Milk or Formula?

My two oldest went to Vit. D milk at nine months. They are very healthy. I also started them on baby food at three months which I got frowned upon for...nothing happened to them! They're hungry they wanted it and gobbled it right up! The milk is fine!

I started giving my daughter Vitamin D milk when she was 10 1/2 months old. I just gave her the milk right out of the fridge but that is also how she took her bottles. My daughters ped said to not give more than 20oz. of Vitamin D milk a day.

Well M., I have 3 daughters, 5,1 1/2, and 2 months. With my older 2 I swtiched them about 10 months or so. I started mixing the formula with milk. About half and half for a few weeks then just gave them straight milk. Both my older girls are VERY smart. I plan on doing the same thing with my 2 month old when she gets about 10 months or so. I also started giving her rice cereal already about once a day. She is haveing no prbolems with it. You have gotten a lot of advice here, I would just do what feels right to you. None of our children pop out with handbooks, that is why we have mothers instinct. Go with your heart, if she has a problem, switch her back, it's only 2 months I don't think it makes that big of deal. Hope some of this helps

As Ellie F and MOMOFTHREE wrote, introducing cow's milk too early is associated with an increase in all kinds of health problems (allergies, asthma, eczema, ear infections, obesity, diabetes etc etc). *BUT* as Leanne B said, most of us survived quite handily despite being born in the dark ages when our parents pretty much gave us cow's milk from the get go :-)

The thing is, it's only a minority of people who are adversely affected by having milk too early. 90 out of 100 babies will do just fine, and grow up to be healthy adults. The other 10, however, are going to have problems. The question is, how do you tell if your child is likely to be in that 10%? I think a good thing to go by would be family medical history. If you or others in your family have any of the health problems associated with cow's milk, then you might want to stick with the formula. If your entire family is slim, fit and sparklingly healthy, then your baby is probably going to be fine with milk. If common sense tells you that milk-related issues don't run in your family, then give the milk a try. If she does start getting rashes and ear infections or whatever, then you can always go back to formula.

Don't ignore the medical evidence, just interpret it in the context of your family's individual health and experiences. Good luck!

Amazing how things are changing in the medical world. Seems like they push the solids faster than ever but put the breaks on when it comes to milk. Go with your mommy instincts, it's your baby. You can always try something and if it doesn't work it doesn't work but ultimately it's your decision what to do. I remember with my son that we gradually worked milk in with a sippy cup and did formula still with the bottle. Amounts I don't remember. I waited until my son was a year old to start milk....but he was also on LactoFree formula.

Hello,

I am mother to 3 girls ages 3,2 and 7 months andwith both of my first two I switched them from formula to milk at 10months(gradually) and they seem to be fine and plan to do the same with my youngest. I think in the beginning(from what I remember) I made the milk luke warm and over a period of 3 or so days made it cold. I also remember I would give formula one feeding and the next give milk maybe once the first day and replace a formula feeding with every passing day until I was only giving milk. I started switching to sippy cups and started solid foods at 10 months and my girls are doing great.

Hope this helps, Nickie

Im a mother of 3. With my oldest (10), i took him off formula when he was 6 months old and put him on Vitamin D (whole) milk. I never had any adverse effects. I believe that if you are making sure your child is getting the proper nutrients, formula or whole milk....either one is fine.

No if i recall right I switched my daughter on the milk as well sure didnt take long. I cant remember if we warmed it up if we did it was just a tady bit cause it will taste nasty if u warm it up where its COMPLETLY warmed up.
it will be ok for u to switch to milk its cheaper to go on the milk then it is formula any how.
since ur daughter getting lil older now
so Its all good. to do so..

it will not harm her it just makes her more healthier like ur son is

You know...I wonder how we ever survived as children with our parents doing crazy things like GIVING US MILK!! My goodness MOMOFTHREE P, that was a very textbook answer, however, childrearing is anything but textbook (as I am sure you know raising three little ones!). Common sense, intuition, these are the things we should use when making decisions like these for our children. My two cents...if your 10 month old digests formula well (no gas, no spitting up, etc) then it seems as though her digestive system is ready to move on. The reason they say to wait for whole milk is because a newborn's digestive system does not have the specific enzyme (or something of the like) necessary to digest cow's milk. This "enzyme" develops over time (12 months at the latest). So do what you think is best and keep a watch for any strange allergic symptoms, then switch back to formula if you think there are problems. And I would go ahead and heat the milk...you don't want to give her brainfreeze!! Hope this helps!

