Transitioning from Whole Milk to 2 Percent

I have a 22 month old and I have been giving him 2 percent milk for a couple of months now. He seems to like it better than whole milk.

As long as they are eating a varied diet it is fine for them to switch to 2 percent. My pediatrician said it was fine for both of my boys to switch a little early.

Hi A.! I just had this talk with my pediatrician (I have a 15 month old daughter). He said that 12-24 months do the whole milk, then after that you can switch to the 2% milk. The 2% is ok, but the whole has the extra stuff they need at this age. Hope this helps!

Our pediatrician suggested we switch our son to 2% or even 1% at 2 years old. We have had no issues with doing this. He's 5 now and doing great.

My doctor told us to give them whole milk untill my son was 2. After that 2% was fine.

I do know that I was told that I could start to give even skim milk to my kids at 24 months. I'm sure 2 percent would be ok, but I would always check with my pediatrician.

A. i am a mother of 3 and a gradmother of 7 i started my chilremn out on whole milk when they were 6 months old only becasue back then and now formula was so expensive but as they reched 1 yr i changed to 2% and they are as healthy as ever and have done the same with there babies.. if u read all the stuff dr's tell u then u will be on whole milk forever or formula.. trust me at 23 months your baby will be fine im not an expert but a mother who has lots of dealing with babies.. hope tht helped.. besides now adays milk is even pasterized in a better way then the past when my children were little .. have a great day..

I transitioned my children (who love milk) at 24 months to 1% mixed with whole milk and had no problems. Within 1 week I was to 1%. Now we are at 1/2% and they are 3 and 5 yeard old.

He'll be on that or 1% in a month anyway! My son is only 18 months and gets 1% whenever we are at restaurants. No big deal.

My advice is NO. Whole milk has everything we need, whereas 2%, has had things taken out and added back. Nature is much better than science. I can offer several sources of things to read on this if you would like.

I was told that unless the child is underweight, you could swith them at 2 years to what you're drinking even if it's skim.

A. i have 3 young children 3yrs - 6mths...at my peds office they give sheets with each check up, i'm pretty sure that at their 2 yr check up the sheet said to start with 2% instead of whole milk...just check w/ your ped. and the transition should be fine

I've always heard that you should transition to skim milk at two years of age.

I believe it's fine. I have a 2 year old boy and I still give him whole milk, but he's scrawny. My daughter, on the other hand, was on 2% before she was 2 years old

Is it a weight issue? It's always okay to switch it up. My son was about five and husky. The doctor said to switch him to 1 or 2 percent milk. That they just needed the whole milk for the first couple years.

I never knew. I just always thought kids needed whole milk.

I would recommend, soy milk or rice. This is much healthier than animal milk! And there is not steriods or antibiotics in this kind of milk or hormones!

Our pediatriton told me that it is better to give them whole milk. They need some fat not all the fat that is in whole milk. All 3 of my kids drink 2% they have since they started drinking regular milk. Hope this helps. Have a wonderful day!

My pediatrician says kids need whole milk because of the fat and brain development until age 2. I think you are close enough to transition. I have had friends who have switched sooner.

yes 2% is just as good as whole milk the only difference is that 2% has a lot of the fat taken out of it. when i did it with my kids i had to mix in the whole milk and slowly drop it down.

Dear A.~
I can tell you that I work at a government funded Head Start program, and we are REQUIRED to give whole milk until 3 years, then they switch. Doctors will tell you that children need whole milk until at least 2 years old. It helps their developing brains and fulfills body requirements better. I would wait at least a few more months before switching.

Wishing you the best,
Suzanne

My little guy is 23 mos. as well, and we have been giving him 2% for a long while now. Maybe from 18 mos. or b/4. He is striving just fine! Good luck!

My advice would be to run it by your pediatrician. Without knowing your son's needs, I don't know whether he should be switched or not - though it's probably fine to switch him.

