to think if a child can drink with a straw they don't need

[2shoes]

follow on milk(just seen the advert yet again.)

[belledechocolatefluffybunny]

They don't need follow on milk at all, it's a marketing gymic.

[plonker]

what belle said

[sickoftheholidays]

actually a child can drink with a straw from about 7 months, but as others have pointed out, they dont need follow on milk as the extra vitamins etc are provided by solids in the diet. Follow on milk was invented by formula companies after the WHO code was introduced as they were no longer allowed to advertise breastmilk substitutes for babies under 6 months, but they needed to be able to advertise something so that the brand name was well known, hence follow on milk.

[woolytree]

I agree its a gimic. DD switched to cows milk at 12 months (now 4) but DS 13months has a mixture.... but can drink through a staw ....and we did try those cartons .....please excuse me but we were travelling, he settles for naps with milk, ...and I only got them cause they were 3 for £1!

[gizzy1973]

i think the cartons are toddler milk not follow on
we use follow on as i get clubcard points on it and at nearly £8 a tub each week it mounts up

[lal123]

whats drinking with a straw got to do with what sort of milk they need???

[2shoes]

to all the
so I thought achild would be older to do it, so shoot me,
but can I take it that follow on milk is not needed?

[TrillianAstra]

How children/babies take their drink (bottle, cup, straw, martinit glass) is not really relevant to what they should/shouldn't be drinking.

[backwardpossom]

a child can drink with a straw from about 7 months

Could someone please tell 13 month old DS?! ;)

[woolytree]

I was suprised when DS managed it! :)
I dont think its needed but convenient to carry when out....for me anyway! :)

[5inthebed]

I agree, total marketing gimic, plus the woman's excited toddler voice in the advert gets on my nerves.

[TheCrackFox]

A complete waste of money. FWIW there is a recession on and I think it is morally wrong to get parents to waste their money on this kind of nonsense.

[MistsandMellowMilady]

We buy 36 bottles of follow-on milk per week because DS receives most of his nutrition at night. I flipping well hate it but the Paediatrician told us that because he is autistic he would starve if we don't give him the food he wants when he wants it unlike other children. It's something to do with phobias and also hungry signals which don't get through.

We have seen this to be true and he lost a shocking amount of weight when we tried to stop it, plus he was up all night and all day and it nearly killed the whole family.

HOWEVER I didn't use it for my DD. Cows milk from six months (old guidelines) and she got her iron and protein from meat, fish, eggs, cheese and pulses whereas DS doesn't.

I could give him cows milk during the night but we can take the little bottles up with us, open them and blearily tip them into a vessel without properly waking up ourselves. I was told I should do the same with cheaper UHT cartons but you need scissors and greater coordination than either DH or I have with a child who wakes every two to three hours.

I especially hate being in this position because I am still BF DS a bit, I did it exclusively until he was 12 months old and feel a bit about Aptamil's advertising policy although I do see a need for formula (DD thrived on it)

But that's parenthood. You have to bend over and remove your Judgy Pants for a spanking on a regular basis

[2shoes]

good grief.
I thought you still went to cows milk at 12 months,(unless like the last poster you had no choice,)
I cannot get why the nasty posts, ffs can someone be amazed that a baby can suck through a straw, is this the time when I say..


sorry my youngest is now 15 and has sn, so I didn't realise babies could do it as my dd still can't.
think I will stick to fb for a wee while.

[MistsandMellowMilady]

No don't do that 2shoes please, quite a few people have agreed with you and so have I.

It was a good OP

[woolytree]

I was amazed when my DS (1) did!...but DD(4) has SN and didnt for ages!
And I thought it was 12 months to switch...although I still use formula a bit.

Dont go 2shoes!!!!

[lifeas3plus1]

Don't worry 2shoes. My ds is 17 months and still can't drink through a straw and actually I haven't seen a child under the age of about 2 be able to drink through a straw either.

And yes toddler milk and growing up milk are a complete waste of money unless like a pp on here, you have no other choice!

[dustycups]

mne drunk through a straw at an early age, the trick is to put the straw in there mouth and squeeze the carton so some comes up the straw and they will natuarally start sucking for more, try it i promise it works!

[JjandtheBeanlovesUnicorns]

i have no other choice for some reason my dcs stop gaining or loose weight if they stop there milk, theyre 3 and 1, they eat extremely well, everything they can get there hands on really haha, but they have 3 cups of milk a day and HATE cows, goats soya and so on, so follow on it is, gimic it may be but its making my life easier,

as for straw drinking, ds did it at 6mnths, dd at 11mnths!

oh and as for the follow on milk with a straw, my dcs hate it, milk is a comfort thing to them not a drink iyswim, they like it from a beaker (before a judgeypants appears theyre free flowing ones) and they use open cups the rest of the time.

[muggglewump]

2Shoes, I just think you phrased it badly.

My DD doesn't need follow on milk (she's 9), and she doesn't need lemonade, and she doesn't need hot chocolate, and she doesn't even need milk, as she eats plenty of calcium from other sources.

I think people are picking up on your bad phrasing.

[misdee]

i lol-ed at that advert. was a bit mad really. and what a great marketing ploy. i would probably buy the little UHT cartons with straws you can get in the long life section at tesco.

dd4 could use a straw at under 6months i've bene told it because bf babies use a similar sucking motion so can use straws. i was pretty amazed when i tried out the theory. but she still likes to squeeze cartons and make them spill.

she cant have toddler-milk anyway as it may kill her. but have seen non-milk milks with little straws which i may try her with, for when she starts school.

[TheFallenMadonna]

When I couldn't get DS to drink from any kind of beacker (6 months ish?), my friend (a bfc) told me to try a straw, and it worked. I was gobsmacked.

[misdee]

its pretty amazing isnt it. i didnt belive it.

[TheFallenMadonna]

beaker!!

And yes misdee - I was then and friend was . I think it is her party piece!

[misdee]

do you have to hold the drink though? i do cos soph will squeeze it lol.