I know that a lot of ped.'s do strive for 12 months, but my oldest was allergic to all forms of formula. We tried so many that I had lost count. Finally, my ped recommended that we start him on half vit D milk and half sterile water for the first month to see how he did. He did wonderfully. Then, we bumped it up to 3/4 vit D and 1/4 sterile H2O until he reached the full Vitamin D. But, then, we had trouble w/constipation. My pediatrician recommended that we add 1 tsp of Karo syrup to his milk - NOT HONEY OR SUGAR! This would help act as a natural stool softener. Amazingly, it worked! By the way, he was 6 months old when we started him on Vitamin D, and to this day is healthier than ever w/no milk or other types of allergies! Hope this was helpful, and lots of luck!

D. Blackford,
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Hello! I have been in this situation myself. and the best thing that you can do for your child is put her on Soy Milk instead of Vitamin D.

My daughter was never on Vitamin D and she has never had an earache in her life, hardly ever get's a cold, has never had allergies, etc. and she was preemie. (2lbs 14oz at birth!)

I often wonder who saw a calf drinking milk from it's mom and said "Hey we could use that stuff and drink it ourself!" make's you wonder huh?

Don't worry about if your child will like the soy milk or not. If she doesn't know the difference she never will. My daughter cannot stand the taste of cows milk. And Soy milk is so good. it has a sweet taste. they even have it in chocolate and vannila. but origional is the best!

i hope i helped! -- L. kay

I have a 15 month girl and I was told to take her off formula at 12 months. I give her the Vitamin D milk cold. Her doctor told me to give her 15-20 oz a day so she doesn't get full on the milk since she needs more nutrients from food now. I have a niece who stopped drinking formula at 10 months because she just didn't want it anymore. She is also 4, healthy and ingelligent. I think stopping at 10 months is fine as long as he is getting enough nutrients from food.

J.

M.,

As far as switching before 12 months I guess that's just a judgement call. I myself just waited until I finished my last can of formula (with both girls) then I got rid of the bottle and they were given a sippie cup with milk.

What I did to get them used to the cold stuff was start giving them formula that was less and less warm. I started at a normal temp and every few days I would make it a bit colder. I did this because a relative informed me that her kids (now teens) still warm up their milk even for cereal...yuk.

It seemed to work because by the time each of them was on milk full time I had no problems and I had no problems with taking the bottle away either. But they didn't seem too attatched to begin with (bottle only when it's meal time was my strategy).

I think the amount of milk should be discussed with her ped. I think my girls would take a sippie with each meal and then I would try to have then drink some in between meals as well.

Her ped will know if she's not getting enough Vitamin-D.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck!

Hi M. A,

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002448.htm

Scientific research shows that cow's milk has the wrong blend of fats and carbs for human infants. Check out the AAP recomendations on the link above. They can get pretty sick from it if given too early. The correct amount of fatty acids is vital for good brain and eye development. Formula is better for babies and I would keep your baby on it as long as you can afford to and he will drink it. I breastfed through the first year but still mix formula in with my sons cereal rather than using cow's milk even at 14 months. I also suppliment his food with flax meal and multivitamins plus iron.

E.

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

I also have a 4 year old. When I was switching him from formula to milk, he was on the WIC program. They will not change from formula to milk until the child is 1. Now I have a nephew that is 14 months old...He also is on WIC, and started at 12 months. When my son was a baby, we changed him early, butI don't remember exactly how old he was. We just went ahead and gave him milk instead of formula because of him wanting to drink out of our cups and he decided he liked milk better than the formula. If you think that it is time to change, then go for it. I would however, go ahead and heat the milk a little, until the child gets used to having something cold. It can be a big shock for them going from drinking warm to cold. As for how much they have, we never changed the amount. Just whenever they wanted a bottle/cup, like normal, we put in milk instead of formula. I hope this helps...

~Jackie, mom of a four year old boy, and aunt of a 14 month old boy.

