Recommendations for Milk - Switching from Formula

While I appreciate the Mamasource forum for the healthy exchange of information between mothers, I really wish that people could do it in a respectful way, without accusing people of being "ignorant and hypocritical." Anyone can find the "research" needed to promote their own agenda or opinion. As someone who has done research with a local university regarding to vaccinate or not to vaccinate, I realized that there is information out there to substantiate just about any view.

That being said, it is the consensus of the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) that children should be given whole milk until they are at least 2 years old. If you have skinny kids like me, you might choose to keep them on whole milk longer. However, every child is different and of course some are lactose intolerant and some are allegrgic to milk--my brother was and it was hell for my parents growing up because they didn't have the products that they do now. And of course you have the choice to disregard the AAP's recommendations, but make sure your information comes from sources and organizations that have conducted legitimate studies and articles that are from peer-reviewed (very important) publications. Again, certain mainstream magazines are pushing their agenda and information is slanted.

Most grocery store brands no longer add hormones to their milk--you can check the labels for this. I think it is great to buy organic, but that is not finincially feasible for many. I go through 3-4 gallons of milk a week in my home, and at $7 a gallon for organic, you can see that is well over $100 a month just for milk! I do not buy organic--I buy whole milk for the kids and lowfat milk for me. Juice should definitely not be substitute as it is loaded with sugar. You could try soy milk, but if I were you I would get my doctor's opinion, see what all the moms say here, do some of your own research on-line, and then make a decision that is right for your child. The diabetes mentioned before has many, many, other factors involved other than milk.

AS far as the transistion goes, I used 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk in the bottle for a while and then gradually tapered down the formula until he was drinking only the milk.

3 moms found this helpful

Hi Dorothy,

I give my 1 y/o twin boys Organic Cow's Milk. It's more expensive but can be found even at Wal-Mart. They are doing really well on it. I've been transitioning them for a couple of months now. Hope this helps! Lemme know how it goes

thanks & blessings

S.

She definitely needs whole milk at least till she's 2. That was the advice from her pediatrician. Giving her low fat could actually harm her at this stage. I was also worried about all the hormones in things these days so I buy my daugther Borden's milk. She's 3 1/2 now and is drinking their Kid Builder 1% but they have a whole milk too. It is hormone free and can be purchased at most grocery stores including Target and Walmart. It usually runs between $3 and $4 so not too bad. Borden's also makes cheese without hormones too.

A baby needs the fat in whole milk for brain development until age 2. Organic milk does not contain the hormones you don't want. I highly recommend it.

Dorothy,

Please remember that everyone is different and we all have tried different things with our children. You might have to use the ideas in your own way to make it work for you and you daughter. My daughter will be 2 in Sept and I still do not have her on whole milk but she is off any type of formula. The only milk I would buy is organic, this is not because I buy everything organic but there are certain things that you really want to be organic and dairy is one of them. The hormones and antibotics that are in milk are horrible for anyone, not only children. It messes up your natural hormone balance. You probably have heard about girls starting periods early and developing breasts early. That is from the food that we consume that is full of hormones. But like I said at the first we are all different. I would not use Soy milk because of the estrogen level in it for a boy or girl and adults need to watch their intake of soy as well for that reason. Almond milk is good but I think they say to hold off on nutts till they are 18 months. I would go for organic whole milk or organic goat milk. Really what is the cost if it helps the health of your children. I know that the cost is a little high but I know that you can get organic milk at Central Market for right around $5 a gallon, not $7. Not sure of the brand that is that expensive but I buy all the time and organic milk has a longer expiration date due to the difference in additives. I hope this helps and I do not think anyone should citicize but help education. That is what we are here for.

Hi Dorothy,

The fat in the milk is necessary for brain development at this age. You are right about the hormones and antibiotics being a concern. Is it any wonder our children are reaching puberty at 8 or 9 years old these days? I would recommend using organic milk, which is available at all grocery stores OR check with a nutritionist about using soy milk or rice milk. Just make sure it is non-GMO (non genetically modified) soy and ideally has at least 2 grams of fiber. The fiber content will tell you whether or not all the natural nutrients have been stripped out during processing.

I applaud you for your concern and diligence regarding your daughter's diet. I wish all mothers shared your concern! Unfortunately, our society makes it very difficult to know what is healthy, what is not and how to tell the difference.

Blessings,

M.

P.S. I am building a team of 5 financially free champions
over the next 2-5 years. Want to be one of them? Email me through my Mamasource profile if you are ready for change!

Dorothy,

Your baby needs whole milk until she is about 2 years old. She needs the fat from the milk to grow. I'm not sure why you are so concerned about milk when you are giving her formula. Formula is just dried milk pretty much. Best of luck.

We have given our kids rice milk since they were 1. It's healthy. It's got the calcium and it's lower in fat than cows milk. That's what I would recommend.

