Pregnant woman who drink very little milk, have a greater risk of giving birth an infant with low birth weight. A research shows that this is related to the vitamin D in the milk.

Pregnancy is a special time when one must pay attention to a healthy and balanced diet in order to reduce the risk of micronutrient deficiencies. In this case, vitamins and minerals play their roles and contribute their importance for the proper conduct of the pregnancy. Women who want to get a child, be sure to do well to look at a sufficiently high intake of vitamin B9, also called folates, and if necessary takes supplements. A deficiency of vitamin B9 at the time of conception and in the very early stage of pregnancy increases the risk of growth retardation because of severe deformity.

Vitamin D is not the only vitamin required for proper development of the baby. A new study shows that vitamin D is very important and it is the main factor that causes the giving birth of babies with low birth weight.

It is relatively easy to demonstrate this. The researchers carried out an experiment on a group of pregnant women where their daily consumption of milk was recorded. Then, the birth weight of their babies was also recorded after giving birth.

It was remarkable that the weight of babies for the women who drank milk during pregnancy was higher. The mothers with less milk consumed per day (250 ml), averaged 110 g less compared with mothers consumed with more milk. The study even noted that with each additional glass of milk a day, the weight of the newborn was 41 g increased.

This effect is due to the vitamin D in milk and not to other components mainly from specific proteins and calcium exists in the body. The pregnant women are recommended to drink enough milk during pregnancy. If necessary, they are advised to discuss with their doctor whether or not they need a supplement. On top of that, regular milk drinking habit at the time of menopause is also favorable. This is because vitamin also contributes to the strength of calcium in the bones and protects against the risk of osteoporosis.

Avocados are considered one of the best first solid food for babies.  Creamy and rich when mashed, they offer a texture that young ones are likely to enjoy.  Apart from that, they’re sodium-free , cholesterol-free and are a great source of healthy nutrients like fat (babies need it for physical and brain development), fiber, potassium, vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6 and C), folate, phosporus, magnesium, iron and various other minerals in smaller amounts.  More than a few people haved referred to the nutrient-filled avocado as the “perfect fruit”.

When picking an avocado for feeding your baby, you want one that is ripe enough to be tasteful but not too much to potentially upset your child’s stomach.  Look to get one that’s firm to the touch but isn’t too hard not to yield when pressed.  When opened, the meat should be green turning into a buttery shade of yellow going into the center.  To prepare avocado, separate the meat from the seed and peel, cut it up in slices and mash it.

You can mix the mashed avocado with a variety of food types including milk, applesauce, peaches, pears, yogurt and other healthy fruits to vary your baby’s snacks.  You can also refrigerate it and serve cold if your child likes it that way.  Citrus fruits like lemon juice can also work well, although they’re usually not advisable for babies under one year due to their acidity.

I’ve heard some parents claim soy products are better for babies than similar ones made from milk and dairy.  Some, however, claim otherwise, insisting that soy will only help stimulate increased growth of fat cells.  When it comes to this argument, neither parent is wrong nor right.

Formulas based on either of the two should provide comparable nutritional value, making an argument on each other’s merits a difficult proposition.  In general, though, baby formula based on dairy is recommended by more pediatricians for its closer similarity to breast milk.  A soy-based formula is usually prescribed when the baby is potentially allergic to dairy or suffers from lactose intolerance.

The biggest difference in the composition of soy, which is often cited as the main reason to avoid it, are compounds called phytoestrogens.  Many researches are currently being done on its effects on babies and it is frequently the subject of hot debate.

Milk generally has a higher quality of protein than soy, apart from naturally containing calcium. Save for those differences, however, all their nutrient contents – whether fat, carbohydrates, calcium, calories, cholesterol or vitamins – are usually the same.

So which one is better?  Personally, I would go with dairy although there is absolutely nothing wrong, as far as science can tell, from soy-based baby products as well.  Thousands upon thousands (maybe millions even) of healthy children have been raised on either of the two.

In China, the total number of children sickened from dairy products tainted with melamine grew to 53,000. Nearly 13,000 children have been hospitalized and 4 have died. The root cause of this incident is that Sanlu and at least 6 of the other 22 companies that have produced milk tainted with melamine were exempted from government controls, because they were believed to have high quality standards, and with the obligation of carrying out regular checks on their own.

What is melamine? Melamine is a white, crystalline powder made from urea, a readily available raw material that is produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide. More than 95% of melamine production worldwide is used as a raw material to make amino-formaldehyde resins. In addition, melamine is known to be excreted in animal urine, and believed not to accumulate in the body of animals. When exposure levels are much higher, as was the case with cats and dogs, the melamine and its compounds appear to cause the formation of crystals in the kidney systems, resulting in kidney damage.

