Can My Almost 1 Yr Old Have Cows Milk?

A year is normally when the doctor puts a child on whole milk.There should be no problem in giving her whole milk. It may take her some time to get use to it.

It sounds like this is the perfect time to start whole milk. The transition will take a couple of weeks, or you may have an instant milk lover. Good Luck.

Ok after reading some of the responses I hope your going with the ones who say YES give her milk. Because I mean its obvious your not asking can you give her milk and nothing else but cheese and yogurts. I am going to believe you didn't mean the milk is going to substitute a regular meal so there is no harm in giving your child milk to drink with her food or just to drink. Yes of course your gonna still give her water (I am assuming some people think we don't give our kids water when we put them on milk). There is nothing wrong with milk and you can chose 2 percent or whole milk, either is fine.

I have 5 very healthy kids and they were all on milk and regular food by the age of 1. Good luck to you!

A.:

she does not need cows milk... she need water for hydration and food for nutrition.

the inability to get milk when pumping is not a sign that you do not have milk.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions

You can ask your pediatrician about not having any milk in her diet - but my sister breastfed her daughter and had to stop breastfeeding her when the baby was 11 months old and put her on the whole milk and she has been fine. In my opinion, it isn't worth introducing the formula for two weeks and then introducing her to the milk.

Good luck!

If she is 1 in 2 weeks, I would think she can definitely have cow's milk. It is important that she get whole milk and milk has a lot of nutrients that she needs. So I would definitely get her on it. The vitamin D supplemented version is good due to the increasing incidence of deficiency in infants with all its adverse health consequences. I use organic, omega-3 enriched whole milk which is a little more expensive than regular whole milk but clearly much cheaper than formula. Also the nutrients in formula can also be somewhat mimiced with baby oatmeal. Congrats on your 1 yr old.

I agree with Patricia. She does not NEED cow milk. She needs vitamin D and calcium that can be provided through our foods. If you want to give her milk that's fine, but don't feel you "have" to give your child milk, or panic if she doesn't like it. Here are some foods that contain vitamin D:
Cod Liver Oil
Salmon
Mackerel
Sardines
Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified,
Margarine
Pudding
Dry cereal,(other cereals may be fortified with more or less vitamin D)
Liver
beef
Egg, 1 whole

Also, exposure to a little sunlight each day also provides vitamin D

Calcium:

Dairy based:
•Yogurt, plain
•Yogurt, fruit
•Milk, low fat or nonfat
•Milk, whole
•Cheese, including American, ricotta, cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese
•Milk shakes
•Eggnog

Non-Dairy based:
•Salmon
•Tofu
•Rhubarb
•Sardines
•Collard greens
•Spinach
•Turnip greens
•Okra
•White beans
•Baked beans
•Broccoli
•Peas
•Brussel sprouts
•Sesame seeds
•Bok choy
•Almonds

There are also calcium and vitamin D fortified foods.

Also keep in mind the amount of calcium and vitamin D a child needs to have a day.
For Calcium:
•500 mg a day for kids who are 1 to 3 years old
•800 mg a day for kids who are 4 to 8 years old
•1,300 mg a day for kids who are 9 to 18 years old

For vitamin D:
400 IUs for infants, children, and adolescents.

I put all my children on cow's milk a age 10 month, I did 50 /50.They all came out fine.

yes it's o.k. to give her milk in a sippy. Sounds like she is very healthy so go for it.

My advice is don't fall prey to the "oh my god I have to give my child cows milk or they'll die or be deficient" fanaticism. Yes it's "easy" as far as it being fortified with vitamins; but don't forget that so are a lot of other foods and drinks. You can very easily meet your child's needs for those vitamins and minerals without giving them glasses of milk. I believe someone else provided quite a few examples of ways that we can get those things in the diet.

Do what is right for your family, be it giving her cows milk or not (or something inbetween) But I'm sure your question was (and only 2 or so people have actually answered it) was does she actually NEED cows milk. Obviously that answer is NO. The rest is up to you as far as if you WANT to.

