COWS MILK AT 9 MONTHS???

Hi, my son is almost nine months and I am wondering about changing him to cows milk as he basically refuses to drink his formula. He has cut down his formula bottles to 3 per day and it really is a struggle to get him to have them.
I am not giving him a bottle straight after a meal but he still doesn't want it.
The night feed he drinks around 250ml but it is an ordeal for both him and myself.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers.

Hi New Mum
I have just started giving my 10mth old cows milk in a cup after her breakfast and occasionally in a bottle when I feel she needs a little extra(she is B/F) during the day as she lke to try feeding from me every 11/2 - 2 hours. This goes against what we are told at the health centres but I have just been watching for any adverse reactions and to date there have been non. So maybe you could just try it intermitently and see how you go.
I hope this helps a little.

Good luck

Thanks... everyone says to you that giving cows milk before 1 year is a terrible thing. But I think each child is different and it depends on what you think as a mother... I mean my son is getting a good variety of solids (i think!!) and this morning I gave him some milk in with his cereal.... no reaction yet.
If there seems to be a problem then I know and will deal with it accordingly.
Thanks for you post back

Hi, My daughter is 10 months and is formula fed, for us its also a struggle to give her a bottle, do you try to give him things to hold while he feeds, sometimes for us keys or the remote works(not always though) i find that there is no point trying to force the issue and she may only have 80-100 ml 3 times a day but i give her plenty of dairy such as cheese, custards, yoghurt. Havent given cows milk by itself but have used it in cooking, was going to wail till she is one to give her cows milk. Hope this helps alittle and dont worry you are not alone.

Hi, my daughter is a bit younger - 6 months - I have started her on formula. I was finding that she did not want to drink it and was having very little to drink each day - 400 - 500 mls at the most. I was then told to try her on goats milk formula and now I cannot make it quick enough!!! Just a suggestion but worth a go - before she was waking every couple of hours at night and since being on goats and getting enough during the day she is only waking once at about 4am in the morning now. It is a lot dearer that the normal formula but I think worth every cent!!

Good Luck
Katrina

Hi,

Kaitlyn only has 3 bottles of formula a day and I think she is getting ready to drop down to 2. All babys are different. The child health nurse I see said to forget what the side of the fornmula tin says. It is a guide only.

Also, have a look at the amiunt of time between his solid feeds and his bottles. Maybe he is still full from his solids.

The 'experts' say not to give cows milk till they are over 12 months because their digestive system isn't developed enough yet to cope with it. But if you want to try it, just watch for tummy pains and running smelly nappies. If he doesn't get those, then he would be tolerating the cows milk fine. you would just have to make sure that you are feeding him an adequate solid intake to make sure he is getting ALL the vitamins and minerals he would be getting if he was still on formula

hi smile my daughter is 1 next week and at 9months she stopped breastfeeing... i think i was losing milk as she never fed for longer than 5minutes since birth and when she stopped the feeds were litterally 15seconds.. and that was a good one! she just wasn't interested and she refused bottles so i took it upon myself to try her on soy milk, its a little more expensive but i was worried about milk allergies so the chemist said soy was better, so she took to soy milk in a cup and then at 11months i switched her to cows milk which she took too straight away, probably due to it being sweeter..
but all you can do is see what works for you and your bub. because every time i'd talk to a health nurse they'd say 'just keep breastfeeding' and im sure you'll get told to keep bub on formula, but babies have a mind of their own and some wont conform haha smile

There is alot of bad stuff about cows milk from experts. My friends mum put all her 4 children on cows milk from 6 months old.They are all fine- just cows milk is full of fat and they put weight on quickly so monitor your sons weight gain if you decide to give it to him. My son is 6 months and has had some cows milk but they can't have only that because they do need the formula. I feel cows milk is ok but not any other dairy products until recommended age.

i gave my 2 year old cows milk from 6 months. I added pentavite vitamin subsitute from the chemist. He is really active and definatley not overweight. The community health nurse suggested it because he went completly off all formula. at first i had to give him 1/2 milk, 1/2 water then gradually stop diluting it.