Goat Milk Formula: Are There Any Benefits?
How goat milk formulas differ from cow’s milk formulas, whether there’s any reason to consider them better, and whether they’re suitable for babies with cow’s milk protein allergy.
Fokina Anastasia · 8/13/2026
About the author
Fokina Anastasia
Pediatrician. Sharing her experience while on maternity leave.
For some reason, goat milk formula (I won’t name brands — I think you all know which one I mean) has become wildly popular lately. It’s believed that this formula is better than anything else on the market; one blogger after another says they feed their baby goat milk formula specifically because it’s expensive and the best, while the others are cheaper and therefore worse — and poor moms, convinced they’re buying only the very best for their baby, spend a fortune (this can add up to 40,000 rubles a month or more).
So which formula should you buy if your baby is formula-fed (leaving aside babies with medical conditions)?
The answer: any of them!
That’s right — choose any adapted infant formula in the right stage, 1 or 2. Any brand. Whether a given formula will suit your baby, no one knows and no one can guarantee in advance: one brand may not agree with them, in which case you switch to another — but only after consulting your pediatrician!
What advantages does goat milk formula have?
Based on the limited research available — none.
No differences have been found in physical growth (weight, height, head size), stool consistency (there is limited data that stool was firmer on goat milk formula), the rate of side effects, the development of atopic dermatitis, food allergy, blood tests, and so on.
So what does it all come down to?
It turns out there’s no point in overpaying for formula based on a different milk.
I’ll also point out that in the case of cow’s milk protein allergy, goat milk formula is not an alternative!!! There is a high chance of cross-reactivity; in that case a therapeutic formula is chosen together with your pediatrician!
And let me remind you — expensive does not mean better!
What the research shows
Physical growth
Based on the pooled results of four RCTs involving 545 infants, there were no significant differences between infants fed goat milk formula and those fed cow’s milk formula in height, weight or head circumference.
Stool frequency
Two RCTs involving 410 participants reported no significant difference in stool frequency between infants fed goat- or cow’s-milk formula. That said, infants fed goat milk formula did have a lower stool frequency compared with those fed human milk.
Stool consistency
One study involving 301 participants reported significantly lower mean Bristol Stool Scale scores (stool closer to firm) in children fed goat milk formula compared with infants fed cow’s milk formula: at 2 weeks, 4.69 (1.44) vs 5.46 (0.96), and at 1 month, 5.59 (1.35) vs 5.35 (1.19), respectively. The Bristol Stool Scale refers to seven photographs of different stool shapes (from 1 to 7; types 3, 4 and 5 are considered normal stool forms).
Food allergy and atopic dermatitis
One RCT involving 301 participants found no significant differences in food allergy between infants fed goat milk formula and those fed cow’s milk formula. There was also no difference in the rate of atopic dermatitis.
Overall findings
Although it’s impossible to draw a firm conclusion about stool consistency because of the variety of assessment methods used across the four studies, the stool scores suggest that infants fed goat milk formula may have firmer stool, which is still considered normal.
There was no difference in anthropometric measurements, food allergy or atopic dermatitis between infants fed goat milk formula and infants fed cow’s milk formula. Infants fed goat milk formula do show a trend toward lower stool frequency.
Blood tests
There were no differences in blood values between the two groups at the end of the 3 months following the intervention.