katie

We took our son off of formula when he was six months old and put him on 2% milk. He did fine on this and to tell the truth, it was cheaper. During a checkup, I had a nurse practitioner tell me that I needed to put him back on formula and that I should have breast fed. She informed me that cows milk is for cows and human milk is for babies. I never went back to her again.

mama.waddle

I'm sorry Katie, but she's completely right. Cow's milk will not provide the calories or nutrients for a baby. They need to have breastmilk or formula for the entire first year. Cow's milk really isn't formulated for human consumption: it's made for an animal with four stomachs!

And children under 2 years should have whole milk, not 2%. They need fat for the growing brain.

Mommy2Five

That was certainly unprofessional of that nurse to tell you that you "should have breastfed." Its not like you could start when he was 6 months old! However I do agree that he should have stayed on formula. It is specially formulated to ensure babies have all the nutrients they need and is the only acceptable substitute for breastmilk. Giving a baby under 1 cows milk can also create milk allergies, can cause digestion problems, etc. And after they do start drinking cows milk it should be whole milk. With our "cholesterol is bad" trained brains it seems like an unhealthy choice, but toddlers brains are built on that cholesterol and without it they might suffer.

VTGal

I also agree that your doctor never should have told you that you should have breast fed, but yes, the baby needs to be on formula until at least 1 year of age (and whole milk until at least age 2). There are lots of nutrients that your growing baby needs that milk will not provide.

FingerInEar

Perhaps the nurse simply meant that if you couldn't afford formula that you should have tried to breastfeed instead, instead of robbing your child of essential nutrition at such a young age. Cow milk does NOT have the nutrients needed, most especially iron.

I hope that your child did not suffer long term (unseen) problems for your choices.

For what its worth, babies used to die because parents used to do this, when breastfeeding was first being stigmatised. They would do things like adding rice flour to it, and still the infants were dying of malnutrition.

PurpleFDU

Don't you just love when people think they are being helpful but instead all you want to do is kill yourself or run away and hide?

How many checkups did you go to between when you took him off formula and the checkup where they told you he should have been breastfed? Did they encourage you to call if you had questions or before making major dietary changes? I think alot of places seem quick to judge and aren't open and friendly so you make the change and avoid them until its past the time where something could have been changed.

alexis

It has been the understanding of many that you have a child on bfeed or formula until at least the first birthday (two if you talk to some people I know). Cow milk is different for many people and an infants body can not process the way an older child nor an adult would.

katie

Well, my son is now 15 years old and is very healthy. In fact, he's the healthiest kid I got. I didn't take my other two off of formula until 8 or 9 months. He has done just fine and I would do it this way again. The thing that is not being understood is this: this was 14 and 1/2 years ago. My husband was making very little money, they wasn't offering Parent's Choice formula at Walmart then and the formula that we got from the health department was gone before half way through the month. We couldn't very well let him starve, so we did the best we could and put him on milk. I was wrong- we put him on whole milk and then after he was two years old, started him on 2%. Sometimes, you have to do what you can for the sake of your child. I told my regular doctor and he said that if it was agreeing with his stomach, go for it. Oh yeah, I also put iron drops in his milk-with my doctors permission-not the nurse practitioner.

1wahmom

Katie, I can relate to that completely. My mom told me that when I was a baby she tried every brand of formula she could find and I couldn't keep any of it down. She ended up putting me on whole milk and I did great with it. Truth be known, I probably had Acid Reflux, but so little was known about it 35 yrs ago. I say that because my daughter had it terribly bad and we had to put cereal in her milk. So, as long as your son did fine and he was most likely getting vitamins from cereal and baby food as well, I don't think there was any problem at all. Believe you me, I have never been a skinny, sickly person since my mom gave me Cow's Milk!(:

EmilyJames

We all grew up on cow milk. And look how we turned out! lol! I think he will be fine. And I feel that nurse was out of line but maybe she was just trying to provide you with some knowledge.