thanks yes i had not really thought about it in the context of just how little fat there really is in the milk. I am not at all concerned about my dds' weight, just wondering when other people switched from whole. i am extremely careful about processed food and give them next to no processed carbs or sugars and for that reason i assume htey are healthy and slim. but i will just give them whichever they would prefer i think to make the decision easier!

yup, full fat milk at best has 6% fat (and that would be Channel Island or Gold Top milk) - that's 94% fat-free!

Why sweat the small stuff, unless you have familial hypercholesterolaemia, or some other disease condition that necessitates removal of the maximum amount of fat from the diet??

Worry more about the amount of processed carbs and sugars if you are concerned about your DC's weight.

well they arent allowed crisps and rarely have chips and are v slight as i said! i just thought it would be handy to all drink the same milk but am v happy to keep giving them full fat if it isnt a particularly bad thing! dont think people getting het up just merely wondering what others do, that's all ! different people are allowed to wonder about different things, no?

agree mars

Far better to cut out the crisps and chips than the full fat milk. I can't believe how people get het up about this topic - full fat milk is still a low fat food and full of calcium and protein - build their bones up before they start on the coke-and-chips diet as teenagers!

mine all still have blue milk, they're 11,9,4 and 18m

they're all fairly skinny though, especially the older two

It's not really a minefield because it makes little difference either way

My DD is 2 and now has semi-skimmed.

She only has milk on her cereal so it probably won't make much difference to her overall diet anyway.

And it's so much more convenient only having to get one type of milk for everyone.

gosh it is a minefield. as it happened the supermarket didnt have any full fat in today. so i bought semi skimmed and dd1 said she thought there was something wrong with it ie it tastes different! i might be dashing out to buy some blue top at some point. mine dont drink very much but i o like them to have a little bit each day.

I will probably switch DD to 1% at five.

DD has high cholesterol and we switched her at two.

Dietician said that any time before that and they don't get enough fat, which outweighed the need to limit her cholesterol intake, so pretty important to stay on until two I'd say.

There was definitely a news item a month or so ago which said that children over 2 SHOULD switch to semi-skimmed to prevent childhood obesity.

I commented to DH at the time (whilst donning judgey pants) that it was unlikely that milk was the underlying cause.

Just another ill conceived, overpriced Government initiative to treat us like morons.

Harrumph

I think there is a confusion between 'should switch' and 'can switch'. You can switch to semi-skimmed from 2 and then to skimmed from 5 - but you don't have to do either, it's only if you want to.

We still buy full fat for DS1 mot of the time but he has semi skimmed if we don't have any.

I'm not sure it matters but for some reason I feel happier with him having full fat (and dripping sandwiches, ovaltine etc)

i gave semi straight from breast for first 2, its only now there are 3 of them i buy full fat and only now because i know they'll use it up.

personally i don't think its a concern.

cows milk isn't that good for you and my kids only have it in cereal or a small amount at bed time.They eat plenty cheese and yogs so its not a worry for me.

I don';t k now why people get het up about the milk they drink. Full fat milk is about 4% and semi-skimmed is 2%. It really doesn't make that much difference to child or adult. At all.

Thanks for this thread, I just came on to the food topic to ask exactly the same thing as DD is just 2 and I got my babycenter update saying it was time to go onto semi skimmed. For some reason I feel a bit sad about it. She's growing up so fast! Also she's tall and slim and while she eats a diverse diet she's not an enormous eater. For that reason the 3% rather than 5% feels reassuring.

today we switched back to green top my coffees still taste fab but I can feel better knowing that there's that tiny little bit less fat in the them

Yuk to all adulterated milk. Never buy the semi/skimmed stuff.

Give me full fat any day - esp straight from the cow!

faq- yes dd went from breast/formula to semiskimmed doorstep milk at 10 mos

I remember becasue I was taking her to canada and didn't bother taking formula with me

We switched when DD was 3.
Really easy now as we all drink semi skimmed milk and oppose to having to buy full fat and semi skimmed.

I was reading the labels on milk the other day (saddo) and the fat in blue top is 5% and in green top it is 3%. I was expecting something like 50% and 10%. You live and learn...

I switched DS1 at 5 because he is very slight.

DS2 is 21 months. I'm probably going to switch him at 2 since he is more chunky

gggirl - I think the thread is talking about full fat milk to semi-skimmed milk as opposed to the breast/formula to cows

i switched dd at 10 mo ,but that was 17 yrs ago..but she has survived and is a picture of health.

ds I switched at a yr-also fine

ooooo - 2yrs old - just realised DS3 is 2 now - that means I can switch can't I! We can go back to green top milk - woohoo

my 3rd child and I'd totally forgotten that that was another "milestone" that we'd reached - I really do't like using full fat milk as I drink soooooo much coffee and it's bad enough having all that caffeine with the added fat. I also can't be doing with 2 different bottles in the fridge otherwise DS1 and 2 would no doubt end up using the wrong ones for their breakfast.

I didn't actually mean you should work out their BMI - as it is incredablly inaccurate for children.

Which is I only said "BMI" because it was easier than saying "short and light or average weight and average height".

With a toddler/child you know if they are "normal weight" IYSWIM.

i guess i should work out their bmis then! i can tell it wont be high as they arent short and they are so slim that i cant get skirts or trousers to stay up!
thanks

You should not switch before they are 2...you can switch any time after IMO.

If your children are overweight (which they are not) you would probably want to do it sooner rather than later - which is what you will have read.

I switched at about 4 for DTDs as there were clinically underweight. DD3 switched between 2 and 3 - but is more in the normal "BMI" range.

just wondered what the consensus on this was. i had thought i would keep my dds on whole milk til they were 5 (they are both quite slight) but I read something recently indicating they should switch to semi skimmed at the age of 2. as my youngest has just turned 2 that would mean us all drinking the same milk. anyone else do that? we drink organic so i'm not prepared to buy that in between stuff which doesnt appear to be organic....