When can we switch from whole milk?

[~Amy~]

DS is 2. No weight gain issues, eats food very well & is still BFing a couple times a day. He's been drinking whole cow's milk since about a year. Not much...maybe 1/4-1/2 cup a day in cereal or oatmeal & maybe 2 or 3oz/day in a cup, some days not even that much. Can we switch him to 2% now? Honestly, it's for convenience reasons so if the answer is no, I can live with that.

ETA- I should add that he's getting dairy in other ways too. He eats cheese & plenty of full fat yogurt.

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

absolutly. Go for it!

[Drummer's Wife]

It's really up to you, but we never switched - I buy whole milk for the whole family because I'm big on whole foods.

[Alyantavid]

Personally, I'd keep the whole milk. But that's all we buy.

[sunnysandiegan]

We only buy whole milk after learning about whole foods, etc. Most of the time, we buy non-homogenized whole milk. Raw is legal here, but sooooo expensive.

[cristeen]

You could, but why would you? Whole milk is a whole food as nature intended it (especially if you buy non-hom). 2% is a manmade food and does not contain all the fats that are essential for the proper absorption of nutrients.

[~Amy~]

Thanks for the thoughts, Ladies. I'm learning about whole foods too and I'd honestly prefer to drink whole milk myself but DH will not use it. Milk is very expensive here ($6 for a gallon of whole) and buying it by the half gallon is more expensive per ounce. We don't use enough milk to use up a gallon before it goes bad, let alone 2 gallons. I was thinking perhaps we could save some money if we could all use the same kind of milk. DH prefers 1%, but I thought maybe he'd compromise with 2%. We can't get unhomogenized whole milk anyway unless we do raw, which I'm actually considering. I can buy that in smaller quantities and I could skim some for DH and leave some whole for DS. Hmmm, maybe I should look into that again.

[2xy]

Another whole milk family here. Whole milk yogurt, too.

[Magelet]

I agree about keeping your son on whole milk. He's only two, his brain and body are still developing and growing, and it's still really vital.

Getting the raw unhomogenized and skimming some for your DH sounds like a good idea if you can afford it. You'll get the extra cream to make butter/eat/add to you and DS's milk to make extra creamy. It does taste pretty different, so your DH might have an adjustment period.

(If you decide not to, maybe you can learn to make your own yogurt, so you buy it by the gallon, then make half of it into yogurt or cheese?)

[Bri'sgirl]

Another vote for whole milk. We drink non-homogenized whole milk and avoid lower fat milks. My four year old practically lives on the stuff, and I even bring extra with us in a cooler when we go out, so I don't have to order milk for him in restaurants.

[serenbat]

if we could all use the same kind of milk. DH prefers 1%

buy a quart of 1% and take your whole milk and water it down, blindfold him and see if he really sees a difference

[425lisamarie]

well unless you are buying from the cow milk, 2% isn't really much more processed than whole you think? I mean when i used to get raw milk I'd sometimes skim the top which would give us more like 2% anyways...which I realize is different than homogonized milk but still.....I don't think you should look to milk as a main source of nutrition anwyays.

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by 425lisamarie

well unless you are buying from the cow milk, 2% isn't really much more processed than whole you think? I mean when i used to get raw milk I'd sometimes skim the top which would give us more like 2% anyways...which I realize is different than homogonized milk but still.....I don't think you should look to milk as a main source of nutrition anwyays.

This. I actually discourage my kids from milk, as I don't think it is healthy at all. They do love it on cereal (they hate all the alternative milks), but they really dislike whole milk, so I buy 2%. I see it almost as a treat, like juice. They can have some, but only sparingly. They eat plenty of other dairy products, so I don't feel like I need to compound the problem by having them drink a bunch of milk.

I felt a lot better about them drinking raw milk, but now that we moved I can only find raw whole milk, not the raw lowfat I used to get, and they just can't stand it, even if I take the cream off the top and water it down.

[Honey693]

I'd switch. I really hate buying whole milk, especially when DD drinks so little of it that we end up throwing some out. I'd just make sure that there are plenty of other healthy fats being offered too.

[ebethmom]

We buy skimmed raw milk. I just couldn't get used to the full fat taste or feel. Even with the skimmed milk, I have to shake it to mix whatever fat is leftover. I think we're the only customers who buy the skimmed milk. Our farmer thinks we're nuts! He used to just dump the milk after he skimmed the cream off.

[LauraLoo]

Once upon a time, I used to freeze milk. So that might be an option for you to consider so you aren't wasting any milk that goes bad before you can use it. Save one of your 1/2 gallon jugs, and then fill it (give room for expansion) when you get a gallon and pop it in the freezer. Let it defrost in the refrigerator.

We also use whole milk - the non-homogenized kind.