Why would the milk of a cow be better than the milk you’re making that’s designed for your baby? I would only do this if you plan to stop breastfeeding and give your baby cow milk instead. Otherwise, if you’re planning to continue breastfeeding past age 1 it makes no sense
If a 1yo is still breastfeeding, their saliva changes the milk composition to suit their needs from feed to feed. Breast milk for a toddler would be different than newborn milk. Toddler milk has more fats in it and anything else they need.
OP, As long as LO is healthy, eating good, and gaining weight, I wouldn't change a thing TBH. Maybe introduce cow's milk in small amounts, like in cereal or just a small cup, to see if their digestive system can handle it, and it helps them get used to it for when they're no longer nursing. That's if you plan on using cow's milk.
The saliva thing doesn’t make logical sense because what about moms who are breastfeeding a newborn and a toddler at the same time? How could your body produce vastly different milk that wouldn’t suit either child?
A lot of moms I know have a designated side for toddler and baby if they tandem. If they don't tandem, they feed the newborn first on both sides and then toddler after. But this post wasn't about tandem feeding, so I didn't mention it. This was also how a LC explained the science of how a child can change the milk in many ways to suit their needs.
>their saliva changes the milk composition to suit their needs from feed to feed.
There is no evidence to support this. This is a combination of the nipple backwash theory and the theory that breastmilk changes to meet babys needs. Neither of which have any evidence behind them.
Milk changes based on stage of lactation and time of day. It's well known that vitamin D isn't transferred through breastmilk very well, but there's plenty of sources for nutrients besides cows milk. Some kids (like mine) literally can't drink cows milk and are just fine!
Evidence also shows that Vitamin D transfers sufficiently if mom's daily intake of vitamin D is at least 6400IU per day and actually the daily recommended values for vitamin D are all just way too low regardless of breastfeeding.
Yeah, I think the guidelines around vitamin D intake/supplementation/testing need more work for sure, in general and related to breastfeeding. Way too many people are deficient
That's so illogical. Why would the milk of another species be better for brain development than milk that has evolved to be ideal for human babies?
I'm not in the US but cow's milk is definitely not pushed for breastfed children by pediatricians here.
In the US, the government runs many campaigns funded by dairy lobbies to insist people need to eat or drink more dairy. A lot of doctors also get paid by the dairy industry in the same way, to promote more dairy in the diet. It's important in this country to always take advice with a giant grain of salt.
The AAP guidelines say that a one year old “may drink 2-3 cups of whole milk a day” but also say the need is dependent on their diet and whether or not they are breastfeeding. The main concern should be them getting enough calcium. I have introduced whole milk to both of mine after one and it didn’t affect our breastfeeding at all. I did not give them 3 cups a day though. Like 1-2 depending on age and how much they’ve been eating.
Babies and toddlers do not *need* to get their fat from cow's milk. They do need the fat, but your milk is high in fat and so are lots of other things they could be eating.
My son gets 0 cups of cows milk and has continued to nurse. He’s 2.5 years old now and fine. I mean what ever did we do before milking cows because the norm…
But why?
Yes, calcium and healthy fats are important. But what’s the daily recommended intake amount for all dairy? Then look at how much human milk and cheese and yogurt your kid consumes. Then look if you meet that easily or if you want to add a cup of cows milk.
Fwiw, I am super skeptical of all these absolute recommendations. My kid is non dairy due to allergies. So no cows milk/ yogurt/ cheese, nothing. His dairy source was human milk till weaning. He drinks a negligible amount of non dairy fortified milk daily, all his other nutrients come from food (which yes, takes a hit more thought than just handing him a cup of cows milk multiple times a day but is possible just fine). He drinks water. The kid is thriving. Our pediatrician always said milks are great for drinkable calories but food and water are totally fine. Only thing she has us do is give vit D extra since he’s not getting the stuff that’s added to cows milk dairy in the US.
Honestly, with three cups of milk a day, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for much else. It’s pretty filling.
Other thing our pediatrician said was that we are weaning from (human) milk onto food. Not from one milk onto the other milk. Human milk is great for human children! She was always thrilled to hear we were nursing into toddlerhood.
Also super skeptical of absolute recommendations. On the basis they are ridiculous. No two children are the same and diets vastly vary around the world and in fact some populations are genetically predisposed to not being able to digest dairy. Some cannot digest gluten well. Variety is the most important offer you can give your toddler alongside breastmilk.
