Toddler Milk (formula)

[wispa86]

Ben has two bottles of formula a day, one in the morning and one at bed time. We tried moving him onto cows milk about 5 times since he turned one and he is having none of it. I havent dropped either feed because he gets so so excited when he sees his bottle that i felt mean even thinking about stopping one!

We were only going to go to 2 years old on formula and then drop it completely, if he refused cows milk then he wouldnt get a drink. (dont ask why i chose this age lol)

But now im wondering if Toddler Formula is unecessary fats that he shouldnt be having and that it will make him overweight?

 

[Feltzy]

Have you tried introducing the cows milk slowly, adding 1oz to the formula and gradually increasing until it is all cows milk? I've never used toddler formula my daughter went onto cows milk at 1 so I don't really know about the weight gain, maybe you could just see how it goes and if he does seem to put a lot of weight on then drop one of the feeds?

 

[wispa86]

before 15 months old he was between the 91st and 98th lines on his chart and then when he was weighed at 15 months he was between the 75th and 91st. I got him weighed the other day and hes back up to between 91 and 98. The HV said its normal for this to happen and that he isnt overweight or anything (hes really tall so all in proportion)

I always got told not to mess with formula so dont really understand the whole 1oz substitute approach, do i make say a 7oz bottle of formula and top it up to 8 and then 6 topped to 8 etc etc. Also how long of a period do i stretch that out for?!

 

[winegums]

i guess everyone has different opinions but i wouldn't give my LO toddler milk. it's milk or nothing, and soon enough he would realise that milk is better than nothing also there are tons of other ways for him to get the nutrients and calcium. All the 'extra' stuff in the formula they get from real food at this age anyway, toddler milk is just a money making scam

also i wouldn't give him a bottle once hes 12 months he moved to beakers

 

[Chaos]

Formula is kinda sweet, and cows milk aint so that might be why. Or it could just be cause cows milk is nasty lol

Button has a milk protein allergy, so cannot have cows milk, we had to take her off formula a few weeks ago too as that was making her bad also. First we tried coconut milk, she took one sip and threw the bottle at me Then we tried rice milk. Its a hit! It's slightly sweet (naturally) .. is a bit thinner than formula. It is enriched with vitamins A, D & B12, has the same calcium as milk .. Maybe its something you can try? Most supermarkets carry it. This has been under the supervision of our ped.

She gets most her nutrition from table foods she eats, this is pretty much for the calcium as she cannot have any cows milk product what so ever.

 

[Eala]

I asked my health visitor about toddler milk the other day. I hadn't bothered with follow on milk, but I'd been bombarded with samples from Aptimil, C&G and SMA for their toddler milks, and was having a crisis of confidence

Apparently, each bottle of SMA toddler milk contains the equivalent of 7 sugar lumps Now, I haven't independently verified that myself though any kind of research, this is just what HV told me. It did make me remember that there was a programme on a few months ago that made mention of the appallingly high level of sugar in these "growing up" milks.

I agree with Chaos, maybe try other milk than cow's milk, and see how you get on?

 

[charliebear]

We introduced a cup of cows milk during the day. When he was used to the taste I switched the am bottle to cows milk, finally we changed the pm bottle to cows milk when he was drinking his am milk.

 

[MotherBeth]

Just to offer another perspective -- I still do a bottle of formula at night because she looks forward to it so much. And when I confessed it to doc, she said it won't hurt a thing.

Just another perspective!

 

[MrsRabbit]

You don't have to give him a replacement milk at all if he's eating a good variety of solids. When my son weaned completely off breastmilk he drank only water - refused cow's milk and juice. DD will be on formula well past 1 because she can barely eat anything due to so many allergies.