Melamine alone is of low toxicity, however animal studies have suggested that kidney problems occur when melamine is present in combination with cyanuric acid, a potential impurity of melamine. This combination has formed crystals in the body and was not fully dissolved in urine, the melamine gathered in the kidney, gunking up the organ and forming stones. The level of melamine found in the contaminated infant formula has been as high as 2 560 miligram per kilogram ready-to-eat product, while the level of cyanuric acid is unknown.

In 2007, melamine was found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate exported from China and used in the manufacture of pet food in the US. This caused the death of a large number of dogs and cats due to kidney failure. By itself, melamine is not known to be highly toxic, so scientific investigators now think it is a mixture of melamine and another chemical—cyanuric acid—added to the Chinese wheat flour that is causing crystal formation in the kidneys of cats, dogs and other domesticated animals.

According to the news, the incident of China’s Milk Scandal has affected thousand and thousand of infants and toddlers in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Four deaths have been blamed on the toxic milk powder, which causes kidney stones and agonizing complications. More and more infants and toddlers have been hospitalized after the incident was disclosed.

I was understood that one of the milk suppliers of Sanlu, the China’s biggest maker of infant milk powder, has added nitrogen-rich melamine to watered-down milk to fool quality checks, which often use nitrogen levels to measure the amount of protein in milk. This nitrogen-rich melamine has caused kidney stones and agonizing complications to the infants and toddlers after drinking the milk.

Besides, some of the dairy products manufactured in China are also contaminated with melamine. Countries like Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products.

This incident has reminded us the importance of breastfeeding. This will rule out the possibility of letting our babies to drink contaminated milk. Additionally, there are other benefits of breastfeeding your baby.

Some pregnant women may be advised or choose to restrict milk consumption and may not take appropriate supplements. We hypothesized that maternal milk restriction during pregnancy, which can reduce intakes of protein, calcium, riboflavin and vitamin D, might represent a health risk by lowering infant birth weight.

Milk is an important source of vitamin D, calcium, riboflavin, protein and energy during pregnancy, yet many women choose or are advised to avoid drinking milk for a variety of reasons, including the prevention of allergies in their children. Limiting milk intake compromises the quality of the maternal diet; women who avoid milk may not obtain adequate levels of vitamin D, calcium, protein or riboflavin. Milk restriction is a risk factor for pregnancy-associated hypertension. Low vitamin D intake is associated with neonatal rickets and decreased birth weight. Inadequate consumption of riboflavin is associated with decreases in weight, length and head circumference of babies at birth.

Although most nutrients in milk may be replaced from other foods or with supplements, vitamin D is found in few commonly consumed foods except for milk fortified with the vitamin. Dermal conversion of the precursor cholecalciferol to activated vitamin D is a seasonally unreliable source, particularly when the exposure of skin to sunlight is limited, and may not compensate for low nutritional intake. Under optimal conditions, 15 minutes of daily exposure of the hands and face to sun is required to produce adequate vitamin D, but this conversion is reduced by the prolonged winter season at more polar latitudes, by use of sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) above 8, and by ozone air pollution. People whose skin pigmentation is dark are more vulnerable than others to insufficient vitamin D conversion.

According to a study, women whose daily consumption of milk during pregnancy was 1 cup (250 mL) or less consumed less protein and vitamin D. As a result, they gave birth to smaller babies than did mothers who drank more milk. The conclusion is every 1-cup increase in daily milk consumption increased birth weight by 41 g; 0.000001g increase in daily vitamin D intake increased it by 11 g.

Clinicians should be alert to the effects of milk restriction and its associated reduction in vitamin D intake, and encourage pregnant women to maintain milk consumption. Adequate intake of vitamin D is especially important during winter months.

The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends that children age 1 to 3 years get about 40 calories per inch of height a day. This means that your 32-inch-tall toddler ideally should eat about 1,300 calories a day for normal growth and weight gain.

You should prepare balanced meals and healthy snacks for your toddler. Well balanced offerings, especially during snack time, will help you to overcome the inevitable lack of food intake during a meal. For example, if your toddler does not drink all of his milk at breakfast, give him cheese for a snack. If your toddler refuses to eat his meat at lunch, give him tofu bites dusted with Cheerio or Granola crumbs for a snack.

In these examples, while you may lament at the lack of calcium and protein intake during breakfast and lunch, you have taken the opportunity to “make up for it” during snack time!

Toss out the idea that your toddler will suddenly be eating “like the family” does! Remember, your toddler is still in a stage of slow-then-rapid-then-slow growth and is going through many changes! We find that feeding your toddler becomes less complicated and frustrating when parents realize what a serving size for a toddler really is.

When planning and serving meals to your toddler, try to have him/or her consume the following on a daily basis.

