Still giving my 19 month old formula milk

[handlemecarefully]

I'm still giving my dd formula milk rather than cow's milk. She is 19 months old. My reasoning for this is that she is a faddy eater and I thought that because formula milk is vitamin enhanced it might make up for some of the inadequacies in her diet.

Also I don't like the taste of straight cow's milk and assumed that my daughter might not either (whereas formula is quite sweet tasteing) - and I didn't want to switch her to cows milk and risk her not wanting it at all, thereby her calcium intake would get a big hit.

Anyway dd is looking slightly podgy - nothing major, just 'solid'. Could it be the formula ? (she has 21 fl oz over a 24 hour period)- I understand that it is quite high in calories?

[LadyCodworth]

that is a lot - I htink you should bin it. theres no reason why she wouldnt like cows milk.

[suzywong]

Have to say we were doing the same for DS1 at that age, just switched to full time cow's milk when he was 2.

No harm seems to have been done, so I wouldn't stress about it

[popsycal]

ds took months tp get on cows milk - not becuase of the taset - he would drink anything - but it really messed with his bowels

we introduced it mixed in with formula (are you 'alloweed' to do this??)from 14 months to 16 months

he too is chunky and now drinks between 12-15 oz of cows milk a day...
is it worth trying to see if she will get used to it that way?

[Hulababy]

I gave my DD formula until 20 months or so but got down to just one a day - in the morning. At 22 months now she will accept warm (not cold) cow's milk. Again she will only ever have it in a morning.

Formula is fine if you are happy with it - says up to 2 years anyway.

Have you tried her own cow's milk? Will she take it?

BTW, I hate cow's milk (well any milk) and never had it after stopping formula as a toddler. Just make up the calcium, etc. in other foods.

[Azure]

We gave DS follow-on formula rather than cow's milk until he was 2 years - like you, I liked the idea that it was vitamin-enhanced. We used cow's milk for cereals and cooking. He was always a 'solid' build and this hasn't changed in the 6 months he's been drinking cow's milk, so I don't think the type of milk had anything to do with it, but am interested to hear any other viewpoints. At your DD's age the recommended intake is a pint (20 fl oz) including cooking. How many bottles / cups does she have? BTW, my DS had no problem switching to cow's milk.

[LadyCodworth]

I give mine cow milk to drink from 8 months and they are fine.

ONe can worry too much about calcium and milk and stuff but Theya re always ok!

[popsycal]

oh forgot to add that he has yoghurts, milk in food etc - and recommended milk is a pint a day

[LadyCodworth]

do you lot really measure out how much they have?

Gawd...

[handlemecarefully]

Well, I don't measure it out as such...but I can tell exactly because..ahem...she is still taking it from bottles (yes, I know she should be drinking milk from a beaker now....am very ashamed)

[LadyCodworth]

AW Hmc give yourself a break! .. gieb her cowsn mil or water or whatever. she will be fine

coddys promise.
You could also throw the bottles away (?today) - verty bad for her teeth all that milk

[suzywong]

HMC
Why the self flagellation?
Bottles are not the devil's work.
DS1 is still on bottles and IMHO there are other more pressing parenting issues. If you are worried about your dd's weight then take her to the clinic to be weighed.
She sounds like she's doing fine for her age, so don't worry

[Hulababy]

HMC - if she is reluctant to give up the bottle try tricking er like I did with D. I swapped the teat for a soft spout instead. We had Avent bottles and the spouts fitted - but I removed the valve as she didn't like that at all. Then at least she is not having a teat which is the 'bad' thing about bottles. The teat is no different to using a beaker but sometimes toddlers like the comfort of a bottle.

We did this until DD was 20 months and then swapped to cow's milk (warmed) ina beaker and she was fine - biut now drinks les milk as a result. She likes cheese and yogurts though.

[LadyCodworth]

i am evil - i bin tem at one. i saw a photo of ds1 at 18 months with one and cringed

[suzywong]

LadyC
Because I still can't see your pic on the moderators' page I am going to send you a pic of my child with his bottle and fill it with SMA just for extra naughtiness

[nutcracker]

My ds swapped to cows milk at 10 mths, and now has two 8oz bottles a day. He always has juice out of a beaker though. Think my dd had her milk in a bottle until she was 2.

[kiwisbird]

my dd is told to stay on it til she at least 2 for the extra, but then she has a super metabolism and doesn;t put weight on easily (oh for that problem huh)
She will have cows milk if its the only option but it doesn;t fill her up as much.
I know people that mixed a scoop of powder into cows milk to assist the changeover and the kids survived ok

[Evita]

I've been wondering about this. Dd, 16 months, drinks water from a beaker with no problem but will so far only drink formula from a bottle and is disgusted at the taste of cow's milk! As she's a v. light eater anyway, I'm just going with it, who cares so long as she gets what she needs?

[WSM]

My DD, now 18 months, also still has formula. It is the one meant for babies up to 2 years old so I assume she is fine to continue having her 7oz in the morning and the same at night. So my DD has 14oz a day of the final 'progress' level milk which she drinks out of an avent toddler spout on a normal avent bottle (the cups don't have the ounces marked out for mixing).

We've tried her on cows milk as a drink may times but she doesn't like it (I too cannot stand the stuff), I assume that she is just not ready for it yet, it also seems to send her nappies a bit haywire too. She happily has cereal made up with cows milk and that doesn't seem to have any real adverse effects nappy-wise. I think we'll stick to the progress level formula until she turns 2 and then re-introduce cows milk.

I would say that so long as you are not still giving her newborn-type formula then you are perfectly fine to continue giving it her. So long as the formula type is relevant to her age/stage then I would on giving it to her

[clairabelle]

hmc, my dd was still having follow on formula until 2 years old and her last drink at night was out of a bottle cue bad mother alert I found cows milk made her very constipated. Teeth are perfect and she loves cows milk now out of a china mugDon't beat yourself up

[gingernut]

Our ds didn't like the taste of cow's milk at first either so we did the same as popsycal, i.e. changed over gradually by mixing formula with cow's milk, gradually increasing the amount of cow's milk in the mixture over 2-3 weeks.

[Chinchilla]

My ds did not like formula milk (b/f to 14 months) and would not drink cows' milk. I used to stuff him full of cream cheese and yoghurts! One morning, I gave him a small amount of milk in a cup, when I knew he would be thirsty, and he drank it. He then asked for more! From that day on, he has drunk milk.

[Angeliz]

we did the same as popsy too,(mixed it ), my dp suggested it for ages but i said no as it would make her sick. I then asked Mears on here and she said it was o.k
(just don't tell my dp that i agreed on the advice of a stranger rather than him -)

[mears]

Frankly I wouldn't waste money on it at this stage. Why not slowly start mixing it with cow's milk until you get the mix more cow's milk than formula. 3 out of 4 of my kids did not like milk - I just didn't give them it. They got plenty of calcium from other sources. Follow on milk is an absolute advertising con. Do not be sucked in - it is absolutely not necesaary

[suedonim]

Mears, re follow-on milk being a con. In Indonesia they sell formula for almost every age! As well as baby and follow on milks, there's different formulae for pre-schoolers, school age up to seven (makes you brainy, apparently!), seven to 10 yo, teenagers and then several different types to buy when you are pregnant!! There are usually two sides of an aisle devoted to dried milks - the milk companies have done an excellent job of marketing their products.

[handlemecarefully]

Thanks everybody,

I am going to try a gradual transition to cows milk as suggested (by mixing formula with cows milk and gradually increasing concentration of cows milk), and I shall buy one of those spouts that fit on top of a bottle...and will see how that goes.