PUTTING A CHILD ON COWS MILK BEFORE A YEAR CAN CAUSE ALLERGIES LATER IN LIFE. IT CAN CAUSE PREDISPOSITIONS TO DIABETES ( JUVENILE TYPE) WHICH IN TURN CAN CAUSE A CHILD TO HAVE TO TAKE INJECTIONS OF INSULIN ATLEAST 2 TIMES A DAY....TEST BLOOD SUGAR EVERY DAY. AND NOT BE ALLOWED THE OCCASIONAL CANDYBAR THAT MOST KIDS ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE. AND OF COURSE DIABETES CAN HAVE A LOT OF OTHER PROBLEMS TO AFFECTING THE KIDNEYS, THE EYES AND OH YEAH FEET..LEGS..DIABETES CAN LEAD TO KETOACIDOSIS AND A CHILD COULD END UP COMATOSE. I WOULD THINK THAT THESE RISKS ARE ENOUGH TO KEEP A CHILD ON FORMULA UNTIL THE FIRST BIRTHDAY. GOOD LUCK

I wouldnt worry. Seems today so many peds push the formula for so long, you almost have to wonder if maybe they get kick-backs from the formula companies, haha. As long as baby is eating well and getting plenty of nutrition from food, switching to cows milk shouldnt cause her any problems at all. If for some reason you feel her diet is insufficient, or she is a picky eater, you may consider keeping her on it until that improves, but otherwise, I cant see where it would do her any harm. Heating it or not is up to you...possibly a little warming just to take of the chill...but if she likes it cold, no reason to bother. As far as how much, again that depends on her diet and the nutrients she takes in elsewhere..if she is a hearty eater with varied tastes and shes getting calcium, fat and vitamin D elsewhere (yogurt, cheese, other dairy)then I would simply give her milk as a beverage with her food and maybe another cup here and there throughout the day. No steadfast rules on this..If shes healthy and thriving...no worries.

I agree with what others are saying here about following your instincts. The best Doctor I ever ha was when my daughter was a baby. He had 7 kids and told me that if she is not having problems to go with what I thought best. Not only did I start both of my children on solids at a month old (with a spoon not through a bottle) he actually encouraged it. My kids were starving all the time. Both would eat an entire 8 oz bottle of formula every 1/2 hour. Admittedly my son's growth was off the chart (pretty good for being a premy) but at 5 he is right "where he is supposed to be." I think that we as moms have been told that we HAVE to do things just because this person or study has shown that it is better for us and yet i question this mentality. I work in a nursing home with people who rarely ever went to the doctor unless it was serious. We have a number of residents who are over 100 years. Bet their parents as well as they never got brow beat by some doctor about what to feed their children. My own grandmother has given me better advice about how to keep my children healthy (hot sugary/honeyed green tea to keep away colds) than any doctor ever has. Both my kids are rarely sick and although one has hayfever so do I, my mom, her brother, his dad, it was inherited. Personally I am going to keep listening to gramma, she is 97 after all and obviously did somethin right.

My doctor had us switch our son to whole milk when he was 10 months. He is now 3 1/2 so I don't recall the particulars, but he took to it right away. Ask your peditrican and do what you feel comfortable with.

From what I can gather, it depends on how well your child is growing and adapting to table food. My pediatrician told me not to switch to cow's milk until 12 months for my first child but he said 10 months was ok for the second. Some of my friends share the same pediatrician. He will tell some of them one thing and others another. So, my take on it is that it just depends on the child, how well he or she is growing, adapting to table food, etc.

Hi M., my daugther is 2 and my son is 4 months. My girl was 10 months when I switched her to 2% milk and it was okied by my ped. So that was a year ago. I was just in there w/ my son and she said it was still fine. I didn't give her the milk in the bottle though, I made her drink it out of a soft spout sippy cup and she did fine. I kind of warmed it at first, but she didn't drink it warmed that well. But in the first few times I gave milk to her I made 2 oz formula and 4 oz milk and then about after a week just milk and she did fine. Not sure if that helps, but thought I would give my advice.

~D.

You should do what you think is best. If your little girl hasn't had any problems with food up till now, she probably won't. My daughter refused the bottle after 10 months, which was fine for me because I was already 8 months pregnant with my second one. I have a very young ped and she seems to be fine with the way I have done things. I started rice cereal with a spoon at 6 weeks, did the cry it out stuff at night, and off the bottle at 10 months. My little girls are both on the low end of the weight spectrum, but they are growing proportionately and are by no means malnurished. I took most of my cues on what to do from her. She was ready, then so was I. She loves milk, but I have to limit her or else she will get a pretty good diaper rash. That is usually after about 4-5 sippy cups, though, I think my butt would be sore with that much too, haha. I warmed it a little in the beginning just to get the chill out, but she didn't mind it cold. So then I just gave it to her. I remember her giving me a little trouble drinking it in the beginning, but she didn't want the bottle. She likes to be stubborn then and now! Kids!! Fun, fun, fun!! You did something right the first time, might as well trust yourself now! Good Luck!