She'll likely be fine if you give her milk as her 'drink' with meals. Don't fall prey to the "oh my goodness if you give her milk she will die!" fanatacism. Unless she has some unusual milk issues, all will be okay.

Ok i never breastfeed but as far as milk my son went to cows milk at 3 months old, and my daugther at 8 months, i started it frist half mike half water or just used 2% stright. They are 12 and 8 now, and if she can have yogurt milk should be fine yogurt is more harsh then milk, and the milk is needed for their growing bones. There is no need for formula, at one year you switch to cows milk anyways and she is close enough....They also have those drinks like carnation good start things that are suposed to be good for kids in the toddler years, i never tried it though. My son would only drink milk if it had chocolate in it so i got ovaltine chocolate powder so he would not get all the sugars, and the ovaltine has vitamins so its better for him. Just an idea in case she does not like plain milk....Good luck and best wishes on the switch over....

I'm with Patricia - she doensn't need milk at all - just the nutrients. If she likes it and you want to give it to her, great! But don't stress if she doesn't like it - just make sure she gets the calcium and vitamin d elsewhere. Neither of my kids took to milk but my now two year old likes it as a beverage here and there...go with the flow :-)

Keep trying if you want to continue to nurse, however if you have no luck with that, giving her Whole milk is the easiest way to get all the nutrients and good fats a growing body and brain need.
Just be careful, introduce only a 1-2 oz a t a time. You may have to buy a couple cans of Formula to get her started. Both of my sons had serious intestinal issues switching to cows milk and they had lots of yogurt and cheese for months before. Constant diarrhea, miserable butt rashes. It took our oldest on next step formula until 15 months and our baby until 20 months to go to straight milk. Both were nursed until nearly a year.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR LITTLE ONE!

It sounds like you would like to continue breast feeding. I was just reading last night that the longer you breast feed, you lower your chances of getting breast cancer and your kids stay healthy. Congratulations for going a full year. If you want to continue, first try boosting your supply by taking 2-3 tablespoons of flax oil every day. It's a great source of Omega 3's for you and your baby. I was able to go 2 years with each of my kids by taking the flax.

My milk started decreasing at 8 months and by 9 I had to supplement with formula. My daughter hated it. She refused to drink it. I added some milk to the formula, and later added a little ovaltine to the mix. The doc had no problem with it. She also started eating yogurt and cottage cheese around 8 months. We have had no problems. She is now getting all whole milk, drinking about 20 ounces or so a day. She drinks about 4-6 ounces of watered down juice a day and a little water as well.

A., my sons are now almost 26 years and 23. We were tolde we could give them 2% milk at a year. They never had any problems with it and made the transition easily. I'd give it to your daughter now particularly if she isn't getting enough from nursing. Good luck and happy birthday to the little one.
S.

Go ahead and give her the milk. My daughter is formula fed and we started to get her on milk at 10 months because of a problem we were having with the formula. Our doc had originally said to transition her to whole milk at 11 months.

according to studies a child that is 11 months and 3 weeks old is able to digest the proteins in cow's milk, so yes, you can start her on cow's milk now. (the studies showed that a week shy of that age was NOT able to digest the proteins in 99% of the kids, but at that age 90% were able to digest the proteins. By the 1st birthday 99% were able to digest the proteins.)

She doesn't "need" it if she is getting the nutrients elsewhere but it is perfectly ok to give it to her now if you want to. There is absolutely no need to buy formula for 2 weeks!

Congrats on your little girl's upcoming birthday!

I didn't read the other posts, but just in case someone didn't already tell you:

Age 1 = whole milk
Age 2 = 2% milk
Age 3 = fat free milk

If she is drinking water, and eating yogurt and cheese, I'm sure it's fine to start milk so close to her birthday. If you have any doubts, ask your pediatrician. And don't forget that there are other kinds of "milk" out there, like goat's milk, soy milk, etc...

Good luck!
M.

We switched Connor to 2% milk at 1 year. Our pediatrician said 2% or Whole Vitamin D milk would be fine. But prior to one year he drank regular milk a few times. He liked regular milk right of the bat. We were lucky, there was really no transition issue.