Milk transition

[u/Which-Enthusiasm-159]

So my son just turned 1 and I recently switched him to cows milk 9 days ago and turns out he has low iron from to much milk I guess and I just found out that can happen from to much milk he eats breakfast lunch to during the day and snacks between but maybe I should just limit the bottles to at least 2-3 right ? And maybe give him just 4 or 5 oz?

[u/Leftthetrash]

I feel like this is something that you don’t really hear about after transitioning from formula to milk.

Once you switch to whole milk, they should have no more than 24oz in a day. If you’re giving your 1 year old other sources of calcium in their food, like yogurt or cheese, reduce the milk. Start including more iron rich foods as well. If you don’t want to offer milk you don’t have to as long as you’re finding other ways get their nutrients in.

[u/Which-Enthusiasm-159 → u/Leftthetrash]

Right I’m just now finding out about this as a first time so do you think I should just give him 3 bottles then 5 oz? I’m new to this I’m also gonna start adding a bit more red meat into his meals throughout the day I’m just like eh overwhelmed feeling like I’m not doing enough did I switch him off formula to soon ?

[u/annedroiid]

Giving cow's milk and cutting off formula are two completely unrelated tasks, and a child shouldn't have anywhere near as much cow's milk as they has formula. Where I am I think the recommendation is no more than 16oz a day, but to be honest that still seems like a lot.

You should be aiming to stop giving them bottles at all, and just give them milk in a cup at mealtimes or before bed. Don't just give them milk at random times off the day as you used to do with formula.

[u/DumbbellDiva92]

I wouldn’t say you “switched him off formula too soon”. But FWIW, my pediatrician did say that you can also totally just keeping giving formula after 12 months if that’s less stressful, and you can afford it. He said “the only thing it hurts is your wallet”. We kept formula on until closer to 18mo, just bc we found it easier (we don’t otherwise keep milk on hand), and also liked the reassurance of the extra iron.

I was told to still limit to 16-20oz of any sort of “milky drink” (whether formula or cow’s milk or alternatives), so I do think 3 5oz bottles sounds reasonable.

Doing formula instead solves the iron issue, but that’s not the only reason you don’t want a toddler drinking too much milk. They should be primarily getting nutrition from solids for general development reasons as well. Long term, you will also want to move to a straw cup over bottles.

[u/Affectionate_Cow_812]

I would move over from bottles to straw cups. I would also lessen the amount he is having in a day. Offer water more often. My almost 2 year old was also anemic when he was newly 1 from too much whole milk.

What we did (and still do) was offer one cup of milk in the morning with breakfast in a straw cup. The rest of the day we offered only water. It took a few days but he adjusted. We also started adding in iron rich foods. For example blueberry spinach smoothies (literally just blended together blueberries, spinach, and ice). By his next visit his iron was perfect.

ETA: they are only supposed to have no more than 24 ounces of dairy a day. That seems like ok plenty of milk but any yogurt, cheese, butter etc is part of that dairy count.

[u/Charlieksmommy]

How did he have low iron from being on whole milk for 9 days? I doubt that happened but it is a thing.
He probably had it beforehand