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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How important is daily milk intake for the under 1s?

71 replies

EvanMom · 21/04/2004 12:06

I have recently posted about weaning my 8 month old off the breast. I have now found something else to worry about .

If my 8 month old has two breast feeds a day morning and night (no idea how much milk he takes) and then small amounts of formula milk and water from a cup during the day (he loves sipping water from a cup, but not so keen on taking formula) then he is not really having four good feeds a day. How important is it that he has at least a pint of formula a day? I doubt ds is getting that.

OP posts:
mears · 21/04/2004 12:13

EvanMom - at 8 months old I would not start giving formula. The milk intake does not need to be in drinking form - it can be incorporated as cow's milk in breakfast, yogurts, petit filous, cheese, custard, rice pudding - the list is endless. When I weaned my babies from the breast it was not replaced by a milk drink. Only my third ds drank milk because he liked it. The other three did not. DS2 stopped B/F at 10 months and only drank juice/water. When they stopped B/F they did not have a drink of anything going to bed. Definately does not need a pint of formula a day.

elliott · 21/04/2004 12:19

mears if formula isn't given and the main milk intake is cow's milk, with a reducing amount of breastmilk, is there any risk of iron deficiency? (just trying to work out how long I need to sustain bf in order to bypass the bottles of formula stage )

Original poster
EvanMom · 21/04/2004 12:24

Thanks for that Mears. I can't remember where I got that babies need a pint of milk a day up until the age of one...? Thinking about it, that was the recommendation of my HV which is why I was concerned. Perhaps it all stems from a recommendation by the makers of formula milk??

OP posts:
gloworm · 21/04/2004 12:31

elliot-after 6months they can get their iron from food: meat(lamb is highest in iron), dried apricots also high in iron. toddler clambering over at moment so cant think of other foods...will get back later

mears · 21/04/2004 12:38

That is a recommendation Elliot but it doesn't need to be as a drink really.

mears · 21/04/2004 12:39

sorry, meant EvanMom. Elliot, iron is in other foods. Babies do not actually need milk enriched with iron and the biggest con of all is follow-on milk.

motherinferior · 21/04/2004 12:42

My HVs are obsessed with milk intake. I assume that if dd2 is slurping away night and morning with either more feeding from me at lunchtime or a 6-7 oz bottle of EBM at her childminder, plus loads of cheese sauce etc and cow's milk on her brekkie, she'll be fine, won't she?

elliott · 21/04/2004 12:56

Strangely enough, the lowest recommendation for daily milk intake I've read is Gina Ford - she says a minimum of 12oz and a MAX of 20oz, including milk in diet, by about 9-12 months. That should easily be covered by two decent breastfeeds a day (I think even my puny boobs must provide 3oz each!), without counting any of the dietary sources.
I knew that about follow on milk really, mears

alamel · 23/04/2004 07:39

Can I ask a bit more about the follow-on milk point? I seem to remember reading a thread ages ago where somebody said that delaying the introduction of cows milk until eg 18 months and using follow-on milk instead would help reduce the risk of allergies. Is this right? My ds is coming to the stage where we need to make a decision on this.

bunnyrabbit · 23/04/2004 10:03

Mears,
Why is follow on milk a con? Yes a babies iron intake can/should come from food, but as follow on milk is cheaper than the first milks, and you can't give cow's milk as a drink until 1 year, doesn't that mean follow-on milk is OK? Or am I missing something vital here?

BR

twiglett · 23/04/2004 10:11

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LIZS · 23/04/2004 10:19

I think Mears probably means it is a con in that it was devised purely as a marketing tool rather than for nutritional merit. It is not illegal to advertise and put on offer Follow Ons so they are used to establish the brand recognition for First Milks for which promotion is more restricted. As to whether it is cheaper, being outside UK, I don't know but it is so difficult to compare brands like-for-like because of differing number of scoops per 100ml and size of scoop.