 

[mamaofthree]

I agree with Mrs Rabbit, formula/cows milk is no substitue for a varied balanced diet. Fruit and veg have a number of vits and minerals that could never be duplicated by the formula industry,whiole cows milk is low in iron and so long as lo is getting a balanced diet, they do not need anything else!!! Dairy can come from cheese and yogurts instead. Lots of children, and indeed people take a dislike/or have an intolerance to cows milk and survive perfectly well without it, besides formula is unnatural and is linked to obesity, tooth and jaw development changes, not to mention that it tastes sooooosweet. (I tasted a freebie at a supermarket once of toddler milk, and was horrified as it tasted like caramac!!yuk) Abidec drops are good if your little one is also a poor eater, and children can easily become iron deficient(milk makes this problem worse)thus the more they lack iron the more their appitite decreases,a nd the more milk they drink...and so the circle continues!!!

Dont beat yourself up about it though, am sure he will grow up healthy either way hun. x x x x x

 

[cindergirl]

I just recently looked into this as my son has a milk allergy and hasn't been tolerating my "trial" to re-introduce milk. I've decided to keep him on his hypoallergenic baby formula but I was concerned about whether or not he would be lacking anything by having the formula rather than whole cow's milk. After speaking with a dietician, I have learned that it is fine to keep a toddler on baby formula but the calcium content is only about 1/3 - 1/2 of whole cow's milk. She also said that she found the formula more balanced than compared to other milks (such as goat milk, rice milk, soy milk, hemp milk, etc).

Other forms of milk are fine to use as well but look into the nutritional value. Some may be comparable with the amount of calcium but be lacking in fat content. Fat is necessary for a toddler's brain development (I think I remember reading until they're 2 ... maybe that's where you got that number from ).

 

[HannahGraceee]

I have just switched ava from plus 1 milk to cows milk, we tried at about 14 months but she wasnt having any of it.. begining of 16 months she would leave like 6oz of her bottle so i thought maybe cows milk again, and now she drinks the lot! x x

 

[moomin_troll]

zane only had milk at naps in a bottle so when we decided to change from ff to cows milk, i used his normal bottle which helped altho hes not stupid he knew it wasnt his normal milk as he kept takin the bottle out of his mouth and looking at it lol.

have u tried swapping the milk for water for the morning feed? but now at 2 he is still hooked on his bottles for bedtimes lol its driving me insane

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

We give toddler milk at bedtime.

He had a beaker of cows milk with his breakfast, which is hit n miss weather he drinks. He's drink if a bottle tho. Lol

then a bottle of toddler milk at bedtime cos he looks forward to it, will make the switch to cows milk in bottle at bedtime at some point. Then switch to beaker eventually whic I had no clue how well do. Figure one bottle a day for now won't hurt

 

[sleeping bubs]

Hey just looked at a carton of SMA toddler milk and it has 7.9g sugar per 100ml which isn't that bad considering my lo is on SMA high energy formula which has 9.3g of sugar per 100mls so i will prob change to toddler milk instead of cows milk once got the ok from doctors as he is such a picky eater and still really small, (Lo is now 1years old)

 

[MotherBeth]

Actually, almond milk is another "milk-like" option. My baby likes it a lot with her snacks, and I've heard it's pretty healthy.

 

[Anababe]

I switched my older son to cows milk when he turned one which he took to really well, and it was like that until he turned 2 and Logan was born, when i stopped breastfeeding and logan went onto formula, caeden wanted what Logan had (this is the case for EVERYTHING not just milk! lol) and he started stealing Logans bottles if he left any in the bottle. After that he wouldnt touch cows milk.

Hes 3 next month and he still will not touch milk if its in a cup, only a bottle and he still has a bottle at night for bed.. i cant get him out of it, its my own fault i treated him like a baby for too long! I been opposite with Logan and he will settle himself most nights with no bottle at just 11 months. He will be going to cows milk soon so im hoping caeden will make the switch with him! I cant wait, formula is expensive!!

 

[DianeBrandt]

I suggest you try mixing the cow milk into the formula if your little one is not having it. Changing the flavor of the formula with time should help his taste buds adjust.