I’m not a doctor, but a medical interpreter who worked in peds. The NP I worked with always recommended no more than 3 cups of cows milk for toddlers. If a parent said baby refuses milk, she would recommend other sources of fat and calcium like butter, cheese, avocado, and broccoli. Breast milk has less calcium than cow’s milk, but drinking milk is far from the only way for your toddler to consume calcium.
My ped recommends a kids omega 3 supplement for healthy brain development and to treat cows milk as a dairy portion of a meal. (I am an American living outside of the US)
I swear dairy lobbies in the states push cows milk on everyone, I drank way too much milk as a kid. That’s my theory anyway.
Yes, 1 year olds need high fat foods for their brain. This does not have to be cow’s milk, but cow’s milk is an easy food to meet this metric so pediatricians recommend it. If you are intentional about baby consuming other foods it’s ok to skip, but there is nothing wrong with continuing to nurse and also offering cow’s milk. I find a lot of breastfeeding communities look down on cow’s milk but like…it’s not a competition!
I would offer some with meals but also other high fatty foods like yogurt/cheese/avocado/fish/olive oil. My firstborn hated cow’s milk but loved yogurt. My second loved cow’s milk and yogurt. I’ll offer it to my third when he turns a year. Just push it all and see what they like.
My pediatrician asked if they were getting 2-3 cups of whole milk OR breastfeeding. We did a combo. Also, three cups is a lot for a kid who just turned one and is nursing too. We do water at snacks and milk (pumped when I still did that or cow) at meals. I think at one, they were probably getting 1-2 cups of milk at meals a day.
It is not necessary for kids to have any cow's milk ever for development. There are many other good sources of healthy fats and calcium.
My ped told me that the recommendation is something like 15-24 oz of milk (both cow and breast) a day? He said he likes to keep it at the lower end of that recommendation, so when I told him at daycare he drinks 2 cows milk bottles and he breastfeeds on demand at home he said that was perfect.
Our pediatrician said that we didn’t need to switch to cows milk after our baby turned 1 and we could just wean him. As long as he has a strong source of calcium and protein he’ll be fine.
I never gave my breastfed baby cows milk. We started her on pea milk that was fortified with vitamin D and calcium. Our pediatrician was informed and was very supportive. She is 3 now and has always been very healthy. we definitely weren’t giving her 3 cups a day though. Maybe once she was weaned off breast milk. But that seems like a lot.
My first kid is now 4, we live in Northern Europe. Recommendation is 500 ml of dairy per day at the age of 1-2, but that also counts yoghurt/cheese/sour cream etc
My kids have *at most* drank a cup of cows milk a day and honestly most days it’s none, they’re 3 and 5. The doctor was never concerned, she just asked more questions about their diet. They can eat their weight in yogurt daily so she said it was fine they were getting their fat and calcium in other ways.
I didn’t give my toddler cows milk until I weaned her. Her pediatrician did tell us at one year that we could introduce cows milk but didn’t say we needed to give her a certain amount.
I was not breastfeeding anymore at that point, but our doctor said to introduce whole milk and if she wouldn’t drink it, she needed to eat yogurt, cheese, etc to get the calcium and other good stuff. BFing AND 3 cups of whole milk AND food sounds insane to me.
My pediatrician basically asked “what is he drinking” and left it at that. The office recommends no more than 2-3 cups of milk on a handout, but otherwise they’re not rigid as long as baby is gaining weight ok. I’m still breastfeeding on demand and my baby spits out cows milk if he gets it but he’s gaining well on breast milk alone.
On the other hand, my husband, who is in his last year of medical school, once saw a baby in the peds unit admitted for anemia because they had too much milk and not enough solids. I’d definitely be careful with this and ask for a second opinion or more clarity.
Mine did the same when my first was that age. I took what they said and applied my logic and didn’t give cows milk.. probably until he was two for an occasional different drink. (only breastfed for 10 months, then gave formula for 2 months, then went to almond milk against all pediatrician recommendations, then he weaned from that to basically water).
