WIBU to switch one of DD's bottles to cows milk at 8 months?

[StarlingBirdsong]

As far as i can see the guidelines is 12 months because formula or BM will give baby all the calories and nutrients etc it needs to grow and develops up to a year. Nothing says cows milk is bad - just that the nutrient content is deemed not to be sufficient for a baby weaned by traditional puree weaning.

The facts of my particular case:

DD has a small bottle (4oz) when she wakes up and then a bottle to go for each nap and bead (3 x 7oz).

She is BLW - started at 5.5 months and is now on 3 solid meals a day plus snacks if she 'asks'. And i genuinely mean she is eating the same meals as my other 3 DC and myself - today she had scrambled egg on a slice of toast, chicken, broccolli and potato for lunch and pasta bolognaise (with loads of veg in the bolognaise) for dinner. And i mean she ate it all, leaving only a small spoonful leftover.

She wants the bottle to go to sleep but never really seems 'hungry' - which doesnt surprise me with the amount of food she eats!!

So i thought about switching her morning bottle and her afternoon nap bottle to cows milk so she can have her drink but not be taking on all the extra calories of formula. it would be a total of 11oz per day and see how she gets on.

My other three were still playing with food and only eating a small amount at this age - they were more like 10/11 months before i felt they were eating a full meal at every sitting. DD has been clearing her plate for nearly 3 weeks now and porking out at a rate of knots!

I know the BLWing mantra is 'just for fun until they are one' and it reinforces that formula or BM will give them everything they need but this is aimed more to stop you worrying if baby ISNT eating much solids - i cant find anything useful about why not to switch to cows if the baby in question is eating a full diet.

She eats a full varied diet - all food groups available for at least 2 of the three meals. there are no allergies in the family anywhere and she is happily having meals made with cows milk and cows milk on her cereal/porridge.

so what are the thoughts on this? I just cant see why she needs all the 'benefits' of formula if she is getting all the goodness from her food. If anyone has some clear research/knowledge that says why i cant give her cows milk i would be grateful for it because i cant find a good reason not to do it (and as a rule i go with my gut on parenting, not the 'rules' per se)

dons hard hat

I'm not wanting to start an argument so I'll not post again, you'll do what you think is right and as parents that's the right thing.

However as the parent of a preemie who shot up to the 98th centile by 1yo, I feel that portion size awareness IS important and I don't think it's right that such a young baby is eating the same amount as a 6yo. If you've had weight issues in the family before then you should learn from that and give appropriate portions for them to eat as much as they want from, not just allow them to eat as much as they want full stop.

If she only wants the milk as sleep aid why not give her a smaller volume of milk? I don't see a massive problem with giving her cows milk but I'm a rebel!!

Can't you just drop one of the nap bottles if you are concerned she is having more than the recommended milk amount?

Well mine was having 3 X 8 oz bottles and 3 meals at age 1 & the HV said that was find. Now he just has a morning and night bottle and 3 meals with snacks in between. So what she's having sounds fine to me. Why don't you just drop one of the bottles now?

I wouldn't give cows milk before 1 because the guidelines advise not to and I do believe guidelines are there for a reason.

She is commando crawling (at speed!) she loves to be in her walker and wizzes about in that. she is now crawling properly but prefers the commando style for speed! she doesnt lie/sit still, she's always rolling and moving. She is less active than her brothers were at the same age as they were fully crawling.

i think i would worry less if i had been able to BF her as the milk alters to baby's requirement but formula doesnt and i think she just needs a 'drink' not a 'feed' if you see what i mean?

furry - i guess because i worry she is thirsty and not hungry so taking the formula for the wrong reason?!

The only thing I'd say is her portions of food should be tiny and let her stop eating when she's full.

You said she only had a spoonful left which would imply she was spoon fed.
Also I've read somewhere that formula fed babies who are encouraged to finish a bottle don't have the same ability to regulate portion sizes so I would be wary with solids

I'd give water between meals and either have fewer solids in terms of portion sizes or drop one feed.

evans sorry - not the same amount as the 6 year old but the same variety of food - so for her size she is offered a sensible portion but therefore it should give her proportionally the right nutrients as it does for my 6 yo - does that make sense. trust me i have learnt and part of why i did BLW was to give them all a better relationship with food than i have and so far it seems to have worked as my older 3 are in great shape!

maybe reducing the amount of formul in each bottle might be the way then.

seriously i thought 4th time round it would be easy but this one does everything differently to the older ones!!

