Toddler Nutrition

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poustotah
poustotah Posts: 1,121 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay, I have a bunch of kids but this is about my youngest who just turned 9 months. I have been breast feeding her primarily but want to switch her to formula. I just got some samples of Enfagrow with a letter telling me all about how important DHA is and how this formula has DHA, Iron, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Now I do agree that all of these are important but my question is how important are they? With all of my other kids, I just gave them whole milk (because I didn't really know any better and just did what the doctor told me). Now that I am slightly more educated, I'd really like to avoid the whole milk but is this a good option?
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  • lorierin22
    lorierin22 Posts: 432 Member
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    Okay, I have a bunch of kids but this is about my youngest who just turned 9 months. I have been breast feeding her primarily but want to switch her to formula. I just got some samples of Enfagrow with a letter telling me all about how important DHA is and how this formula has DHA, Iron, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Now I do agree that all of these are important but my question is how important are they? With all of my other kids, I just gave them whole milk (because I didn't really know any better and just did what the doctor told me). Now that I am slightly more educated, I'd really like to avoid the whole milk but is this a good option?

    I just switched my daughter from breast milk to whole milk at one year...didn't realize there was an issue with whole milk? I think by one year, toddlers can get the nutrients they need from foods in addition to regular cow's milk, but maybe I'm wrong.
  • poustotah
    poustotah Posts: 1,121 Member
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    I just switched my daughter from breast milk to whole milk at one year...didn't realize there was an issue with whole milk? I think by one year, toddlers can get the nutrients they need from foods in addition to regular cow's milk, but maybe I'm wrong.

    This is what I did for my other 3 kids and they're all fine but there are a lot of hormones in milk that I'd like to avoid but I don't know about a special formula. The whole 'add a bunch of DHA' thing kind of scares me I guess because I don't know a lot about it.

    Maybe the solution is to just get organic milk.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    <
    Daddy gives me whole milk, and I'm RIPPED.

    Sincerely,
    Baby Sidesteal.
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    Okay, I have a bunch of kids

    Just the way you worded the first part of your post makes me crack up.
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
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    <
    Daddy gives me whole milk, and I'm RIPPED.

    Sincerely,
    Baby Sidesteal.

    Sooooooooooooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!

    I gave my daughter whole milk starting at 12 months. My son gets 2%
  • EJsMummy26
    EJsMummy26 Posts: 101 Member
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    Government mandates and regulates what is contained in any formula. I bought the Target and Sam's Club brands since they are very similar to the name brands. My little guy got formula from about 7 months to 1 year, then it was whole milk for us.

    I'll keep him on whole milk until at least 2 years old. He's on the leaner side for kids his age, and he eats like a bird.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    If you have the supply, keep BF-ing her. BM is a far superior product to anything in a can. The current recommendations of both the WHO and AAP is to breastfeed for a minimum of 2 years (if you can, of course).
  • mrsmangomum
    mrsmangomum Posts: 62
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    I still bf my 14 month old, but he also gets whole milk in his sippy cup when we're out and about.
  • raylenebrooks
    raylenebrooks Posts: 137 Member
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    2% for my 2 year old once she turned a year (prior formula as she didnt come from my body :) ) her dr. says unless underweight they reccommend 2% my boys 12 and 9 got whole for a while but they all get 2 % now

