Is the HV right?

[Maidmummy]

Had health visitor out this afternoon for DS whos 10 month. She agrees DS is where he should be for his age until she did his weight and height in which she said hes a big boy the same as a 12/13 month old so she suggested stopping his formula and just putting him on cows milk purely because hes having 3 meals a day and hes a big lad there is no point in the formula as hes getting what he needs from his meals and the cows milk.

Is she right because as far as i knew the guidline has always been 12 months or is there a new guideline i dont know about. And would it hurt to start him this early, he would only be having around 16 ounces of it a day which is 2 bottles so is it fine?

Sounds like crap to me. There's little difference calorie wise between the two, but formula milk will have extra vitamins, probiotics etc, and he seems just a little young to swap those out. Personally I would stick with formula until he hits 12 months.

I think she's talking mince too

How on earth can she say he’s as big as a 12/13m old???? Nonsense

What centile did he start on? What centile is he on now?
I’ve never heard of that advice re milk

I wouldn’t, I would stick to the guidelines as they are there for a reason.

He was on the 10th centile at birth and hes now above the 98th. She said it would be more beneficial to just stop the formula and give him him cows milk and a vitamin everyday because basically im just wasting a fortune in formula ehen he clearly doesnt need it anymore

My answer was no before I even read your post.

I’ve read it and my answer is the same.

My DS was a big boy - 11lb 7oz at birth - and built like a brick shithouse until he was about 2. I wonder if she’d have suggested he went on to cows milk at 8-9 months?

The thing is though he doesnt really bother with his formula, he will have a couple of ounces here and there and i end up wasting more than he drinks.

I think it sounds like a fine idea. Guidelines are just that; guidelines. They're not inflexible. Cow's milk would be cheaper, and vitamins are available as a supplement so both financially and nutritionally why wouldn't you swap?

I actually agree with your health visitor. If he’s eating 3 meals a day, he should be getting all of his nutrients from there.

Also, Is he the same percentile for height and weight?! Just going up a couple of percentiles can be a cause of concern and he’s gone up way more than that. My son was born in the 75th and is now 91st. He’s 16 months old.

10th - 98th is a lot

My son didn’t have formula from about 9months, don’t buy it if he isn’t drinking it.

I also agree with the HV.

I was ready to respond with a resounding no way about dropping formula early, until you said about the centiles!! That is a massive jump!

My boy was born on the 91st but is now on the 98th. He’s huge, but perfectly in proportion and fairly close to his original centile birthweight.

What’s his height/weight ratio? Is his height the same centile as his weight?

I really don’t get the whole ‘no cows milk before 12 Months’ advice. Obviously it’s not a substitute for infant formula before 6 Months but as a supplementary drink once on solids I don’t see the problem.

From 6 Months you can cook with it, make porridge with it so why not drink it?

If you had a poor eater then they need the calories and vitamins from formula but sounds like you little one is doing fine.

Hes 98th for both height and weight so perfectly in proportion. He loves his food and gets no less than 4 of his 5 a day everyday, hes never been ill which tells me im doing everything right and hes perfectly healthy. He goes through 2 tubs of milk every 8 days and more than half of a tub gets wasted with all the ounces he doesnt drink. Its only in the last 5 months hes suddenly jumped so high on the centile so i think hes just had a massive growth spurt and the hv isnt concerned as hes in proportion. Im really considering just giving him the cows milk and the vitamin supplements.

As a matter of fact it hasn’t “always” been formula until 12 months. When I had my babies who’re now in their 20s and 30s babies could have ordinary full fat cow’s milk from 6 months. Many of us went from breast to cow’s milk. I had never made up a bottle of formula until my DGC came along. My DD thinks it’s to do with hormones in cow’s milk
that the advice is no normal cow’s milk until 1 year.

What centile was he on at 2 or 3 months old?

One of the reasons formula is recommended till 12m is because it’s a source of iron. It does sound like your son is doing fine and would probably be ok with cows milk and the appropriate vitamin /mineral supplements.

I think that if babies who were 10 months but big were meant to be moved to cows milk early then the guidance would say so. That’s the point of guidance. It isn’t there to be tweaked by someone based on their theories.

I gave cow's milk as a drink from 10 months. Dd wouldn't take a bottle but would have cow's milk in a sippy cup. She ate well and never drank an awful lot of milk anyway. She had cow's milk on cereal etc and probably didn't drink more than that amount from a cup at one time. Formula would have been wasted.

Why would you do that? Surely it's a good thing that he is bigger than average?

MozzchopsThirty
10th - 98th is a lot
Meh, my son wasnt0on any growth lines and is now 75th. He's in proportion, that matters .more.

How about a bit of both? Is there a time of day when he will def drink his bottle? Give that as formula. Then top up drinks give cows?

I moved to cows milk with dc3 by the time she was 10 months old. She was getting all her vitamins from the food she was eating at that time.

Why not just reduce the amount of formula you give him- reduce the waste. He obviously doesn't need much. If he were breast fed (don't mean that as a bf v formula debate, just mean what he naturally would be doing) the amount of milk you produced would go down as he needed less, so just do the same with the formula. As long as he is thriving he won't need much formula.

I’d keep him on the formula but do smaller bottles to avoid waste.