Marina · 23/04/2004 10:26

Oh, that is VERY interesting Lizs, I never knew there was a difference in how they can be marketed. Bunnyrabbit, I think the other thing about follow-on milks is that although they are promoted as helping the baby get sufficient iron, the fact is that the iron in follow-on milk is not as easily absorbed as from breast milk and from many foods, so it is not all actually going where it's needed.

mears · 23/04/2004 10:31

LIZS is right. Follow-on milk is a way of milk companies being able to advertise their products. Their logo is able to be displayed and with the benefit of subliminal advertising, they infact are getting rounfd not being able to advertise formula milk. It is also sad that it is cheaper than formula because there is no actual need to change from formula in the first place. Some mothers also wean from the breast onto follow-on after 6 months because they are duped to believe that breastmilk does not have enough iron. The fact is that from 6 months the formula companies are allowed to advertise their product by calling it follow-on milk.

kiwisbird · 23/04/2004 10:44

we have to use follow on for dd as she needs the extra calories, she drinks little in volume as has tiny tummy... this will continue until she is 2... I b/f her to 15 mths with no other foods til 6 mths.
I resent having to buy formula at all as it happens and handing my money to these sharks...
WE are starting a new supplement now so if weight gain improves then we can move on to normal milk... or not much at all.. she quaffs enough yoghurt I am sure and not worried about iron as her diet is very very good...
So much to ponder and worry about.. some babies hate milk and ditch it as soon as they can...

Mermaid2 · 23/04/2004 11:05

My neice pretty much stopped drinking milk at around 8 months. She never really liked it. My sis basically fed her loads of yoghurts and the like. She is now nearly 5 and is very strong healthy and has now decided she likes milk with cereal.

Twinkie · 23/04/2004 11:11

dd also stopped at 7 months - I fed her till 3 months and literally forced her to drink milk and had to give up at 7 months when she completely refused it - she ate loads of yoghurt, dairylea and is now 3.5 years and as bright as a shi8ny button, slightly smaller than her peers but she has bene since birth so I am not too worried and our health visitor says she is a delight!!

logic · 24/04/2004 10:41

IMHO, follow-on milk is not a con.

My ds is a very poor eater and refuses to take vitamin supplements. He will not eat any form of meat either. He is 20 months old and I still give him the stuff because otherwise I would panic about him getting enough vitamins and iron.

hercules · 24/04/2004 10:43

I do think it is so true about some babies not liking milk. LOts of people dont so why should babies be different?

tiktok · 24/04/2004 11:46

Follow on is deffo a marketing con.

That is not to deny of course that some mothers - like logic - may find it useful in individual cases.

It was invented to push branded milk, when it became illegal to advertise regular formula.

There is no evidence it has any benefits over regular doorstep milk beyond the ages of about 8 months.

It has more iron in it than doorstep, but most of the iron is excreted (which is why some babies become very constipated on it) . There are no more vitamins in it.

If a baby's iron status is giving cause for concern, then there are many ways to increase this without buying a premium-priced product . For instance, paying attenton to the combination of foods and drinks offered at any one sitting (some encourage iron absorption, some don't), looking at other foods (dried fruit, for example) or even giving a kids' tonic drink like Minadex, will all improve iron status.

You might choose to give follow on instead - but that doesn't stop it being a con : )

buzzybee · 25/04/2004 04:43

The reason I give follow-on to dd for her bedtime drink is that I don't like milk much myself so there's often not much in the house or if there is its getting a bit old. With powder I can make it up "fresh" and never have to worry about running down to the shops to get some (this makes me sound like a terrible Mum ... in my defence dd only lives with me 50% of the time and I work full time...)

robinw · 25/04/2004 05:13

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Clarinet60 · 26/04/2004 11:22

I too find follow-on milk a useful safety net. It's all very well having these wonderful iron-rich foods in the house, but what do you do with a fussy toddler who hardly lets anything past his lips? Tonic? No chance! He can smell vitamin drops a mile away and just spits drinks out if he gets a whiff. Good eaters don't need follow-on milk, but you don't get many good eaters to the square mile.

While we're on the subject, my 4 year old is even worse. He's narrowed his protein intake right down to sausages and chicken nuggets (which I've banned). He only drinks milk or eats yoghurts if I persuade him to crying point, hates cheese, loathes eggs, refuses pies (in which I could have hidden meat) refuses quiche (ditto eggs) - I'm at my wits end, as there is precious little protein in sausages. I'm sure he will become anaemic.

skerriesmum · 26/04/2004 12:23

What a relief Mears, about milk intake and hearing about children similar to mine... my ds is nearly 14 months, off boob now for about six weeks and doesn't like to drink milk. Luckily he loves cheese, yogurts, and is pretty good to eat most things including broccoli! So I reckon he's getting enough iron and calcium. My HV thinks he should drink milk too though...

aloha · 26/04/2004 13:00

Droile, good sausages are as good a source of meat/protein/iron as anything. I particularly like the Helen Browning organic pork sausages - yummy!