Cows milk: is it really that terrible to give it as a drink before 12 months?

[starlightexpress]

DS is currently 10 months. He has been exclusively BF (obviously he has solids too!)

From about 9 months he has been less and less interested in BF, only feeding for a few minutes at a time.

Currently, he has one morning feed (about 5 mins), two daytime feeds (about two minutes each) and one night-time feed (about two minutes). He refuses any further offers of milk (he happily accepts water).

We feed him a piscatarian diet (fish, but no meat) so his food tend to be quite calcium heavy (a lot of cheese and yoghurt etc). He's a very good, unfussy eater with a big appetite.

When he's 11 months, I am returning to work. While I fully intend to continue the morning and evening BF, I am in a bit of a quandry as to what to do about the daytime milk feeds. I think I've been a bit brainwashed by the whole 'Breast is Best' brigade, and am reluctant to give him formula now when he's never had it, but DH thinks that without it DS will be missing out on vital nutrients.

He'll only be 5 weeks off the magic 1 year mark, when it's ok to give cows milk as a drink. He's big for his age and pretty hale and hearty. Would it be terrible to make the switch to cows milk at that point or is it best for him to have formula?

All advice gratefully accepted!

Hmm, I would have thought that by 11 months he would be able to go without the daytime milk altogether? Especially if he only feeds for a couple of minutes.

at 11 months I am sure it will be fine to give cows milk as long as he is having a good varied diet. Formula is cows milk with added vitamins and iron so if he is getting the vits/iron from food it isnt as necessary to give formula with it added.

This kellymom link may help you decide

my lo's were both bottle fed and were down to an am and pm feed by 10/11 months. They had water and snacks instead of daytime milk feeds

I think that it is not suitable for under ones as their main drink. If he is having 2 bfs a day, it is just an adjunct to those.

Thanks for this...

Has made me wonder; how much milk (be it breast or formula) should an 11 month old be drinking, does anyone know?

I'm fairly sure he's barely having any at the moment!

20 oz is recommended up to 1 year (inclusive of milk on cereal, in foods, dairy products, etc). It drops to a minimum of 350mls (approx 12oz) from 1 year.

Its not like there is magic switch that flicks at 12 months on the dot to make a child "able" to process cows milk. Its not recomended as a MAIN drink till 12 months. You would need to look at the risk of milk intolerance in the family etc. Look at how much cows milk he might be having in a day. Do you already use cows milk as a mixer in foods you give him. And make your own choice.

But if hes happy with water and Breast milk as well as a variety of solid foods you might just want to carry on with that combo. Nothing wrong with it.

You could get a bit of practise in with expressing Breast milk and may well be able to express enough in the morning ( along side his feed) to leave a lunch time B-milk drink for him. I did this when I started working some days ( boy was 9 months). With a bit of practise I could express 6 foz from one while he had his morning feed from the other, then top him up on the expressed side. Between 9- 12 months my lad a had a mix of drinks . Mainly breast milk with some water, some dilute juice, some preprepared formula and some cows milk.

agree with seona and meg. if you're still breastfeeding him, and he has a good diet there is no reason why he shouldn't, at 11 months have some cow's milk as a drink during the day.

it would be my choice for sure, over formula

I think the reason is because by 12 months babies should be more or less fully weaned and eating a varied diet thus getting all the nutrients they need from food, and therefore no longer needing breastmilk or formula. Its not that babies can't process Cows milk, its that it has no where near as much nutrients as formula or breast milk.

Dd is 9.5 months and only has bf on waking (5 mins), mid afternoon (sometimes 1 min, sometimes 10) and before bed (not v. long). In fact when I went out last week she had milk from a sippy cup before bed and only had 3oz. So, I think your ds is having more than my dd.

I'm also worried about her milk intake and when I go back to work I'm going to leave formula in a sippy cup for her to have afternoon. Eventually this will go or be repalced with cows milk. I'm just going to leave one of those cartons for her to have to save making up formula. You could do this, I suppsose. You could express but it seems a bit of a faff for a couple of weeks

Leesa - why is cow's milk better than formula? Is formula not just cow's milk with vitamins and stuff?