Can Infants Drink Cold Milk?
Infants can absolutely drink cold milk as it has been proven by research that milk being hot or cold doesn’t affect the nutrients present in it in any way. Thus, cold milk is as good for infants as hot milk. Usually, the latter is chosen because of preference issues and not health issues.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infants can safely drink cold, hot, or room-temperature milk (1). There are no benefits associated with letting your baby drink warm milk over cold or room-temperature milk. Studies show babies can drink cold milk without any harm, although many babies would rather have their milk hotter rather than cold. Babies bodies are still developing, and babies cannot regulate their own body temperature very well, so instead of giving them a cold cup of milk right out of the refrigerator, you are better off giving them milk that is cold, rather than freezing.
You might find your baby does not accept the coldest milk bottles, if they are used to being fed hot milk. Most babies, even though they are willing to drink a cold baby bottle, drink less milk than if it were warm milk. A cold bottle of milk does nothing for your baby, and it is likely that you will have some trouble getting your toddler to drink it. If your baby drinks the same amount cold that he or she does with hot milk, there is likely no reason why his or her weight gains would be affected.
You should discuss feeding baby cold milk with the babys pediatrician, then make the decision between cold milk and warm milk according to your babys health and preferences. To prevent your babys mouth from getting burned, you should check the milk temperature prior to feeding. If preferred, you may want to try to give your baby a little colder milk gradually, until he or she gets used to it. Eventually, your baby should adjust to this change in the temperature of milk, and you should have no problems.
| Can baby drink cold milk from fridge? | Why should babies not drink cold milk? |
| It is totally fine to give a chilly milk bottle to infants. | Fat layer forms on the top of cold milk which is difficult to get it back into the milk. |
| Although some mothers like to run the bottle or soak it under some warm water for a few minutes to remove the chill. | And that milk fat is beneficial for baby’s growth and healthy weight gain. |
If the baby does prefer warmer breast milk, simply heat as much as they will tolerate, as babies may begin taking smaller amounts if they do not like things. If the child prefers just warm milk, you may want to use a bottle warmer, which works well with either feeding via bottles or pumping milk (2). Babies who are both breastfeeding and drinking breastmilk from the bottle may prefer to have the milk hot, or at least room temperature. Babies used to drinking their milk cool usually do not have an issue being fed on a trip, whereas heated bottles can be trickier.
Even though a the convenience factor of giving cold milk is appealing, this might not work out well if your baby refuses to drink from the bottle this way. As your baby takes the bottle at first, you are likely to encounter milk on the face of your toddler as they realize that it is cold, followed by crying and refusing to drink any more. Aside from missing the benefits of better sleep presumably provided by drinking hot milk, there is nothing that your baby is missing out on from drinking the bottle cold. If your child is better at eating a cold bottle, you may want to adjust based on his needs and preferences.
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For a healthy, full-term infant, there is no reason you should worry about feeding baby formula directly out of the fridge, or mixing the formula into the cold water. If you decide to feed your baby formula rather than breastfeeding, you will want to heat up your formula bottle before giving it to your infant. For the babys benefit, you can store some in the fridge and mix with fresh-produced milk, or heat in the bottle for several minutes in running water to get rid of any chill. For infants (or fussy babies), you can remove the initial coldness from a bottle by running hot water over it in a sink for one minute and swirling.
Feeding milk chilled helps remove the risk of milk heating up too hot, which is bad for babies because it may cause mouth foaming. It is not wise to heat the cold formula in a microwave, since that kind of heating process may result in hot spots in the milk, which may burn the mouth of the baby. While it is not harmful to heat the milk too much, except if it hurts the babys mouth, a warmer milk with less heat is likely preferable.
Although cool breastmilk and other milks that are adequately chilled or frozen are safe for babies to drink, they may prefer them to be warmer because breastmilk is produced at a human body temperature. Research from the University of North Dakota has shown that cold milk is just as healthy and safe for babies as high-temperature milk. Because babies are sensitive and are still building up their immune systems, you are better off feeding milk at moderate temperatures, either cool or hot, or refer to specific health recommendations (3). If you have a new baby, you may not want to feed ice-cold cold milk formula initially; their digestive systems will not have to burn additional calories or energy warming it up for them.
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The only time you may reconsider giving baby cool or cold formula is if he is a newborn. It is also important to know that babies who are drinking cold formula cannot eat solid foods until about 6 months of age. Babies only need milk up until they are 6 months of age, and at this point, you can begin introducing some types of solid foods to the infants diet. When your baby is about 1 year old, you may begin introducing other types of milk, such as goats milk or cows milk, though you might have given your baby a goats milk formula from the beginning.
Each kind of milk changes a bit when it is cold, so your decision on whether or not to give baby milk cold depends on what type of milk he/she is having, formula, breast, cow, or goat. Most pediatricians would recommend giving baby as much warm fluids as possible, water, milk, tea… depending on the age of your baby. If using powdered milk, you are advised to mix with water and heat to 37degC before feeding to baby. Either way, a hot milk is certainly more likely to trick your toddler into believing he or she is drinking real, warm, breast milk directly from their mothers nipples.
Why should babies not drink cold milk?
If the milk is cold when it is mixed back with the fat layer, it may be pretty challenging to get it back into the milk. As a matter of fact, you want your baby to get that fat because it will give her the feeling of being satisfied for longer and contribute to a healthy weight gain. Furthermore, the baby might prefer milk that is closer to his body temperature.
When can babies have cold milk?
Breast milk or formula can be consumed by a baby’s cold? As long as your baby is only fed breast milk or formula until the age of one, regardless of whether it is lukewarm, at room temperature, or even chilled straight from the fridge, your baby will be able to consume it chilled until that age.
Can baby drink cold milk from fridge?
Is it secure? Sure. Many infants don’t mind drinking a chilly milk bottle. Although some mothers like to run the bottle under some hot water (or soak it) for a few minutes to remove the chill, you can give the baby food directly from the refrigerator.
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