Feeding 10Month Old Regular Milk

My daughter was 8 months old when I started giving her regular milk because formula was not enough. She was 6 months old when she started getting regular food. She is now a beauitful 3 yr old child.

I think it all depends on the child. I also have a 10 month old and my doc said to hold off because we have a lot of milk allergies (and one peanut allergy) in the family. He also told me that about 15 years ago it waas the norm that you took babies off formula at 6 months but then they were finding a lot of very aniemic kids and realized that they just weren't getting enough iron without the formula, so they extended the time to 1 year. I was pondering the same question, when I should introduce milk. We think my baby was lactose intolerant in his forst 6 months, but I am pretty sure he has grown out of it. I think if you are concerned, just have a talk to you doc and get his/her professional input because what works for one child might not work for yours! Good luck!
L.

I personally can't imagine what harm it might cause with your daughter being so old already (it happens so fast, doesn;t it??) and that they usually switch a child to regualr milk at 12 months anyway. However, maybe ot isn;t that she's not interested in formula anymore, mnaybe she just doesn't need a bottle at the time you are trying to give it to her. I know the older my son gets (just turned 1 in March) the less he seems to drink. I recently weened him off the bottle and I'm still trying to figure out how much he shoudl get/needs... Especially if she is eating more real food she will probably need less formula as part of her diet, however she will still need to drink to stay hydrated.

Hi G.,

I don't see it being a problem what-so-ever. My sons' Pediatrician is more on the old-fashioned side. He told me when our sons were six months old that they could begin drinking regular milk at anytime. I did so, and my sons really liked it. I'm sure there are children out there who have very sensitive stomachs, but that's not every child. Mine took to it very well. I placed baby vitamin drops in ONE of their bottles per day. "Knock on wood" our sons are very healthy, strong boys who receive off the chart high scores on test scores in school. We all have proof that there is more than one way to raise a child healthy, happy and strong. Take care!

I have 2 boys, my oldest is 5 and I started him on 2% milk at 9 months, I started him on whole milk and it just made him sick everytime we gave it to him so we decided to go ahead and try the 2% and he was fine! Loved it! Now our second son is 10 months old and we have done the same thing went right to the 2% and he is doing great! We went for his 9 month checkup and he's doing great! Both boys have the same ped. and he never questioned us for starting them on milk, he said it's fine as long as they are still getting the nutrients that they need and gain the weight!

It probably wouldn't be a big deal to go ahead and make the switch. You can always call your Ped. and get their opinion too.

To be honest with you I'm not real sure what the big issues would be. I just had my little girl who will be 11 months on the 25th of this month at the Dr.'s office and I had the same question you did. I also have an 8 year old who went off of formula around 10 months of age, back then that was acceptable, however now the American Academy of Pediatircs says you should wait till one year. My Dr. told me that I could change her to milk a couple of weeks prior to her birthday if I was running out of formula..... So I basically decided that I would try a couple more days with the formula and if she still didn't drink it I was going to go ahead and make the switch a little bit soon then the Dr. recommended. I'd say the choice is yours, but maybe just talk to your Ped. and see what they say.

Hi G. I am a mother of a 15 month old and I started him on regular milk at 10 months and he is doing just fine and has no problems. Everyone has their own opinion on this situation and the best advice to give is that this is your child and you do what you think is best for your child because every child is different, also one doctor will tell you it is ok and another will tell you it's not. So if your child is not wanting to take the formula she needs to have some kind of milk. OH also I have a 5 year old and I did the same thing with him and he is very healthy.

My son was the same way, so the Dr. told me to go ahead and switch him to whole milk. He is now 21 months and doing just fine. Of course that was a great time to make the bottle go bye-bye!!! I just put cold milk in a sippy cup and that was the end of the formula and bottle.

G., the advice here is mixed, I would really ask your ped. If you have any family history of allergies or lactose intolerance, then you should wait. Not every kid who drinks milk before 12 months will develop issues, and that's why you have so many moms who say that thier kids are "just fine." Allergies and milk intolerance don't show up immediately, it is true that what you introduce to them today may not show up for a few years. I didn't develop any food allergies until I was in high school! My mom sure thought everything she did was "just fine" also.

The harm is a greater risk of her developing a milk allergy. It happens gradually.....My 18 month old had spaghetti and pizza for quite awhile and did fine with it....then after awhile he developed an allergy to tomato.....same with chocolate. My husband would give him the chocolate pediasure....he did fine with it for several months and now he has developed an allergy to chocolate. They will most of the time outgrow the allergy but it is really better to wait until 12 mo to start milk. It is better for them than juices and koolaid type drinks. I would suggest talking to your pediatrician about the milk and see what he/she says. Best of Luck. M.

M.: 38 yr old mother of 2 boys.....15 years old and 18 months old.

Yes it will. Do people do it and think that seemingly there are no problems....absolutely. It was also true that years ago smoking was advocated in pregnancy and many women did that too until risks were proven. American pediatrics association sets up guidelines for a reason. Food allergies are greater than they have ever been. They don't just cause rashes and hives, but they cause children to be constantly sick. This can later lead to a leaky gut syndrome which causes undigested food protiens (such as the 2 protiens in cow milk that are hard to digest - whey and casine) to get into the blood stream and travel to the brain. This in turn leads to altered brain function that results in children being diagnosed with one of the autism spectrum disorders - add, adhd, aspergers, autism, PDD, etc. It doesn't mean ALL children will have this happen, but when this is more than a rare occurance and numbers show that 1 in 166 children (According to the CDC) will be diagnosed with a spectrum disorder, all KNOWN causes should be taken seriously. Good luck!

B. :)

I have four kids and I have been instructed with all of them to start them on whole milk between 10-12 months and that was by differnt doctors. My ped with my younger two said there was no harm in when they are 11 months old to have them just on whole milk. I did that with my sonn who is eight but my two year old daughter was differnt. She was breastfed and did not start on whole milk until she was a little older. As long as you don't see any allergic reaction I think you are okay.
Good luck,
S.

I'm not a doctor and I'm sure your doctor won't recommend it. I have a 9 year old daughter. I gave her regular milk around 11 months old because I just couldn't afford to buy formula anymore. She turned out just fine. I would say maybe try to mix the milk into the formula first (1/2 milk, 1/2 formula) just to gradually get her used to it so it doesn't bother her stomach. I learned from my first one that your instincts sometimes tell you better than the doctor (as long as it is not dangerous of course). Good Luck!

They say it's because it can make kids lactose intolerant. However, I started my daughter on regular milk at about 9 1/2 months and she did just fine. It's more of your decision.

My son was drinking whole milk at 10months and he was/is a breastfed baby, try using a sippy cup with a soft nipple, so you wont have to break the bottle habit, my son used a bottle when he was 5months old and switched over to a sippy cup soon after, I think he was drinking from one before he turned 6months. Just gotta watch out for dairy allergic reactions, my son never had a problem with milk and he is 14months.

G.