[Seasons]

I know the usual pediatric advice is to give whole milk from ages one to two, then switch to a lower-fat milk. When did you make the switch, and why? Did you go to 2% (I think that's the recommendation) or skim?

My dd is 2.3yo, still nurses 4-5x/day, and takes about two 6oz cups of milk per day in addition to that. She's of normal weight (30th percentile).

 

[LovemyBoo]

Dd doesn't drink milk but with ds, if memory serves, I started giving him skim milk around 2.5 - 3 years old. I just got tired of buying two different kinds of milk. Didn't go to 1 or 2%, just went straight from whole to skim. He didn't notice.

So long as your dc doesn't have weight-gain issues and really needs the fat in whole milk, I don't see why you can't switch now. Esp. since she is still breastfeeding.

 

[irinam]

Never

As far as I remember none of my grandma's cows produced low-fat milk

So, my DH, myself, DS and DD all drink whole milk and just watch how much butter and other fats we use in our diet (we all are rather fit if I may say so myself

)

 

[Star]

Quote:

Originally Posted by irinam As far as I remember none of my grandma's cows produced low-fat milk

:LOL

 

[momto l&a]

We all drink milk with all the cream unless we should need the cream for whipping which isnt very often

 

[Seasons]

How 'bout skim milk + ice cream, for both of us? No?

 

[Artisan]

We switched around 18 months to 2%.

 

[treemom2]

We switched at 2 years to skim milk for DD. She rarely drinks it, but she does want it on her cereal.

 

[xenomama]

Never. There's nothing wrong with whole milk, *especially* for babies and chilldren.

From: www.westonaprice.org:
Remember that babies should be chubby and children should be sturdy and strong, not slim. Babies need body fat to achieve optimum growth. The fat around their ankles, knees, elbows and wrists is growth fat that ensures adequate nourishment to the growth plates at the ends of the bones. Fat babies grow up into sturdy, well-formed adults, neither too tall nor too short and either slender or stocky depending on genetic heritage."

 

[melaniewb]

My DS is allergic to milk and drinks rice milk instead, which is about the equivalent to 2%. He's been on this since 16 months when he weaned himself.

 

[mistymama]

We all drink whole milk, always have, always will.

 

[MamaFern]

my 2year old is very skinny..and though i breastfeed him still i also give him organic whole milk and organic cream mixed in his sippy cup. he loves things like butter too..if he was a bigger kid i would probably not even buy milk because i drink rice or soy myself, but i think he needs the extra fat.

 

[Seasons]

Great info, tomsgirl -- thank you! I was hoping for some alternative reasoning to the "standard pediatric advice."

 

[TiredX2]

DD wasn't drinking a noticable amt of milk til around 2. Since her growth percentiles were divergent (like 75% height, 25% weight) and she is vegitarian (so, not a lot of fat sources) we kept her on whole milk until she was closer to "average" weight (3-3.5). From there she went to skim.

With DS because he wasn't drinking any milk (other than mine) til 2ish we just went straight to skim. At 39 months, he probably only averages around .5-1 cup daily. Cows milk is definately *not* his fat and protein source.

 

[slightly crunchy]

I buy either skim or 1%. Ds drinks probably 4-8 ounces a day of whatever is in the fridge, or sometimes oat milk or almond milk. Our diet has a lot of olive oil, fish oils, nut butters and other healthy fats, so I don't worry about it from that aspect. Ds also eats a little butter.

He doesn't nurse much anymore, but I wouldn't give him any cow's milk except that he asks for it. I just don't think kids need it.

 

[root*children]

Well, we don't actually drink straight-up milk, because it's just weird to us (the whole human nursing from a cow thing). But we do like yoghurt and cheese. So we always buy whole milk choices of these products. A nutritionist once told me that the calcium is absorbed only through the milk FAT. So people (like my naive mom, for example) who drink 4 glasses of skim milk a day aren't really getting the calcium from it. This is especially important if you also eat meat, since meat makes it harder for your body to absorb calcium.

 

[AlwaysPregnant:)]

It's also worth mentioning that fat slows down the digestion of food. If you switch too soon, baby will be more hungry because his/her belly will be empty much sooner.

My son has a rare eating problem and is 18 months and just now tolerating solid food. His GI doc had me add olive oil to his milk during the night so he'd wake up less to eat during the night which was leading to bottle mouth.

 

[xenomama]

Please remember that organic dairy, including Horizon and Organic Valley is ultra-pasteurized. That means it was cooked at VERY high temps - think what this would do to your breastmilk! Your best bet is either to get non-heat-treated milk or milk that is "vat-pasteurized". This stuff is not easy to find, and you'll often need to make contacts with people locally to find it.

 

[Tuesday]

I have an 18 month old DS - he breastfeeds many many times during the day and eats regular meals and is in the 80th percentile for weight and growth. He drinks calcium enriched orange juice and eats Farleys (with calcium) and also lots of greens, tofu, cheese, yogurt and 1% milk. Maybe someone can explain

- I didn't understand the reasoning behind giving **** milk. If it's fat they need, can't you give them fat through other sources (like the yogurt, cheese, animal meats, olive oils, nuts and seeds)? I bought **** milk once but when I thought about it, I didn't understand the reasoning especially since a lot of people from various cultures don't even consume milk products. DH and I prefer the taste of 1% milk so that is what DS gets too. Although, I've discovered DS loves eggnog (high in fat!).

 

[BusyMommy]

Now, what about the claim that full fat milk has dioxins in it? We just switched to 2% partly for this reason.

I'd love to learn more about this.