Don't think calories should be a problem at her age - she needs the extra to grow properly ....... once they start walking, the weight drops off in any case .. my youngest (now 13) was on formula between food until he was about 2 years old. He loved it so much and didn't seem to settle without it, I thought he'd be ordering it in a pub at 18!

believe the reference to a spoonful was to indicate how much was left on the plate - she feeds herself with her fingers.

I dont encourage her to finish her bottles if she doesnt want to, she stops when she wants. i worry that she has them through habit to get to sleep, not because she needs them for food.

when i tried to switch my youngest to cows milk at a year, she rejected it, then wouldn't go back to formula either, so i'd be very wary of doing this.

Just out of interest, how does pureeing takes loads of the goodness out of food? Surely it's just the same food but liquidised? (Not being goady, am interested in your theory behind this)

Oh I see! Well then I would probably try loads of different ways of getting water into her so that she's not as thirsty come time for a bottle and reduce the amount of milk that's in the bottle as she shouldn't need the "thirst quench" side of it so much.

If you start excess feeding at this young age, you are looking for trouble, feed her the right amount for her age not weight ( including baby milk, only the right amount for her age) get her into good habits now, u have said that you are all overweight, maybe it's time for the whole family to cut down and get used to appropriate portion control.
She will do as you do, she can only eat what you give her, you are in charge of your families health, ' YOU ARE IN CHARGE' in the end they will all thank you. Good luck.

heyho because most people overcook food to make it soft enough to mush up enough for a baby - its the overcooking that depletes the nutrients I believe.

News piece on sodium in cows' milk.

I would keep her portions at meals small - hard to tell how much you are giving her but if it's a 'full' meal it would be eg one bit of broccoli, one little potato, one slice of chicken breast cut up a bit, one roast carrot.

Different point, but is she falling asleep 'on the bottle'? That's not great at this age - presumably she has teeth? Time to start brushing before bed!

YABU. Cows milk as a drink is not suitable for under 12 months. You would be incredibly irresponsible to ignore current guidelines which are there for a good reason. Also, you should be offering water in a cup rather than a bottle.

I see your point! Don't necessarily agree.
(I've got a blender, no need for cooking meals for any longer than BLW!)
Re the milk, I'm a rule follower am afraid. Just wait a couple of months.

Not meaning to be rude but can I just ask what you think formula is? It's just powdered cows milk fortified with extra vitamins and nutrients. There is 2 more calories in 100ml of formula than 100ml of whole milk. I would aim to cut oz of milk in total by reducing amounts or dropping a feed rather than switching if you are concerned about weight gain. Otherwise let her have what she wants!

DD took her last breast feed at 8 months. I couldn't bring myself to give her formula in a bottle so she switched straight to cows milk. They di in France or did 18 years ago.

No problems.

YABU - if you think she's taking in too many calories feed her more fruit and veg. She NEEDS the nutrients in formula/breast milk to grow.

And zombies that is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read on here - nobody gets magical powers and a paediatrician's knowledge by giving birth, you are being fucking stupid. My sis is a paeds consultant and is constantly gobsmacked by the dreadful things parents do under the imbecilic belief that their 'instincts' trump medical evidence and advice.

Ohtheroses there are plenty of things people did years ago that children survived but isn't what's best for them.

If you want to cut down her formula then I would just reduce it and replace with a cup of water

I'm not sure that cow's milk contains less calories/ fat than formula, and it will fill her up without providing many nutrients and vitamins, so I can't see that this would help

My child ate far more between 1 and 2 years than after 2 alongside copious breastfeeding- I guess she needed it all for growth as she stayed on the same centile. People were astounded by her appetite at times when she was younger. It hasn't gone into excess fat so hopefully it has gone into brain power!

If you do think your daughter is becoming overweight then I would keep a food diary and try and see a dietician, or a good HV, to get specific advice