Can 12 month old have non dairy milk?

[Cait73]

I’m caring for my 12 month old grandson and it’s time he moved on from formula, I know cow’s milk is recommended but my daughter doesn’t approve of animal produce, does anyone successfully feed an alternative and if so, what?

I’d like him on full fat (cow’s milk) but I’d also like to respect my daughter’s wishes

Surely the formula is derived from cows milk? There is an alpro soya milk that's tailored for children from age 1. Other non dairy milks dont contain a lot of fats or vitamins that toddlers need.

There's nothing in non-dairy milks that would cause any harm, but equally there isn't much of anything nutritious in them either. Soya milk has about the same protein as cows milk and as the previous poster said, alpro do a toddler soya milk.
If you are planning on raising the baby plant based or vegan then, although it can be possible and healthy it needs a lot of research, to make sure they are getting everything they need. They need to have a vitamin and mineral supplement too.

My youngest is slowly out growing a cows milk allergy so I've read a lot about plant milks. I'm on different Facebook groups where some people are being told by their dieticians not to have alternative milks as a main drink before 2. They expect for children to have non dairy formula or breast milk. Other dieticians are saying it's fine from 12 months. Personally I did start giving as a drink from around 14 months. I figured my dc gets lots of vitamins and things from other sources.

The milks that seem to be recommended are Oatly Barista, Koko super or Alpro growing up soya milk, as these are the highest in nutrients. We tend to use koko super mostly as it's got iodine in it and most closely resembles the nutrients in cows milk apparently.

I think Alpro makes a fortified soya drink specifically for babies aged 1+, called Growing Up or something like that.

Comparing cows milk to the oatly and koko there's not a lot in it with calories and fat content, but cows milk has nearly 3 x the amount of protein. I didn't realise there was such a difference. (My youngest has just fallen asleep and taking photos of milk is helping me avoid tidying up 😂😂)

are you caring for your DGS full time?if so, I'd discuss it with a HV. If it's just the odd afternoon, just give what your DD does. I seem to recall that standard soya milks are not advised for small children because of high sugar and (I think) aluminium content.

@StillWeRise full time

Alpro kids is absolutely fine. My 2 DC have that and are both perfectly healthy.

Rice milk isn't recommended (under 5 I think) but anything else is ok. We used oat milk.

Dd had soya milk from a few months old and still uses it - teenager now. Once off the formula soya she had the alpro soya milk but there are supermarket own brands too, which are much cheaper. Assuming your gc is eating a varied diet I wouldn't get too hung up on the milk.

advice on milk in the diet at 12 months
they are reccommending full fat milk if the child is otherwise eating a healthy diet, formula not necessary

Isn't this something you should discuss with your daughter? I assume you look after him when she is at work, but she should still have input into diet choices. This must be something she has discussed with healthcare professionals and planned for so why are you deciding?

Lulualla I think OP has full time care of her grandson.