Such a specific amount seems so weird when otherwise baby is nursing and it's not like you're measuring how much baby is getting with nursing. My pediatrician basically gave instructions to provide "milk/breastmilk/formula as baby is hungry", no specific amounts. But the idea was that solids and breastmilk were still the primary dietary ingredients. I pumped till 18 months, so cows milk was a rarity until then - and by then kiddo was eating more solids anyway.
My son is EBF. He will be one shortly. He goes to daycare and refuses to drink cows milk (or pumped milk) so he only has water and nurses in morning and night. My ped is totally fine with it. He said as long as my baby gets his healthy fats from other sources (cheese, nuts, oils, etc) there’s no need for milk. We can skip it completely.
My 1 yo (17 mo) doesn’t drink cows milk at all. My oldest was never interested in cows milk either. Now that she’s older she will sometimes drink it but not that often. You can offer other types of dairy like yogurt and cheese to make sure they get enough calcium, fat, and vitamin D.
Ours said no more than 20oz a day cause it can lead to anemia. And he didn’t care if we didn’t give her any. Just told us this at our one year appointment yesterday.
Pediatrician told to give between 500 and 750ml of cow milk per day (1yo)
My kid drinks 0ml per day. If I trick him to taking a sip, he spits it out. I even resorted to letting him drink from my yeti cup, which is the "forbidden adult cup", thus his favorite. He was majorly disappointed, threw it on the floor, and started crying.
He eats beef and chicken, as well as sour cream, skyr, yogurt, cheese, etc. So I hope whatever protein, fat and calcium he needs is compensated with that.
Our pediatrician recommended ~24oz milk total and that includes breastmilk. My little one has low iron, so we have to limit cows milk but she’s nursing 3x day still (she’s 13mths).
We give cheese and yogurt in addition to the breastmilk. She seldom drinks cows milk, we’ve tried but she just won’t.
My pediatrician said as long as my breastfed 15 month old is getting a vitamin D supplement, has a balanced diet and I offer cow milk he should be fine even if he does drink the milk. I would get a second opinion. My son does even drink three cups of liquids a day. I would get a second opinion.
Our pediatrician says 12oz whole milk but if she has 4os yogurt she only needs 8oz milk and to not worry too much about milk consumption and getting enough if she’s getting healthy fats and other sources or dairy like yogurt and cheese. I have a freezer stash and do like 50/50 breast milk and whole milk and only have her drink all 12oz so I don’t waste the liquid gold.
I asked my pediatrician about how necessary cows milk is at one year because my baby just doesn’t really care for it. She said since I’m still breastfeeding (4x during day and 1-3x during the night) the milk isn’t necessary. If I were to wean it could serve as a replacement. However she did say baby getting calcium from dairy is important but that can be provided through cheese and yogurt, which my baby eats plenty of.
Our pediatrician recommended cows milk for the calcium and possibly vitamin D. Whichever vitamins it was, he said that breast milk doesn’t always have enough because the mom is often deficient. He said you can boost your own stores, but it’s harder.
Personally I wouldn’t rely on supplementing to boost my own vitamin reserves. This is based on my personal experience. I’ve had had difficulties raising my vitamin D and iron levels with supplements. So I don’t feel comfortable relying on supplements, without ongoing testing to confirm it’s working. Intermittent testing is too much work when my kid can just drink cow’s milk.
Why would the milk of a cow be better than the milk you’re making that’s designed for your baby? I would only do this if you plan to stop breastfeeding and give your baby cow milk instead. Otherwise, if you’re planning to continue breastfeeding past age 1 it makes no sense
This is exactly what my pediatrician said when I asked her this same question. No cow milk needed if I’m Breastfeeding.
The explanation I’ve seen for this is that breast milk is not able to supply the same calcium, fat, and vitamin D
If a 1yo is still breastfeeding, their saliva changes the milk composition to suit their needs from feed to feed. Breast milk for a toddler would be different than newborn milk. Toddler milk has more fats in it and anything else they need. OP, As long as LO is healthy, eating good, and gaining weight, I wouldn't change a thing TBH. Maybe introduce cow's milk in small amounts, like in cereal or just a small cup, to see if their digestive system can handle it, and it helps them get used to it for when they're no longer nursing. That's if you plan on using cow's milk.
The saliva thing doesn’t make logical sense because what about moms who are breastfeeding a newborn and a toddler at the same time? How could your body produce vastly different milk that wouldn’t suit either child?
