Sooo much pooping

[Becka]

My baby is about to progress onto cow's milk and I was wondering if anyone knew if the nutritional value of semi-skimmed is the same as full fat? I have a hazy recollection of hearing someone talking about this on Radio 4 and the general consensus seemed to be that the only difference was the fat content. Anyone able to shed some light on this?

Thanks,

Becka

[The Dogmother]

I may be mis-remembering but I think I heard that semi-scummed has more calcium

 

Deffo go for organic though - it has more long-chain fatty acids

[Cinnamon]

I remember that children under a certain age shouldn't have semi as they need the fat content of the full fat milk.

[The Dogmother]

I remember that children under a certain age shouldn't have semi as they need the fat content of the full fat milk.

 

I recall that too - Rosie had organic Guernsey milk from a local herd, and loved it.

[whoopsie]

Children need Full Fat milk until age 5.

[C&T]

My understanding was that there are lots of Fat soluble vitamins etc - so need the fat content to get the vitamins.

 

Fat really isn't all that evil!

[Krysia]

children need full fat till 2 if they are eating cheese and yoghurt too. They need the fat.

 

my eldest is 4 and still had full fat but only cos I buy it for Mikey who is not 2 yet. They eat a yoghurt (adult size) daily and are real cheese monsters so I wont be buying 2 types of milk any more by the end of the year.

[Aunty e]

Full fat organic - nom nom! Madam hasn't had much dairy, apart from ice cream which she developed a taste for last month in Devon. I have some brilliant pictures of her face down in an ice cream on the beach

 

I always drink full fat, I don't see the point of any other kind of milk and I drink gallons of the stuff. I also have super-dense bones, but that could be luck rather than a high calcium intake.

[Lesley]

Full fat organic - nom nom! Madam hasn't had much dairy, apart from ice cream which she developed a taste for last month in Devon. I have some brilliant pictures of her face down in an ice cream on the beach

 

I always drink full fat, I don't see the point of any other kind of milk and I drink gallons of the stuff. I also have super-dense bones, but that could be luck rather than a high calcium intake.

 

....and full fat milk is just 4% fat anyway - it always amuses me that people will buy 5% fat oven chips but

shun milk

[chickencam]

I always understood with my 3 that they should have full fat until the age of 2 and if they are eating a good varied diet semi-skimmed was fine after that.

 

We buy both still though because we like full fat milk and the fat content is only 4% which is pretty low, it makes nice sauces and is lovely ice cold to drink or have on cereal. I only really buy semi-skimmed to have in my tea, because I find full fat too rich in tea.

[Charlottechicken]

I also understood that children up to the age of 5 should have full fat milk.

 

I now drink semi skimmed milk because I find full fat too creamy. When my mum was little she had warm milk straight from the cow

[The Dogmother]

I now drink semi skimmed milk because I find full fat too creamy. When my mum was little she had warm milk straight from the cow

 

 

Same here, I drank full fat Guernsey milk when I was pregnant as I had a craving for it, but normally I don't like the creamier taste.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I may be mis-remembering but I think I heard that semi-scummed has more calcium

 

Yum, yum

 

I gave my two Jersey/Guernsey milk till they were 2 or 3 (I think!)

[The Dogmother]

Rosie's term - a slip of the tongue when she was little.

[BarbaraJ]

I was always told full fat until 2 if they had a good diet and found it easier as we all drink semi,not because of less fat they all just prefer the taste now.

[Purplemaniacs]

I thought young ones needed full fat, but as they get older semi is ok. Milk provided in school to the under 5s is semi skimmed.

 

Youngest grandaugher is allergic to milk so we are busy avoiding it all together Worry that she is missing out on the goodies in milk.

 

Chrissie

[Becka]

Thanks for the great replies. The baby in question is on the 99.8 centile and the Health Visitor has suggested that we need to cut down on baby milk. She's due to move onto cow's milk at the end of the month and being keen for her to have all the required nutrients but being aware of the HV's comments I was wondering about using semi-skimmed instead of full fat. Obviously, she's very keen on yogurt, cheese and food in general so she does have a well balanced diet. This is my poor wee soul who was down on the second centile with shoestring legs and arms who was looking at a hospital stay if she didn't start putting weight on!

Becka

[greyhoundgirl]

I'd go for lovely creamy milk, once she starts moving around more she's going to need all that energy and will soon build off the fat stores. You'll be mourning the loss of those rolls of loveliness at the top of her legs.

Once they start moving there's no stopping them.

 

Just watch for milk allergies. My YS developed these when I stopped breast feeding. But there are lots of alternatives in ice creams, butter type thigs etc and he's much better now.

[Becka]

My second child was lactose intolerant for the first three years and we used soya milk quite successfully but she's fine now although her skin can flare up when she's under the weather. This fourth baby has been a bit of an eye opener in the feeding department. I started breastfeeding her as I had all the others but she lost so much weight she was put on formula and she's not looked back since!

I have fourteen years between my youngest and the eldest with two others in between them and it always amazes me how the guidelines and 'current' thinking on child rearing change!

Becka

[whoopsie]

It doesn't matter what centile she's on! She's not even a year old yet!!!! She needs to have full fat milk for nutrients rather than calories, and once she starts running about she'll burn it off anyway!

 

Ignore your HV on that one!

[Clur]

I'm with Whoopsie! My HV really made me feel terrible as DS put on a pound a week. She insinuated he'd have to be taken to hospital to investigate if we were over feeding. We just fed him when he was hungry and as soon as he started to walk he became like a streak of lightning. He's still the same at the age of 8, a really tinny ribs

 

Full fat milk and full fat everything in general is better for kids. Lots of the low fat yoghurts etc are laden with sugar/sweeteners.

[Charlottechicken]

Lots of the low fat yoghurts etc are laden with sugar/sweeteners.

 

Too true! Low fat products are sometimes the same, if not higher in calories too.

[whoopsie]

Absolutely no point using a lot of the 'low fat' stuff in my opinion - just use LESS of the other stuff!

 

One of my former clients was told (by the health visitor) she was overfeeding her daughter and it was dangerous. SHE WAS BREASTFEEDING!!!!!!!!

[bronze]

Oh how I hate hvs who havent doen the proper research

 

I told mine not to bother coming back and that I would contact her if I needed her. I swear they create more problems than they solve sometimes

 

Theres no need to move onto cows milk at all at this age. Shes not a calf afterall

[Becka]

What would you move her on to? The previous three were all breastfed and this wasn't an issue but this fourth and last baby didn't take to breastfeeding so has been on formula since she was eight weeks old? Not being a particular fan of formula, I thought it would be better to move her onto cows milk as opposed to another formula?

Becka