symptoms only when the gut has been damaged eg by the protein...People also
need to remember that bovine proteins are different from human (or goat or
sheep or anything) even when they have the same name. And here in Australia
allergy rates have gone up and up in the same time period that we switched
from casein-dominant old formulas to "modern" whey dominant with their
higher b-lactoglobulin levels and no one has ever asked whether those facts
might be connected..

Dianne said:
>I'm increasingly nervous about the longterm consequences of
milk-deprived kids whose moms aren't replacing their prematurely waning
milk supplies with any other form of milk - and I'm even concerned about
moms who are.<
If the concern is about quality of weaning diet generally, she's
undoubtedly right. Pritikin diet with little breastmilk is not good, and
energy needs are higher in the second 6 months, protein needs in the second
year. But in general, babies like other people need food to eat and water
to drink, and no one NEEDS white liquids at all. They can be useful for
some, but the over-reliance on them in western communities has caused a
great deal of harm, not only in those communities but where it has been
exported. Growth and resistance to infection remain the test of dietary
adequacy..

Maureen Minchin, IBCLC. Christ Church Vicarage, 14 Acland St., St.Kilda,
Vic. 3182 Australia. tel/fax: 61 3 9537 2640
"Taking paths of least resistance is what makes rivers - and people -
crooked." poster in Palmerston North NZ bookshop...