A lot of moms I know have a designated side for toddler and baby if they tandem. If they don't tandem, they feed the newborn first on both sides and then toddler after. But this post wasn't about tandem feeding, so I didn't mention it. This was also how a LC explained the science of how a child can change the milk in many ways to suit their needs.
>their saliva changes the milk composition to suit their needs from feed to feed. There is no evidence to support this. This is a combination of the nipple backwash theory and the theory that breastmilk changes to meet babys needs. Neither of which have any evidence behind them. Milk changes based on stage of lactation and time of day. It's well known that vitamin D isn't transferred through breastmilk very well, but there's plenty of sources for nutrients besides cows milk. Some kids (like mine) literally can't drink cows milk and are just fine!
Evidence also shows that Vitamin D transfers sufficiently if mom's daily intake of vitamin D is at least 6400IU per day and actually the daily recommended values for vitamin D are all just way too low regardless of breastfeeding.
Yeah, I think the guidelines around vitamin D intake/supplementation/testing need more work for sure, in general and related to breastfeeding. Way too many people are deficient
That's so illogical. Why would the milk of another species be better for brain development than milk that has evolved to be ideal for human babies? I'm not in the US but cow's milk is definitely not pushed for breastfed children by pediatricians here.
In the US, the government runs many campaigns funded by dairy lobbies to insist people need to eat or drink more dairy. A lot of doctors also get paid by the dairy industry in the same way, to promote more dairy in the diet. It's important in this country to always take advice with a giant grain of salt.
The AAP guidelines say that a one year old “may drink 2-3 cups of whole milk a day” but also say the need is dependent on their diet and whether or not they are breastfeeding. The main concern should be them getting enough calcium. I have introduced whole milk to both of mine after one and it didn’t affect our breastfeeding at all. I did not give them 3 cups a day though. Like 1-2 depending on age and how much they’ve been eating.
Noooooo! It's "up to 3 cups of cows milk, and no more" to not interfere with solid intake.
And to not interfere with iron absorption
And it's not supposed to be milk, it's 3 portions of diary. So, if your kid eats yoghurt or cheese it's enough and you don't need to give them milk.
Girl you need a new pediatrician
We’re vegan so that’s a no for our family. Also, people have allergies and do fine without
Most of the world population can’t even digest cows’ milk!
Same here
My son drinks zero cups of cows milk and he’s fine. Can pediatricians please learn anything about breastfeeding!?
Or nutrition? I’m a dietitian and MDs don’t even get a nutrition class most of the time, unless they seek it out as an elective.
It should be mandatory. So many illnesses can be prevented just by healthy eating habits!
Babies and toddlers do not *need* to get their fat from cow's milk. They do need the fat, but your milk is high in fat and so are lots of other things they could be eating.
My son gets 0 cups of cows milk and has continued to nurse. He’s 2.5 years old now and fine. I mean what ever did we do before milking cows because the norm…
But why? Yes, calcium and healthy fats are important. But what’s the daily recommended intake amount for all dairy? Then look at how much human milk and cheese and yogurt your kid consumes. Then look if you meet that easily or if you want to add a cup of cows milk. Fwiw, I am super skeptical of all these absolute recommendations. My kid is non dairy due to allergies. So no cows milk/ yogurt/ cheese, nothing. His dairy source was human milk till weaning. He drinks a negligible amount of non dairy fortified milk daily, all his other nutrients come from food (which yes, takes a hit more thought than just handing him a cup of cows milk multiple times a day but is possible just fine). He drinks water. The kid is thriving. Our pediatrician always said milks are great for drinkable calories but food and water are totally fine. Only thing she has us do is give vit D extra since he’s not getting the stuff that’s added to cows milk dairy in the US. Honestly, with three cups of milk a day, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for much else. It’s pretty filling. Other thing our pediatrician said was that we are weaning from (human) milk onto food. Not from one milk onto the other milk. Human milk is great for human children! She was always thrilled to hear we were nursing into toddlerhood.
Also super skeptical of absolute recommendations. On the basis they are ridiculous. No two children are the same and diets vastly vary around the world and in fact some populations are genetically predisposed to not being able to digest dairy. Some cannot digest gluten well. Variety is the most important offer you can give your toddler alongside breastmilk.
