Conflicting dvice about formula and sterilsing and cow's milk

[LucyJones]

I wonder if you could help my SIL. Her ds is 6 months now and her gp has said it would be fine to stop giving formula now, go on to cow's milk and also to stop sterilising if using formula.
Her health visitor on the other hand has advised formula and sterilising until a year. Who would you go with?!!

God, sorry for all the typos in thread title

no no no no. cows milk only in food at 6 months +, full fat. Can stop sterilising, if everything is washed very well.

Advice (I think) is formula to 1 yr and cows milk after that (in case of allergies). You can stop sterilising everything after 6 months as long as you give v thorough wash in hot soapy water & rinse well.

That's what we've done with DS - he's just moved to cows milk

Formula for a year (nutrient pov), sterilising is up to you really - I tend to blast bottles every so often, but the rest of the time just wash well in very hot soapy water... with everything else going in their mouths from 6 months I can't get obsessive.

that's what I thought only her gp seemed quite clued up about it all. Said he didn't know why health visitor said that as forula is made with cow's milk and if diet is full of vitamins and minerals etc cow's milk is fine

they cant digest cows milk or something... GPs are abit Jack-of-all-trades... and he might have been trained yonks ago. Definatly formula until a year

Sorry to break a trend but both of my girls were on cows milk at 6 months and I stopped sterilising when dd1 was 6 months and dd2 was 3 months, but I always put bottles ect in the dishwasher which apparently is just as good as a microwave steriliser anyway.

So you didn't bother with formula after 6 months Tegan? My SIL doesn't like the idea of giving formula after 6 months of breastfeeding (she has to give up because of work and can't manage to express anything).

if she doesn't want to give formula then is there any reason she doesn't continue with the day & night bf's ? Her DS will be fine without milk in the afternoon, if she does this.

I did morning & night feeds until DD was 2 & had no problems with milk supply.

Alternatively, has she tried expressing with an electric pump ?

To your question - no cows milk as a drink until 12 months & continue to sterlise !

you may like to read this

Formula does start out as cow's milk but is massively modified and added to to make it suitable for human babies so it's not really the same as cows milk at all. From a nutrition POV, I'm sure babies who are newly weaned can't get all the nutrients etc that they need from solids and cow's milk. I know most people (including me) don't follow it, but the advice is actually that breast or formula milk is still the major source of food up until 1 year. I can understand her not wanting to give formula but I doubt he'll get everything he needs nutrition wise if she doesn't.

It depends what you read as to whether sterilising is necessary after 6 months. I stopped at 6 months but washed them really well, esp. the teats, in hot soapy water. FWIW, domestic dishwashers actually don't get hot enough to sterilise, the hottest setting is usually 70 C and to properly sterilise you need to have water that's at boiling point. For me, when everything else was going in their mouths at that point, sterilising seemed a bit pointless. I guess it depends how paranoid you are!

Incidentally, Americans don't sterilise anything. My step mum was a mw in a hospital that served an american airbase and the american mums used to look completely bemused when asked if they were happy with correct sterilising procedures etc.