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?

Similar with my son, started on the 9th and was on 98th by a year. I put him on full fat cows milk at 10mths, if he didn't eat too well in one day then I'd give him a bottle of formula to top up.

He didn't lose any weight and drunk more of the cows milk than the formula. I think it gets a bit heavy for them with food.

He will only drink a full 7oz bottle when he goes to bed but through the day he hardly touches it. I wanted to bf but with both DC i never built a supply so couldnt do it. Hes not drinking a lot of formula anyway so i cant see him getting much vitamins from it from such a small amount so would make more sense to switch to cows milk and vitamin supplements.

At 3 months he was just below the 50th centile.

I think the reason for advising they stay on formula is the whole 'foods for fun until you're one' thing.

If they're not eating well enough and you switch to cows milk they'll be deficient in some nutrients, particularly iron. Advising you use formula until they're one is to prevent malnutrition in those that aren't yet eating a good balanced diet.

If your DS is a good eater with a balanced diet then I'm sure switching to cows milk and a supplement will be fine.

If breast fed they're also not getting some of the supplements found in formula, which is why breast feeding mums are advised to give a vitamin and mineral supplement from six months.
So I agree with HV.

My nearly 9 month old is on cows milk and has been for a couple of weeks. He is also quite a big boy (always been big), he eats more than my 2yo!

He's never been a big fan of formula so it just seemed to make sense to us.

I think the NHS have guidelines but they are meant as that not as hard and fast rules. On AVERAGE it take until about a year until babies have a varied diet of all different foods and textures but if your baby has got there earlier then he won't need the extra stuff in the formula.

Reduce the number of oz the bottles of formula on the feeds he wastes. Then you won’t use so much.

If he's eating so well and you know he's getting a balanced and healthy diet I would follow the HV advice!

At two tubs every 8 days my calculations suggest you're trying to feed him twice the maximum amount they recommend - if he's eating well no wonder he's not drinking it all! i suggest you make much less formula up - and offer water with meals. That's a lot of centiles jumped.

If he's taking less in the bottles then make up less. When mine were small they had a bigger morning and evening bottles with smaller daytime ones. If he's only taking a few ounces then only make up a few ounces rather than making a full bottle and throwing half of it away.

At 10 months my big boy was getting 8oz of cows milk in the morning, split between his cereal and a drink and getting another 8oz at night which was warmed up.

He's almost 21 and he's fine.

Dump the formula. She’s right. 10th to 98th is a steep climb. He’s eating well so absolutely no need for formula.