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Expert Q&A

	By Melissa Clark Vickers International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Moms & Babies Huntingdon, Tenn.

Although I am nursing my baby, I sometimes need to supplement. I don't like the idea of giving her formula. Would it be OK to give her rice or cow's milk instead?

If not breast milk, then what? When breast milk isn't available or there isn't enough of it, a suitable alternative is needed. And amidst all the reports that breast milk is so superior to any formula on the market today, it isn't surprising that moms look to other sources for alternative feeding.

What are the options?

If Mom's breast milk isn't available in large enough quantities, even after attempts to stimulate a greater supply, breast milk from a human milk bank would be the next best thing. This isn't available or practical for most moms. There aren't enough banks, and the milk in them is generally used for seriously ill infants.

Formula is next on the list. Of course, formula is NOT equivalent to breast milk, but formula companies are trying to match it as well as possible. The ingredients – amount and type – are based on what they know about breast milk. The biggest problem is that there is no way they can match the dynamic qualities of breast milk that change as Baby's needs change, and formula can't have the living protective cells in it that breast milk does.

Rice milk is not designed for the special nutritional needs of an infant. Babies grow and develop so much during the first years, that they need foods designed for them. Rice milk might be easier to digest than just straight cows milk, but would not be likely to contain all the ingredients Baby needs at this important time.

Straight cows milk is not recommended until Baby is at least a year old – it's designed to make strong, healthy cows, not humans!

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