Patient's question:
I saw online that yogurt cannot be given to infants. I want to ask, how many months old is considered an infant? My baby is currently 12 months old. I'm wondering if she can drink drinks like yogurt at her current age. (To clarify, my baby was weaned at 6 months old.)Doctor's answer:
Don't drink yogurt within the first year. Yogurt is high in nutritional value. Parents are very willing to let their children drink yogurt. However, Qi Ke Min, director of the Nutrition Department at the Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Children's Hospital, reminds: Infants under one year old should not drink yogurt. Children in the infant stage have not yet fully developed their gastrointestinal system. The gastric mucosal barrier is not well developed. The activity of gastric acid and pepsin is also lower. At the age of 4-6 months, it is only half of that of adults. Yogurt undergoes an acidification process during processing, with a lower pH value. After entering the gastrointestinal tract, it can "corrode" the delicate gastrointestinal mucosa of infants, affecting digestion and absorption.