    Oh she also does not get juice and drinks lots of water
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    Who is the letter from? If it from a formula campany or anyone whose program is sponsored by a formula company, then their agenda is to sell you their product, it's not about the health of your child.
    Talk to your doctor and see what they advise (I don't have kids but I know that formula is BIG business and the companies want to use your mommy guilt to sell you their stuff).
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    I am drawing a blank on exactly what it is, but babies get DHA from our breast milk, so it is added to formula.
  • muwchck
    muwchck Posts: 261 Member
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    I gave my oldest whole milk at 1 year, and at about 3 we switched back to 2% milk. My pediatrician suggests the same thing for my 9 month old. Oh, I was also told at 9 months I can supplement our formula with a little bit of whole milk, no more than a cup a day I think.
  • j77r68
    j77r68 Posts: 271 Member
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    i watched one of those investigative shows like 20/20 or one of those and it was about foods that stated things about DHA, Omega's 3+6 etc... and (this included formula as well) every product had enough of it to say that it was in it but you would have to have an exorbatant amount to get the amount that is actually beneficial. the only one i can remember is yogurt. i would've had to have had 100 yogurts to get an amount that would do anything for me. i was going to go the omega way when i stopped breastfeeding my daughter in February but when i seen that it did zilch for them and it was mostly a ploy to get you to buy more expensive items, i just went with the kind that had iron in it. plus it's much cheaper. don't know if cost is an issue for you but it's a huge issue for me. hope this gives you some insight
  • poustotah
    poustotah Posts: 1,121 Member
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    i watched one of those investigative shows like 20/20 or one of those and it was about foods that stated things about DHA, Omega's 3+6 etc... and (this included formula as well) every product had enough of it to say that it was in it but you would have to have an exorbatant amount to get the amount that is actually beneficial. the only one i can remember is yogurt. i would've had to have had 100 yogurts to get an amount that would do anything for me. i was going to go the omega way when i stopped breastfeeding my daughter in February but when i seen that it did zilch for them and it was mostly a ploy to get you to buy more expensive items, i just went with the kind that had iron in it. plus it's much cheaper. don't know if cost is an issue for you but it's a huge issue for me. hope this gives you some insight

    This is exactly what I was worried about. When I had my first 2 kids, the whole DHA thing wasn't even brought up - you gave your babies formula with iron and THAT was the big thing. For some reason, that seems to have changed and the latest fad is DHA. But if DHA is naturally found in breastmilk, do they put synthetic DHA in formula?
  • Justacoffeenut
    Justacoffeenut Posts: 3,808 Member
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    ck with your child's doctor they know your child and their health requirements better then anyone on here.
  • steadk
    steadk Posts: 334 Member
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    I just switched my daughter from breast milk to whole milk at one year...didn't realize there was an issue with whole milk? I think by one year, toddlers can get the nutrients they need from foods in addition to regular cow's milk, but maybe I'm wrong.

    This is what I did for my other 3 kids and they're all fine but there are a lot of hormones in milk that I'd like to avoid but I don't know about a special formula. The whole 'add a bunch of DHA' thing kind of scares me I guess because I don't know a lot about it.

    Maybe the solution is to just get organic milk.

    you can get hormone free milk. Not necessarily organic. I get non-hormone treated milk at aldi for 2.64 a gallon for skim milk. whole is like 2.74 a gallon. I have switched my toddler to skim milk because we use full fat cottage cheese for her, and give her a healthy rounded nutritious meal the rest of the day. We supplemented with formula and then full formula since she was born. But i would say you can do off brand formula (we did target brand) and it was 1/2 the cost. Just do a little research and I'm sure you'll find whats right for your baby and your family's needs.
  • lindsayjdodd
    lindsayjdodd Posts: 39 Member
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    I would say to breastfeed as long as possible, and then switch over to whole milk when you're ready. I give my two kiddos raw milk, and they love it!
  • jennyjennbug
    jennyjennbug Posts: 105
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    I would at least keep it on it until a year old then I switched to whole organic milk.
  • Sapporo
    Sapporo Posts: 693 Member
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    Whole milk is just as good as the formula. Formula is a bunch of crap to make those companies rich. I'm still BF'ing my 14 month old and she drinks cow milk at daycare since 1 year but wouldn't have bother with formula if we had stopped at 9+ months. My Mom switched me and my sisters to whole milk at 8 months old. Health Canada recommends no cow milk until a year I think but my local health unit says 9-12 months cow milk is okay. We don't have hormones in our milk, I think most USA milk doesn't anymore either.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    This is exactly what I was worried about. When I had my first 2 kids, the whole DHA thing wasn't even brought up - you gave your babies formula with iron and THAT was the big thing. For some reason, that seems to have changed and the latest fad is DHA. But if DHA is naturally found in breastmilk, do they put synthetic DHA in formula?

    DHA in breastmilk is a more recent discovery. Since the idea is for formula to be an approximation of BM, the manufacturers started adding it (and ARA, I believe).

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