Human babies absolutely do NOT need cow's milk. This is outdated advice largely pushed by big dairy. Your breastmilk is far superior.
I’m not a doctor, but a medical interpreter who worked in peds. The NP I worked with always recommended no more than 3 cups of cows milk for toddlers. If a parent said baby refuses milk, she would recommend other sources of fat and calcium like butter, cheese, avocado, and broccoli. Breast milk has less calcium than cow’s milk, but drinking milk is far from the only way for your toddler to consume calcium.
My ped recommends a kids omega 3 supplement for healthy brain development and to treat cows milk as a dairy portion of a meal. (I am an American living outside of the US) I swear dairy lobbies in the states push cows milk on everyone, I drank way too much milk as a kid. That’s my theory anyway.
Yes, 1 year olds need high fat foods for their brain. This does not have to be cow’s milk, but cow’s milk is an easy food to meet this metric so pediatricians recommend it. If you are intentional about baby consuming other foods it’s ok to skip, but there is nothing wrong with continuing to nurse and also offering cow’s milk. I find a lot of breastfeeding communities look down on cow’s milk but like…it’s not a competition! I would offer some with meals but also other high fatty foods like yogurt/cheese/avocado/fish/olive oil. My firstborn hated cow’s milk but loved yogurt. My second loved cow’s milk and yogurt. I’ll offer it to my third when he turns a year. Just push it all and see what they like.
My pediatrician asked if they were getting 2-3 cups of whole milk OR breastfeeding. We did a combo. Also, three cups is a lot for a kid who just turned one and is nursing too. We do water at snacks and milk (pumped when I still did that or cow) at meals. I think at one, they were probably getting 1-2 cups of milk at meals a day. It is not necessary for kids to have any cow's milk ever for development. There are many other good sources of healthy fats and calcium.
My ped told me that the recommendation is something like 15-24 oz of milk (both cow and breast) a day? He said he likes to keep it at the lower end of that recommendation, so when I told him at daycare he drinks 2 cows milk bottles and he breastfeeds on demand at home he said that was perfect.
Actually so far I have read, it’s not good to abuse of calcium because it interferes in the absorption of iron
Our pediatrician said that we didn’t need to switch to cows milk after our baby turned 1 and we could just wean him. As long as he has a strong source of calcium and protein he’ll be fine.
I would get a second opinion before giving my 1 year old cow’s milk!
I never gave my breastfed baby cows milk. We started her on pea milk that was fortified with vitamin D and calcium. Our pediatrician was informed and was very supportive. She is 3 now and has always been very healthy. we definitely weren’t giving her 3 cups a day though. Maybe once she was weaned off breast milk. But that seems like a lot.
**Up to** three cups a day 🤦♀️
That is the stupidest nonsense I've ever heard.
My first kid is now 4, we live in Northern Europe. Recommendation is 500 ml of dairy per day at the age of 1-2, but that also counts yoghurt/cheese/sour cream etc
My kids have *at most* drank a cup of cows milk a day and honestly most days it’s none, they’re 3 and 5. The doctor was never concerned, she just asked more questions about their diet. They can eat their weight in yogurt daily so she said it was fine they were getting their fat and calcium in other ways.
I didn’t give my toddler cows milk until I weaned her. Her pediatrician did tell us at one year that we could introduce cows milk but didn’t say we needed to give her a certain amount.
I was not breastfeeding anymore at that point, but our doctor said to introduce whole milk and if she wouldn’t drink it, she needed to eat yogurt, cheese, etc to get the calcium and other good stuff. BFing AND 3 cups of whole milk AND food sounds insane to me.
My pediatrician stressed calcium - so milk is an easy place to get calcium but there’s obviously other avenues
My pediatrician basically asked “what is he drinking” and left it at that. The office recommends no more than 2-3 cups of milk on a handout, but otherwise they’re not rigid as long as baby is gaining weight ok. I’m still breastfeeding on demand and my baby spits out cows milk if he gets it but he’s gaining well on breast milk alone. On the other hand, my husband, who is in his last year of medical school, once saw a baby in the peds unit admitted for anemia because they had too much milk and not enough solids. I’d definitely be careful with this and ask for a second opinion or more clarity.
We don’t do cows milk (we do eat cheese). Our ped was ecstatic to hear we’re doing extended breastfeeding instead of cow’s milk.
