is follow on milk necessary?

diamondcatz

As someone who has had lots of children/grandchildren and attended courses re child health/infant developement the general consensus is no-commercial exploitation and guilt to benefit no one but the companies. Your weaning will ensure the required nutrients. Trust your instincts and don't forget before these were introduced parents through time weaned without the need. There are several milks ie soya,rice,goats for those with different intolerances. Good luck and continued enjoyment with the parenting in a world full of conflicting opinions -its not easy but we get there in the end

mummysaver

Breastfed mine until they were 10-12 months old, then gp said that cows milk would be fine so long as they were getting a balanced diet, and eating okay - mine have always eaten well, anything and everything!

I think that follow on milks play on parental guilt and aren't necessary.

SammyD_2

Other countries don't have follow on milk, as other posters have said, I think it is to get around the restrictions on advertising and promotional issues - they have to change the contents of it to make it different enough from "first" formula though...logically, if you were breastfeeding past six months your milk wouldn't magically change, so I don't know why formula should suddenly need to either. By introducing solids to your baby you will be providing enough supplements to their diet to make up any extra needs. If your original formula seems to suit your baby, then why change?

As for constipation, I guess when you change anything in a baby's diet there is a risk it will start something off (or not, as the case may be!) and you tend to introduce followon formula at the time that solids are also getting established. My son had terrible constipation right from when I stopped breastfeeding him until a couple of months ago (he is 2 and a half), and it must have been the change in diet that started it. Only got it sorted after all sorts of referrals and treatments.

What I really don't understand is why they sell flavoured water for babies!

jellyhead

i've never breastfed past 6 months but was under the impression that the milk does change after then because the milk banks only collect milk if your baby is under 6 months old. i could be wrong, and i don't know how your body would know what age your children were, especially if you had children close in age and were feeding more than one.

jellyhead

yes, flavoured water is a mystery to me too. i was at a friends house the other day and she sent her husband out to buy baby flavoured water because they'd run out, and he (4 months) always had it after his baby food. the baby had never even tried plain water. this is her 4th baby too, so she's not a first time mum lured into thinking she has to buy special baby waters. i think some people buy whatever is for sale. her other children drink cans of fizzy pop during the day, maybe they haven't tried tap water either. she's a good mum, i'm not having a go, but this is perhaps something to do with all the advertising about baby foods and drinks, and shelved filled with special baby drinks - people think they should buy them.

we've just come back from a family meal in one of those pub restaurants with a wacky warehouse and i tried to buy the orange juice from the menu for my 9 year old only to be told they'd run out but 'we have fruit shoots for kids'. her shock when he politely declined a fruit shoot and asked for iced water suggests that she'd never met a child who drinks water before, maybe everyone else is raised on flavoured water and i'm just odd for giving my children plain water :rotfl:

suekjw

Both of mine had follow-on Milk at 6 months - mainly because of the offers / points you can get on it that you don't get on the first milks. My HV told me it wasn't necessary too, but I read the side of the boxes and decided that hey weren't that different other than the extra iron so moved them. Never had any problem with constipation though!

My little girl is now 18 months and I always have a couple of boxes of the ready made stuff in for her, if she's off her food etc (or if I've run out of cows milk). My 4 year old on the other end thinks that the ready made stuff is a big treat and is always pestering me to give him a box! He is a very fussy eater and survives on very little so I figure the odd drink of follow-up milk won't hurt him - and its got to be better than fizzy drinks etc, which he won't touch!

jellyhead

i can't find the composition info online. i checked the mipula milks in asda last week and, as it states on the milupa website, their follow on milk contains higher amounts of protein, extra calories etc. so it's not just extra iron. it looks to me like something you'd only give to a child who has cut down on their milk intake, as i suppose most children do. mine is still lactose intolerant and isn't eating fromage frais, custards puddings etc. and is still on a mostly milk diet. i think follow on milk might dull his appetite for veg etc. but i can see the benefits of using it for a poorly child. my friend gives the growing up milk (9m+) to her boy who just turned 2 and no longer breastfeeds (when he's ill, not all the time). my baby's on antibiotics now and is off his food so i might be buying follow on milk in spite of my protests against it :rotfl:

Karnam

i was curious about this, as i dont want to breastfeed for more than 7/8 months, but then what do i give my kid until she's 1yrs old and can have cows milk?

im going to wait until shes on one or two milk feeds a day before i consider anything else, but i dont know what to give since i only BF!! i know babies need 1pint ofmilk a day, but what milk to give instead of BM after 8months? follow on or regular? growing up or cows milk?? i want to avoid cows milk as baby is half chinese and 80% of chinese people are lactose intolerant...

black-saturn

Try her on one or two bottles of cows milk and if she is fine it will be OK to give it to her. She's had breastmilk for the first 7 months so cows milk for 4 to 5 months wont do her any harm.

amanda40

I just continued with the first stage milk with my two boys. I thought the Follow on milk was a bit of a gimmick, and as the were good eaters ( that has since changed!!!!), they didn't really need extra iron etc. I always bought baby milk from the Health Centre as it worked out a fair bit cheaper.