When did you switch your child from Vit D milk to 2% (or whatever you switched them to)? My Dr had said most people keep their kids on it until age 2.
My kids are all on Vit D milk, and my oldest is 4 years old. Honestly, I don't think we'll switch. The kids need to have good, healthy fat to help their brains function. And so do I!
My son switched from whole to 2% around 2 1/2. FYI, there's still Vitamin D 2% milk. We cut out some of the fat so I could stand to drink the same milk as him, not to lose the vitamins.
My DD is 2.5 and I don't plan on switching her to 2%. I agree with the other moms that it's less processed and better for our kids. I think it's better to watch calories elsewhere (like in desserts, processed junk food, etc), and keep the whole foods in their diet.
Only whole milk in my house- always has been and always will be :)
We did whole milk until the age of 2 then switched to skim.
Hi S.,
Whole milk is less processed, less synthetic chemicals, than 2% milk and the difference in the fat content is negligible. Whole milk is simply 4% and the FDA allows a certain percentage for error up to one percent both ways if I remember correctly, on all kinds of milk.... We drink whole organic milk.
M.
My whole family is on whole milk, usually local organic but sometimes just regular from the grocery and we have no plans on switching. Minimal pasteurization and no homogenization really makes the best tasting milk. The rest are like water in comparison. My youngest is not quite 5 and even her father and I drink it; we just don't drink as much as the kids. Adults in our society actually drink way too much milk. We usually go through 2 gallons a week at the most and the children drink the majority of it.
Those that have mentioned vitamin D is in all milk are correct. The difference is that they have to add extras to the other milks since D is fat soluble and your body won't absorb it otherwise. That's not an issue with whole since there is still plenty of fat in the solution. Have you looked up the extra additives they put in our milk after removing all the fat, etc? The skim milk is actually the worst so it's almost useless nutritionally.
We switched from whole to skim at 2. With my second son I couldn't wait, because I was so tired of buying two kinds of milk. We all drink skim.
yeah thats what i hear. but its all up to you. i stopped with my son on whole milk when he was 18 months (and he was still nursing at the time). as long as the child gets a really great healthy diet... the whole milk isnt going to give him anything that important; more and more research shows milk and animal products in general are actually bad for us anyway, so its not going to do anything that great that its so required.
anyway. do what feels best for your family. ;) almond milk is much healthier and just as good as whole milk, especially the chocolate variety. yum! :P :)
We still have our first on whole milk and she will be three at the end of the month. She is a very picky eater and has always been 25% and under for her weight. I feel like she needs the milk fat! We also only use organic milk.
i started my son out on 2% and he stayed on that til he was 4 or so. i did talk to his doctor about that before i did it.
It is recommend to keep your child on whole milk until 2. They need the extra fat to build healthy brain tissue.
we switched both kids from whole to skim at 1 year. neither kid was underweight and the whole family prefers skim. but you should make sure they get enough cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese too.
My son is almost 3 and he still drinks whole milk every day. He's a skinny little kid and exerts a ton of energy. I'm not the least bit worried about his fat intake. He was born in the 5th percentile and still lingers in the bottom 10-15%, so will give him whole milk for a lot longer I think.
my dr told us at the twins 2 year appt to switch them to whatever i drink ASAP because drinking whole milk can lead to heart problems if there is a history of heart issues in your family.
Our doctor says 2 years, too. After that, he says Kids process fats differently than adults do, and they need fat for brain and other development. It's not so much the milk as the fat, and it's kind of natural way way to get them to eat it since they were getting it from breastmilk/formula before.