I drank whole milk all of my life - but I was a very thin child/teenager (and also had an isuse of low growth hormone)and my pediatrician had told my mother to keep me on whole milk. After I had my son, I switched to 2% and have drank it ever since. He drank whole milk until he was 4 almost 5, then I decided to switch him to 2%. He's very thin and could probably use a little extra fat from the whole milk, but he's healthy and his pediatrician said I wasn't harming him by switching to 2%.

As long as there is no medical reason to keep him on whole milk, you're probably fine switching...

This is what my sources say:

Children should drink whole milk until they are at least two years old because they may not get as many calories as they need from semi-skimmed milk.

After the age of two, children can gradually move to semi-skimmed milk as a main drink, as long as they are eating well and getting plenty of calories and nutrients from a varied diet.

Don't give skimmed milk to children until they're at least five years old because it's too low in calories and contains only very small amounts of vitamin A, which children need.

Children between the ages of one and three need to have about 350mg of calcium a day. About 300ml full-fat milk (three fifths of a pint) would provide this.

I heard you can transition them to 2 percent at 2 years of age, so you should be fine.

I'm no dr., but what I've read and been told is whole milk to age 2, then either go straight to skim or work your way there. I've read that everyone ages 2 and up should drink skim. It took a long time for me to go to skim myself. I stayed with 1/2% for a long time, but it's hard to find.

i give my 16 month old 2% she seems fine with it and loves it

yes. even my peditrician says its fine. Whole milk essentially just has more fat in it, which comes in handy if the child is under weight. If they are not, 2% is just fine.

should be fine to give the 2% cause after 2 now they are starting to ask you to put your child on the 1 %

No! They need whole milk to keep their bones healthy.

You should be just fine with transitioning your son to 2 percent milk. Both my 6 year old and 2 year old drink 2 percent milk and they are OK, average, from a weight perspective. Our doctor actually recommended it since so many children are drinking so much juice these days to help balance out the additional fat from whole milk.

My daughter's doctor insisted on 2% milk. He said whole milk has too much fat and you'll end up starting an obesity issue if you don't think about those things early on. 2% milk has plenty of fat for brain development and the other needs of a child.

2% is fine, peds reccommend switching to 2% at the age of 2 anyway!

Hi, I switched my son from formula to 2 percent milk at 12 months after my Mom told me that I had a problem digesting whole milk as a child. We have never had any problems with the 2 percent milk. He still received whole milk at daycare, but never acted like he noticed a difference. My son recently turned 36 months and I switched him to 1 percent or skim milk (whichever I am buying for my husband and myself with the best expiration date)and he still can't tell a difference. We have never had a problem with excessive weight-gain or loss and his doctor tells me that he is slightly ahead of his peers in terms of mental development. Hope this helps you out.

At two years old my daughters pediatrician had me transition her from whole to 2%. It was easy. She didn't even know it.

My daughter has been on 2% since she was 18 months. She just turned 2 and the docter said she can drink 1%. She could not even tell when we switched it.

Of course it is,
Best,
C., RN

I have raised 4 children and 2 grandchilren, I would say unless there is maybe a alergey or where your child needs more fat in their diet, they would do good on 2% the only real diff. is that whole milk just has more fat.
Your child will probably be able to process 2% better and easier on their system.
Good luck and God Bless
W.

Both of my children are skim milk drinkers (4yrs and 22months)They are healthy eaters....lots of fruits and veggies, daily toddler vitamins, yogurt, proteins.....if they are getting their vitamins in their food selections, switching the milk shouldn't be a problem....hope this helps!
J.

I'm a nursing student. You really should wait until the baby is 2 years, and really, one month will not hurt if you continue. The baby needs the whole milk because the fat helps to form the myelin around the nerves in the brain, which helps in brain growth and development. The myelin is what helps the signals move in the nerves. Probably at the baby's 2 year check-up, the doctor will tell you to go ahead and switch. And there probably will be no problem with the baby switching to 2 percent, because they usually find it sweater than whole milk. Goodluck!!

Hi A.,

Our pediatrician said it was ok to start giving our children 2% at 24 months. You should probably talk to your pediatrician.

Take care,
H.