Kids defiantly need the fat that is in whole milk. I would suggest going organic. Yes it is a little more expensive but so worth it. Tom Thumb sells the O brand that taste great and it is cheaper that some of the name brand organic milks. Also, Braums sells there brand of milk that has less hormones and such in it. Also taste great but its not organic.

You have alot of long responses so I will be quick. We use Horizon Organic milk. You can find it anywhere pretty much. Albertsons, Tom Thumb etc. Usually around 4 or 5 dollars. I also added in a couple of scoops of Next Step formula cuz I have a skinny boy! They do need whole milk though for brain development. Good luck. Hope you arent overwhelmed with all of the responses!

I would recommend the Braums milk since it does not contain the hormones we all need to avoid. I have been told whole milk should be given to kids 12 thru 24 months. After that point, you can move them to a lower fat version. Braums milk is budget friendly opposed to organic and store brands.

I had a similar question and I'm glad I found your post.
I drink cows milk every now and then, but I know not everyone goes that route.

I'm still trying to research organic cows milk versus non-organic cows milk (but rBST free). As a previous poster said, you'll find lots of arguments to support both sides and there is lots of politics and money out there on the line.

For organic, I found this scorecard/report interesting: http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/index.html

Someone just passed this little snippet on to me (although they don't site their sources): http://www.prevention.com/budgetorganic/list/5.html

Good luck on whatever you decide to switch you.

I'd appreciate it if you or others still post sources for research on the topic!

I commend you for working hard to feed your child nutritiously! After looking into info, we decided on organic milk - hormone-free. We followed our pediatrician's recommendations regarding the % fat for her to have. She started at whole milk from 1 to 2, then dropped to 2% and now, on her 4 year old wellness appt, we were told she could drink the same fat-free organic milk we drink. We have had no problems.

She actually doesn't need milk to get optimal nutrition and there has been correlation between consuming cow's milk and diabetes. She can get the healthy fats from alot of other foods, as well as the calcium (just google "non dairy" and "calcium") and vitamin D (which is best gotten from the sun). Here's good info published by the National Institute of health:
http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitami...

However, if you want to serve her a milk like drink, there are lots of good alternatives that have the added nutrients - rice milk, potato based milk (convenient because it's a powder) and almond milk. The almond comes unsweetened - that's what my family uses as a milk substitute and you can use it for any recipe, etc that calls for milk.

You can find organic milk anywhere these days. She needs the whole fat milk. Her little growing body needs the fat.

My daughter can't drink cow's milk. It causes her to have diarrhea. So she drinks Silk soy milk. She does eat other dairy. She just can't drink the milk. She eats cheese. My dr wanted to make sure she had some kind of dairy product from a cow at this age because if you are not introduced to milk products, it can cause her to have the inability to digest them later in life.

To switch, do it gradually. One bottle swapped out each day until she is only on milk.

GL!

Dorothy,

My hubby is a nurse and a small part of your post really bothered me. I totally agree on the hormones and additives, etc...but your statement of "the idea of giving her full fat milk is weird to me" really grabbed my attention. It is really a great idea to avoid the hormones and such. But you can NOT give her lower fat milk. Not even 2%. Children her age need the fat. Their body, but especially their brain...needs this type of nutrient. If you want to bring it to 2% around 3 or 4 years old, great. But the first four years or so they really should just have whole mile. You can buy a whole milk from Horizon that is hormone free, etc...but please don't feed your child reduced fat milk. It will do no good and only has the potential to keep her body from getting the fat it needs. Good luck to you on the transition!
After responding and seeing some of the other posts...I have to say one thing I disagree with heavily is a parent influencing what a kid eats to the point that they make them eat exactly like the parent. For instance a parent that is vegan keeping their child a vegan because they feel it is best, etc. I think kids should be able to be fed well balanced healthy meals with plenty of fruits and vegetables (organic of course :) and they should be taught about foods. As an older child...8, 9, 10, etc...let them try things and decide what they like and don't like and how they want to eat. If the kid wants to eat vegan only, let them. But making a kid vegan or disallowing cow's milk just because your other child was allergic, etc and coming up with all these other misc herbal remedies and supplements,etc to replace a glass of milk is a little much...especially when a kid isn't allergic. Maybe the kid wants some chocolate milk. Let the kid be a kid.

I was in a similar situation with my son. We tried soy milk and then went with goat milk. Goats aren't comercialized like cows and are not given the hormones and antibiotics. My son likes it better than the soy milk and better than cows milk too. It has a lot of good stuff in it for little growing bodies. We don't give him sugar and try to give him healthy things to eat as much as possible. I get the goats milk from Sprouts.

Whole Vitamin d Milk but be readdy their poopy diapers a alittle grose untill they get use to it not so bad if you make sure that they eat enough iron during the change

Goat's milk has been a good alternative for our son. After reading about the benefits (easy to digest), we decided to try it. Our son LOVES it! We use both the powdered and the evaporated from Meyenberg. The powdered is usually sold as a formula, although it is just powdered and found in health food stores, like the Sunshine Shoppe and The Vitamin Shoppe (I think) and the evaporated is sold everywhere. We get ours at Walmart.

