Discussion Board

I recently read Dr. Campbell's book "The China Study" which led me to Dr. Mcdougall's website. I reviewed a lot of materials on this site, paying special attention to topics on dairy products and cow's milk. Of course I am amazed by what I have read. I have a 19-month old daughter whom my husband and I adopted since her birth. We fed her cow's milk (in the form of baby formula) since day 1. She has eczema since day 1 and continues till today. We were told by our pediatrician that it is a common problem in many infants and the cause of it is unknown. We were told that this condition will go away when they reach 4 or 5 years of age.

After reading all the potential issues that cow's milk has on children and adults, my husband and I are suspecting that our daughter's eczema is caused by the cow's milk. My daughter has good eating habits. She loves vegetables, fruits, whole gran brown rice (in the form of porridge), and all kinds of beans. I do give her chicken and fish every few days as part of her meals. I am thinking of cutting down or stopping her cow's milk completely (I used to give her about 4 oz of cow's milk after each meal and now I only give her milk after her dinner before bedtime). My daughter's pediatrician told me that toddlers at her age should still take 16-24oz of cow's milk per day. In addition, the pediatrician also recommended that I give her cheese, yogurt and butters etc. since she still needs fats to grow especially for her brain development.

Is it fine for me to stop the cow's milk completely? Does she need to take other form of high caloried / high fat food in place of the cow's milk so that she can have a healthy development?

Also, what would you do in the case when mothers cannot nurse their babies (e.g. babies through adoption)?

Deeply appreciate any inputs and sharing from any of you.

You know, I would post this on Jeff's forum. He is a dietician, and I don't recall seeing a specific answer to this question from him.

I know that in the instances where breastfeeding genuinely can't be offered to an infant that Dr. McDougall has said he doesn't know which is worse--cow's milk formula or soy formulas.

However, you are in a different circumstance. Given your child's age, I suspect the advice will be to stop all dairy, use soy milk as a condiment only for cereals, and otherwise offer the normal McDougall diet. The caloric deficit is easily enough made up with eating at the higher energy density end of the spectrum, with more juices and whole grain products than an adult might require. But I'd love to learn along with you, if you post on Jeff's board.

Thank you so much for your suggestion!! I have gone ahead and posted my questions on Jeff's forum.

Much appreciation!