Why the rush to move from formula to cows milk?

[Velvetdragon]

This may be a daft and easily answered question but I can't get a straight answer from the health visitor. My child is 13 months and has been dropping bottles (formula) voluntarily during the day due to food intake but she still has at least one bottle before bed which until recently was completely formula but it's now made up 50/50 of formula and full fat cows milk to get her used to the taste. The health visitor insists that she shouldn't be having any formula at this age! But, because cows milk doesn't have the same nutritional content I should be giving a vitamin supplement. I then asked why does she need to come off formula if it's providing her with a range of vitamins etc that I'll only need to supplement for she couldn't give me a straight answer. Luckily she's a really good eater so has a varied diet Inc dairy and veg. The health visitor did say that if I was still BF my child that she wouldn't be insisting I stop that, it's just the formula. It feels like formula is a dirty word to health professionals and they just won't discuss any queries about it.
Clearly, she'll come off formula at some point.
Has anyone else been given a reason why formula must be stopped at 1yr?

I always thought it was because cows milk is cheaper! Possibly because formula is more calorific than cows milk too.

It's not that it must be stopped there's a whole industry sprung up around "follow on milk" etc. Most people refer to switch as it's much cheaper, and I also found it easier not having to ensure I had formula in etc, but we are a household that always has cows milk in.

Formula is just unnecessary rather than bad, though probably has more sugar than cow's milk.

Because formula is mostly just expensive powdered cows milk :) and once they are eating and gaining nutrients frim food they don't need it anymore. So you just end up funding the most profitable industry in the UK for very little reason :)

I thought it was because formula is higher in sugar so bad for teeth, there also keen for you to move from bottle to cup for the same reason as it keeps the milk in contact with teeth for longer.

Breast milk is releced right at the back of the mouth (nipples are surprisingly stretchy) missing the teeth, so not so much of an issue. Plus benefits of antibodies etc outway risk of tooth decay, whereas formula doesn't give an benefits that cannot be gained from cow's milk and good diet.

There’s no benefit to formula past one so you’re going to a lot of expense and faff with prep for no reason. Nothing to do with formula being a dirty word your HV is just trying to save you time and money.

If you can afford powder milk and your baby only has a bottle in the night then carryon as ur doing.as she gets older u can introduce cows milk.but don't worry if your baby is happy.don't listen to others.x

You all make very sensible points, it's a shame the HV couldn't have come up with some of those. I was just totally thrown by her insisting that I cut out the formula and add-in a multivitamin supplement to make up for the vitamins she wouldn't be getting from the formula.
I think the bedtime bottle is for comfort as much as anything as she will take milk from a cup during the day. Thankfully she enjoys brushing her teeth before bed otherwise I'd be concerned about sugars, although I was careful to choose a formula with a relatively low sugar content.

Totally agree about the breast milk comments but unfortunately breastfeeding wasn't successful for us, but that's a whole other conversation. Oh and the amount of money the companies must make off formula is probably criminal but I haven't bought into the follow on stuff. There's a great website called First steps nutrition which I found really useful for understanding what was and wasn't needed in terms of formula feeding.

I think my feeling that formula is a dirty word comes from my experiences with health visitors. I remember one saying that on a personal level she agreed with my choice to give formula in light of the facts but from a professional perspective she wasn't allowed to discuss it or advise me about it

Thanks for your input folks

Your HV seems a little confused alright. I'm not aware of anything saying formula after 12 months is bad, it seems more that cows milk after 12 months is acceptable so no need for formula. One of mine was a terrible eater at that age so I kept using formula for several more months as I felt it had a better balance of nutrients, since my child was not taking in much through solids. My other child was a great and varied eater at 12 months so I switched to cow milk without a backward glance. M
I still use vitamin D drops for both, no other supplements

I would choose cow's milk over formula after one as it's cheaper, safer (no making bottles up reduces chance of contamination/mistakes) and environmentally friendlier. However I think saying that a 13 month old child should not have formula is clumsily word.

HVs unfortunately don't always rely on a sound evidence base when they give advice. There's no reason you have to move on to cow's milk rather than formula. But I definitely found it was so much easier (not having to make up bottles) and cheaper to use cow's milk. We switched completely at 12 months exactly. Also, my dd was always small and never drank loads, but she seemed to like cow's milk more than formula (which does taste rubbish so I don't blame her, we also didn't bf as long as I would have liked so formula wasn't exactly a choice for us). So when we switched, she increased her intake, which was good as she was small and more calories was better at that point. Beyond that though, the main reason really is that cow's milk is lower in sugar than formula, which is better for their teeth in the long run. Which? did an interesting comparison analysis which you might look and see if you can find. So at 13 months, it really doesn't matter, but definitely by say 18-24 months, it will matter more that they don't have too much sugar. But I don't think you need to be stressing about it too much and can ease into it when you're ready.

My 12 month DD is also on formula. The sugar content in formula is indeed higher than in cow milk but the difference is not that significant. Calorific intake is identical (66 calories per 100mls). I also do not think the cost of formula is that high (in comparison to all other baby related spending). I know I can now switch to cow milk at any time but DD just happens to like her anti-reflux formula so I am not going to rush it.

I live in France and here formula milk is recommended until 3 years! Can't imagine what all those health visitors would say . A friend's child switched to cows' milk a week after her 3rd birthday and got eczema straight away. Makes you wonder. Formula can't be just powered milk.. here they say that cows' milk is bad for children's kidneys. Also, studies show that breastfed babies have more teeth decay than formula fed babies. There are a lot of urban myths floating around!