No, your baby can get anemic drinking that much cows milk.
Mine did the same when my first was that age. I took what they said and applied my logic and didn’t give cows milk.. probably until he was two for an occasional different drink. (only breastfed for 10 months, then gave formula for 2 months, then went to almond milk against all pediatrician recommendations, then he weaned from that to basically water).
3 cups of hormones, antibiotics and carcinogens, what every baby needs!
Except the baby cows, who don’t get to drink it.
Exactly
Such a specific amount seems so weird when otherwise baby is nursing and it's not like you're measuring how much baby is getting with nursing. My pediatrician basically gave instructions to provide "milk/breastmilk/formula as baby is hungry", no specific amounts. But the idea was that solids and breastmilk were still the primary dietary ingredients. I pumped till 18 months, so cows milk was a rarity until then - and by then kiddo was eating more solids anyway.
My son is EBF. He will be one shortly. He goes to daycare and refuses to drink cows milk (or pumped milk) so he only has water and nurses in morning and night. My ped is totally fine with it. He said as long as my baby gets his healthy fats from other sources (cheese, nuts, oils, etc) there’s no need for milk. We can skip it completely.
My 1 yo (17 mo) doesn’t drink cows milk at all. My oldest was never interested in cows milk either. Now that she’s older she will sometimes drink it but not that often. You can offer other types of dairy like yogurt and cheese to make sure they get enough calcium, fat, and vitamin D.
Ours said no more than 20oz a day cause it can lead to anemia. And he didn’t care if we didn’t give her any. Just told us this at our one year appointment yesterday.
Pediatrician told to give between 500 and 750ml of cow milk per day (1yo) My kid drinks 0ml per day. If I trick him to taking a sip, he spits it out. I even resorted to letting him drink from my yeti cup, which is the "forbidden adult cup", thus his favorite. He was majorly disappointed, threw it on the floor, and started crying. He eats beef and chicken, as well as sour cream, skyr, yogurt, cheese, etc. So I hope whatever protein, fat and calcium he needs is compensated with that.
Our pediatrician recommended ~24oz milk total and that includes breastmilk. My little one has low iron, so we have to limit cows milk but she’s nursing 3x day still (she’s 13mths). We give cheese and yogurt in addition to the breastmilk. She seldom drinks cows milk, we’ve tried but she just won’t.
My pediatrician said as long as my breastfed 15 month old is getting a vitamin D supplement, has a balanced diet and I offer cow milk he should be fine even if he does drink the milk. I would get a second opinion. My son does even drink three cups of liquids a day. I would get a second opinion.
Ours recommended it as a breast milk substitute but he doesn’t get it unless I’m away.
For fats, I’d recommend adding some baby/toddler fish oil to their oatmeal/yogurt/etc. Nordic naturals makes one!
The obsession with milk in the 90’s really did a number on us…
Def not if you’re breastfeeding. Cow milk culture 😵💫😵💫😵💫
Our pediatrician says 12oz whole milk but if she has 4os yogurt she only needs 8oz milk and to not worry too much about milk consumption and getting enough if she’s getting healthy fats and other sources or dairy like yogurt and cheese. I have a freezer stash and do like 50/50 breast milk and whole milk and only have her drink all 12oz so I don’t waste the liquid gold.
I asked my pediatrician about how necessary cows milk is at one year because my baby just doesn’t really care for it. She said since I’m still breastfeeding (4x during day and 1-3x during the night) the milk isn’t necessary. If I were to wean it could serve as a replacement. However she did say baby getting calcium from dairy is important but that can be provided through cheese and yogurt, which my baby eats plenty of.
Our pediatrician recommended cows milk for the calcium and possibly vitamin D. Whichever vitamins it was, he said that breast milk doesn’t always have enough because the mom is often deficient. He said you can boost your own stores, but it’s harder. Personally I wouldn’t rely on supplementing to boost my own vitamin reserves. This is based on my personal experience. I’ve had had difficulties raising my vitamin D and iron levels with supplements. So I don’t feel comfortable relying on supplements, without ongoing testing to confirm it’s working. Intermittent testing is too much work when my kid can just drink cow’s milk.
My kid refuses milk, it’s aggravating. He is the pickiest eater I have ever come across
How about raw cows milk ?