Up until the age of two, children need the full fat milk for their brain development. It is very essential. Once they turn two you can give the the 2%. You can buy the organic milk to avoid the hormones and additives. I mixed the formula and the milk in the beginning to make the full switch smoother. It worked very well and they now love the milk.

I agree with you about not wanting to give your baby the additional hormones & additives that are added to most milk. I do think that whole milk is important for your little one for at least 1 year - so you can try Borden brand - they state that there are no additives or hormones in their products. Its seems to be working well with my 3-yr old & 17-month old :)

Because of the hormones, and the fact that milk is not as healthy as they say, my kiddo's don't drink it at all! They eat yogurt and other dairy products, just no milk. We do water. Don't think you absolutely HAVE to give them milk. My kiddo's are just fine without!

Dorothy,

I have three kids. With my first two, I gave them whole milk when they turned a year. My third just turned one, and I decided NOT to give him whole milk. He is still on formula, but it is formula for older infants (9 mos. to 24 mos). It's the healthiest. I wish I had known about older infant formula with my first two. You don't have to worry about giving your child vitamins, b/c all the vitamins she needs is in the older infant formula. You also won't have to worry about cow's milk possibly not agreeing with her digestive system.

However, if you don't want to give her older infant formula, my next suggestion would be goat milk. However, it's only sold by the quart (not gallon or even half gallon), & it's expensive. Goat milk is easier on the digestive system than cow's milk.

p.s. you can find older infant formula at Super Wal-Mart, & I assume it would be the cheapest there. Good luck!

I give my kids Horizon Organic milk. Its sold everywhere and it taste great! No hormones!

You don't want lower fat for under 2. Notice all the American Heart Association signs say for healthy people over 2! Fat is the ammino acid that build brain cells - very important!!!!

If you live near Southlake, Central Market has their organic milk on sale on Mondays 3 half gallons for $5. That is as cheap as regular milk! We think it tastes great. It is their brand. The Plano store has done this sale some, but if you live near one other than Southlake, I'd call and ask. Good luck!

Consider reading www.westonaprice.org

It has lots of information about dairy products.

Braums milk (yes the ice cream shop milk) is great and doesn't have all the extra hormones, etc. My kids love it and I'll tell you...it is really good. My husband even likes the lower fat type, it is not watered down as much and while a little inconvenient, worth it to me.

=)A.

Braums does not add hormones, antibiotics.

My son doesn't like whole milk, so I give him 2%. His dr. just said to make sure he gets other forms of dairy to help supplement. He loves cheese and yogurt, and of course ice cream! When he turned 1, I just tried giving him a bottle of milk and he loved it! I never had to, but you can try mixing milk with her formula, increasing the ratio of milk to formula each day/week (whatever she'll tolerate) until it's all milk.

I really like the organic milk it lasts longer and does not have hoarmones in it. I use the kind with the dairy cow on the lable (cant think of the name right now) but we really like that one.

A. J

We buy the Organic whole milk at Costco!! All four of our children drink it and love the taste. It does not contain hormones and is almost 1/2 the price of other organics. Hope this helps.

The fat is what is important. Milk is not the only way to get the healthy fat that they need. If you are not comfortable with giving them milk, then find other sources for the fat. I would give ours whole milk yogurt, and our family loves cheese. For some reason even when they had a problem with cow's milk, they liked and could handle these. My youngest did not like milk at first, so he drank rice milk till he was two and a half. We do use organic milk. My favorite is Shamrock Farms, we get it at Sprouts, it is only pasturized, not ultra pasturized. However, when money is tight we have bought the Great Value Organic from Walmart.

Braum's has a Fresh Market, and they sell good, hormone-free milk,and it's usually cheaper than anywhere else. You can go to Braums.com to find the one closest to you :). I've been buying their milk for years, and I can taste the difference, and so can my friends who come over that happen to drink milk. I think you're supposed to give a one year old whole milk, and switch to 2% when they're 2, at least that's my doc's recommendation.

Hi Dorothy,
I didn't and still don't give my children or family cow's milk. When/if I do, it is organic, no pesticides, hormones, antibiotic free...Horizon's milk. I also buy organic meat cuts at a very good and reputible place in Grandview that only eats grass. They don't feed them "corn" or other feed. Its all natural. That is one of the reasons today's children are looking more and more like 21 year olds instead of 11 year olds--hormones. Antibiotics are being way over used and that's is also one of the reasons they are not working well when one gets sick! Any way when my little ones were weaning off me, I switched them over to goat's milk. It is the very next thing to mother's milk. It breaks down in the stomach very easily. do a little research on it. You will be surprised. You can purchase it all natural from a farm or you can get started on the goats milk from
Meyenberg Goat's Milk. you can buy it at almost any grocery store. you can evern read about it at www.meyenberg.com
Hope that helps!

I gave all 3 of my girls skim milk. Same good stuff way less bad stuff.