[cinnamonamon]

I posted this in Good Eating!, but someone suggested that you ladies would have some good info. Here's the situation:

My friend formula feeds (bad bfing advice/info. made her milk dry up

), and her ds is now 9 months. When she went to the Dr. for a well baby check-up, her Dr. told her she should start changing her baby over from formula to whole cow's milk. Does this make sense? I was under the impression that babies shouldn't really have it until at least 12 months - plus, don't they need the nutrients in formula?

This baby is healthy & takes the formula just fine. He has had quite a few ear infections, though.

If anyone has any links to good sites (or good books) I/we would love to see them. I am going to go check out the KellyAttachment Parenting page cause I seem to remember some info there - & Dr. Sears' page.

TIA

 

[pumpkinhead]

I know that the 'rules' for introducing solids to formula fed vs. BF'ed babes are different due to the HUGE dif's in composition. They recommend solid's earlier for formula fed babes. I'm not sure on the whole milk thing, but it would stand to reason that little ones on formula have already been exposed to cow's milk proteins and therefore are ready for whole milk earlier...Does this make sense? However, having said that, my 'old-school' pediatrician reccomended solid's for my BF'd babe at 4-5 mos vs. my LC who recommended waiting til AT LEAST 6mos.

 

[Momtwice]

Quote:

This baby is healthy & takes the formula just fine. He has had quite a few ear infections, though.

Actually, chronic ear infections are often a sign of dairy allergy (says Dr. Sears at his website, as well as the late Dr. Frank Oski, head of pediatrics as Johns Hopkins University in his book Don't Drink Your Milk.)

 

[cinnamonamon]

Thanks Momtwice, I asked her more about the ear infections, & she said the first one was 3 months after she had introduced formula, and he has only had a few others, so it's unlikely that it's being caused from the cow's milk. He also eats baby yogurt & hasn't had any adverse reactions to that.

At this point, she says she's going to leave him on formula until she's sure anyhow. I sent her several links (including one to this board

), and I think the kelly page had some great info! Unfortunately, the Dr. Sears page had this to say on feeding the 9 to 12 month old:

Quote:

By baby's first birthday, solid foods make up around fifty percent of her nutrition.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030700.asp

humpf - whatever.

 

[DaryLLL]

The AAP says, consevatively, that all babies should be bfed for at least one year.

Conversely, if the unfortunate child is not being bfed at say 6 or 9 months, wouldn't you want to give him an artifical baby milk that has ingredients added to it to make it more like human milk? Why feel so sanguine that the baby is eating enough solids plus milk from another species, to make his diet nutritionally complete or evne adequate? It just doesn't make sense.

Personally, if I were to have a baby not being bfed, I would consider giving ABM for 2 years. Not just one.

 

[cinnamonamon]

Amen, DaryLLL !!

I love this place...

 

[wombat]

Cows milk aside from causing numerous allergies, depletes the baby's body of iron PLUS it's a poor source of iron compared to ABM. It's better to give formula as long as possible than to give cows milk. I think the only reason for giving cows milk is economic.

 

[cinnamonamon]

Quote:

Originally posted by DaryLLL Why feel so sanguine that the baby is eating enough solids plus milk from another species, to make his diet nutritionally complete or evne adequate? It just doesn't make sense.

Just for the record -- this is why my friend is questioning her Dr. -- she thought there was something off about the advice as well. Too bad, because from what I understand, this is a very popular Ped.'s office (and he/they apparently give this advice to all parents).

 

[bananasmom]

Our doctor recommended starting the transition at 11 months, after checking dd's iron levels. By 10 months, we were given the go-ahead for other dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt.

Just looking for reasons why the encouragement seems awfully early... I think the move to whole milk is economic and as a matter of convenience. It's much easier to pour from a jug, than mix formula in a sippee. It's much easier to purchase milk at a restaurant, than to carry formula supplies. Additionally, I suspect that the ff'ed baby diet is heavier on solids (than the bf baby), at least for the 2nd half of the first year... so it is thought that the baby is getting a lot of nutrients (that used to come from formula) from whole foods.

 

[jeca]

I do not recommend it from personal experiance. For instance my nephew has been on whole milk since he was 6 months old. He has the smelly bowel movements I have ever smelled. And he has so many of them. This is not an isolated thing. Everyone I know that has started milk early complains about the bowel movements. I think it messes up their intestines, just MO.