Follow on milk or cows milk?

[craftymum]

Jacob will be 1 next month and I'm not sure whether I should switch to cows milk or follow on milk. He is currently on aptamil. His diet at the minute isn't great as he seems to be going through a phase of just throwing everything on the floor no matter what we give him.

 

[sjbno1]

Hi hun,

I didnt want to read and run My little girl was 1 in August and I've carried on using follow on milk - only because it had the daily recommend amount for some vitamins and iron etc i just wanted to makesure that she got everything as sometimes her meals can be hit and miss

Its such a hard decision - I also worked out price and there isnt much difference in the price of cows milk/formula

 

[Eala]

Do you mean the 6 month+ stuff (stage 3) or the "Growing Up" toddler milk?

I asked my HV about this yesterday, as I'm getting bombarded with mail from C&G and Aptimil telling me that my LO "needs" 500ml of "Growing up Milk" each day. She told me there is as much as the equivalent of 7 lumps/cubes of sugar in each bottle I find that appalling! Especially as one of the other HVs at my GP practice said that she would recommend the growing up milk to some families, if she felt their child's diet wasn't that great. I mean, I know it has loads of iron and various vitamins. I just feel that the trade-off in that much sugar is way too high for me. I think the formula companies play on parents' fears about their child's diet, and it's just not on

I've kept my baby on the "first" milk till now, and will continue doing so till she is 1. Then I'll move her onto cow's milk

 

[polo_princess]

Its entirely up to you, if you can get them straight onto cows milk i think it will be easier and cheaper in the long run, i dont think there is a huge difference nutrionally between the two as long as your LO's diet is good and varied.

Brooke still had toddler milk as she isnt great with cows milk in larger volumes, if she was ok then i wouldnt have bothered and went straight to cows milk

 

[Mary Jo]

We've made the switch the cow milk - completely painlessly, Adam seems to love it, warm or ice cold - and decided not to give either follow-on milk or toddler/growing up milk as a regular thing (if at all, not decided that yet). I'm doing my best to offer a decent balanced diet, with plenty of absorbable sources of iron, and hopefully he'll be ok. If not I might consider vitamin drops. Cost of formula is one factor for the decision, the sugar content is definitely another - I did buy some Hipp Organic toddler milk when I saw it on offer, I tasted it and was gobsmacked by how sweet it was - wonder if all the added vitamins make it taste bad so the sugar is used to mask that? Cannot think of any other reason why there'd be so much. I really want Adam to get what he needs from his diet, however I can see there might occasionally be a time when growing up milk might be the convenient option (when travelling, for example) so I might try him on some Aptamil (he was on the stage 1 up to 12 months).

I also like the fact that there is no waste of the cow milk, if Adam leaves any I put it in my coffee. (I did try that with formula but it wasn't great so only for emergencies )

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

We just switched to cow's milk at a year. I agree with everything Mary Jo says, toddler milk is sooo sweet I didn't want R having it. (I tasted it when checking I'd put a cup together properly and euuuuw! This was cow and gate.)

 

[Eala]

This has made me think... considering how tightly the formula industry is regulated with regards to infant milk, how can they get away with these sugar levels in the toddler milk?

I mean, one bottle of the milk has around half the amount of sugar as you'd find in a can of Pepsi!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I think formula for under 6 months is much more heavily regulated than other milks for young children....

 

[special_kala]

This has made me think... considering how tightly the formula industry is regulated with regards to infant milk, how can they get away with these sugar levels in the toddler milk?

I mean, one bottle of the milk has around half the amount of sugar as you'd find in a can of Pepsi!

because no one really cares about ours kids they just care about making money

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

This has made me think... considering how tightly the formula industry is regulated with regards to infant milk, how can they get away with these sugar levels in the toddler milk?

I mean, one bottle of the milk has around half the amount of sugar as you'd find in a can of Pepsi!

because no one really cares about ours kids they just care about making money

Indeed.

OT, but I was in a supermarket the other day and noticed that rusks were labelled 'for all ages'. Only in tiny print did it say from 4-6 months!

 

[craftymum]

Thanks everyone, I never realised there was as much sugar in these formulas, it's crazy, I think I'll just stick to cows milk then as soon as he's 1, he does have some of this already on cereal and in cooking so the taste shouldn't be a problem for him when we make the switch.

 

[rosie272]

I've started Charlie with full fat cow's milk on his cereal in the morning - no problems there and I've also kept him on stage 1 Aptamil till now but decided the tub I have now is the last one, just going to make the switch to cow's milk without the follow on or toddler milk had a chat with HV about it today and she agrees too sugary and basically a waste of money! If your LO likes the cow's milk on cereal he'll probably be fine with switching - we'll save a fortune on milk now x