Cow's Milk Before One Year?

[Raidra]

My pedi said today at Fiona's nine-month appointment that if I wanted, I can start transitioning her to whole milk. He said that what she's eating now (4 oz. yogurt, 5-8 oz. mashed fruits and veggies, and a handful of misc. finger foods) is enough with whole milk. It seems a little early, plus I figured she'd be eating more in the way of solids before we transitioned her.

What do you guys think? The appeal of not having to buy formula is HUGE, but I don't want her to become malnourished or anything. Maybe I could just do 3 oz formula and 1 oz milk?

[Pennylane]

I think I did some mixing, but it was much closer to the 1 year mark. I guess I thought it was best for the baby to get all the good stuff from the formula while they were little.

Ann

[hillview]

That would be early for me but I am not sure if things have changed in the last year. Hope someone else has some ideas. We did bf then formula full 12 months.
/hillary

[elephantmeg]

DD started getting a fair amt of whole milk at about 11 months. I stopped pumping a couple weeks ago so the babysitter is supplementing with whole milk in a cup.

[kerridean]

I switched around 9 1/2 months to whole milk because my DD refused formula. Pediatrician was fine with it.

[DrSally]

I thought it was supposed to be formula or BM for the first year (or even beyond). Personally, I was more comfortable with BM for the first 18 months before I introduced soymilk for meals (and BM for other times). I do think I've heard it's ok to *introduce* cow's milk before a year as long as there are no allergy issues.

[vludmilla]

It is a little early to me. I bf DD until 15 months though and DD at 2.5 yo still gets whole milk.

[brittone2]

I agree that introducing is probably fine if no history of food allergies, but I personally would stick with breastmilk or formula for at least one year. I wouldn't replace formula feedings with cow's milk. Maybe some new advice has come out, but based off of the recommendations I've read in the past, I personally would consider introducing dairy, but not replacing formula with cow's milk.

[wellyes]

I've always heard that 12 months is the time you can start switching from formula to cow's milk, since formula is iron-fortified and cow's milk does not offer a sufficient amount of iron.

Is your ped older? I know that in the old days babies were switched to cow's milk earlier than they are now.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I wouldn't feel comfortable following that recommendation. Cows' milk is the ideal food for a cow, not a baby human. I would hold off till 12+ months. They keep changing recommendations but the reasoning for the old recommendations just make so much sense that I am not ready to follow them- like low fat milk at 12m; I thought the fat was vital for good brain development.

Beth

[dcmom2b3]

They keep changing recommendations but the reasoning for the old recommendations just make so much sense that I am not ready to follow them- like low fat milk at 12m; I thought the fat was vital for good brain development.

:yeahthat:

I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only one who called b.s. on the low fat milk recommendation. Not only is the fat good for brain devt, I think that its presence balances milk's glycemic effect -- if you take out the fat, you get a higher %-age of carbs per ounce. We avoid sugar spikes at. all. costs. around here. It's critical for mommy's mental health.