• 2 to 3 cups of calcium – milk (or yogurt, cheese or other calcium rich foods).
• 4 servings of fruits and vegetables. (Serving size: one tablespoon per year of age.) One serving should be high in vitamin C and another in vitamin A.
• 4 servings of grains – bread and cereal. One should be an iron-fortified baby cereal. A serving is about 1/4 to 1/3 an adult portion (1/4 slice toast, 1/4 cup pasta).
• 2 servings of proteins – meat, beans, eggs, tofu, or peanut butter. A good serving of protein should be served at every meal. One serving equals 1/2 ounce.

Toddlers should have 500 milligrams of calcium a day. This requirement is easily met if your child gets the recommended two servings of dairy foods every day. An important part of a toddler’s diet, milk provides calcium and vitamin D to help build strong bones. In addition, milk also contains carbohydrates, protein, fat, and zinc, as well as vitamins A, B2 and B12. Kids under age 2 should have whole milk to provide the dietary fats they need for normal growth and brain development. Offer cow’s milk in a cup after the child has begun the meal. If you are breastfeeding, only offer milk in a cup and avoid the bottle habit.

Most experts agree that kids can switch from infant formula or breast milk to whole cow’s milk when they reach 1 year of age. Before this age, cow’s milk is more likely to cause an allergic reaction and is tough for babies to digest. In addition, it is not the best source of iron.

Once you switch to cow’s milk, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and other health experts advise parents to buy only pasteurized milk, which has been heated and processed to kill bacteria. Raw milk, they warn, may harbor contaminants and micro-organisms that can cause food-borne illness.

Some kids initially reject cow’s milk because it doesn’t taste like the familiar breast milk or formula. If your child is around 12 months and having this difficulty, mix whole milk with some formula or breast milk. Gradually adjust the mixture over time so it becomes 100% cow’s milk.

Some parents are anxious to wean their babies to cow’s milk, especially those who have been feeding formula since it can be a bit costly, but there are several good reasons to wait. Cow’s milk isn’t as rich in several nutrients, especially iron, as breast milk or formula, which is important for healthy first year development. Until the baby is eating a variety of iron-rich foods, feeding breast milk or commercially prepared formula ensures that the baby will get a sufficient amount of iron. Additionally, there is evidence suggesting that the early introduction of cow’s milk increases the chances of developing diabetes later in life. This is especially important in families with a history of the disease. Finally, children who switch to cow’s milk before their first birthday have higher incidences of allergies and eczema than those who wait.

Calcium is one of the most important minerals during pregnancy. It helps in building and maintaining the teeth and bones of the baby. Calcium is needed most in the third trimester. Women who do not consume enough calcium daily may put themselves at risk for becoming so depleted that their babies have no choice but to take the calcium they need directly from their mothers’ bones. This puts mothers at risk for osteoporosis.

Your baby needs calcium to grow strong, healthy bones, teeth, nerves, heart, and muscles and to develop normal heart rhythm and blood clotting. If you don’t get enough calcium in your diet, the fetus will leach it from your bones, which may impair your own health later on. Calcium promotes your baby’s bone structure development, which continues throughout all three trimesters of pregnancy.

Since a growing baby demands a great deal of calcium, a pregnant woman should increase consumption of dairy products and other calcium-rich foods such as green leafy vegetables, orange juice, breads, breakfast cereals, and soy milk to prevent calcium loss from her own bones. A glass of milk also contains useful amino acids. Recent studies point to a likely link between calcium deficiency and the development of maternal hypertensive disorders (high blood pressure) in pregnancy. Calcium not only strengthens your bones, but also helps in muscle contraction and blood clotting. Some sources also say that intake of calcium can help with pre-menstrual syndrome, or PMS.

According to a research, only 23% of women consumed more than two cups but less than three cups of milk per day, which still doesn’t meet the recommended amount of calcium for pregnant women. The recommended level of calcium for pregnant women is 1,200 mg. A glass of milk or calcium-fortified drinks such as soy milk or orange juice contains approximately 300 mg of calcium.

In this case, pregnant women generally do not get the required nutrients from food alone. Mothers particularly in need of supplementation are those who are younger than 15 or older than 35, those who are expecting a multiple birth and those who are vegan.

In fact, in a study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, infants of mothers who took 2,000 milligrams of calcium supplements per day during their second and third trimesters were born with 15 percent greater bone density than newborns whose mothers took placebos. During pregnancy and lactation, your body will draw upon stored calcium in your bones to supply your baby and breast milk with adequate amounts should your diet not supply it. In other words, low intakes of calcium will affect you more than it will affect your baby.

In conclusion, to maintain positive calcium balance, adequate intake of naturally calcium-rich or fortified foods, calcium supplements or a combination of these is needed.