Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Share your experience, challenges and success implementing the McDougall program with family and children.

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Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby rachellorance » Wed Mar 01, 2017 12:31 pm

Hi there,

I just took my son this morning for his 1 year old check-up at the pediatrician. I was told to switch from formula to Whole Milk now and that he needs to be getting a maximum of 24oz of whole milk each day until he is 2. As a family that has adopted a whole-foods, plant-based diet about 90% of the time, I don't really have a good feeling about giving my son Whole Milk. When I asked if there was another alternative I was told no in terms of fat content. My pediatrician said that if I find anything to let her know. I was curious if you had any suggestions on an alternative I could give my son that would give him the amount of fat he is supposed to have until he's 2. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Rachel
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Re: Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby Lyndzie » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:58 am

Hi there! I nursed both of my children, one to 14 months, and one to 17, then only gave them water to drink. We did not use any dairy milk, plant-based milks, or juice for beverages. You can continue with formula up to age two, which is the recommended age to quit nursing by the World Health Organisation. There is no human requirement for cow's milk, as you know. It's really a matter of making sure the little ones have enough calories. The Forks Over Knives Family book touches on this.

If you really want to give liquid calories, I feel most confident in Westsoy soy milk - it's organic, non-GMO and has no additives or thickeners/emulsifiers. Your little one will not be stunted somehow or deficient if you chose to just wean to water. Around this time they start to become more active and start walking, and start losing that baby fat and lengthen. It's nothing to be concerned about, it's just what toddlers do!

My girls are 2 (almost 3) and 4 1/2. Just as a point of reference I'll give you an outline of a typical day's eating:
Breakfast - Cheerios with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 cup blueberries
Morning snack - banana with peanut butter
Lunch - applesauce, peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread
Afternoon snack - homemade Popsicles (essentially just frozen smoothie in a Popsicle mold) and whole wheat crackers
Dinner - (this is what we had last night) lentil loaf with ketchup, greens with balsamic vinegar, roasted sweet potato

Just make sure that they get more of those higher nutrient density foods and you'll be fine! My kids think they are the luckiest people in the whole world because sometimes we'll have dinner that consists of no-oil fries, ketchup and chocolate smoothie.

Here are some links from PCRM:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/vegetarian-diets-for-children-right-from-the-start
http://www.pcrm.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/health/Nutrition_for_Kids.pdf
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Re: Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby mapat » Mon Mar 06, 2017 7:59 am

Do a search in this forum for toddler milk and you will find several threads and many ideas to consider.
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Re: Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby Lyndzie » Tue Mar 07, 2017 3:58 pm

I just came across this information from Dr. McDougall in a newsletter link someone posted in another section of the forum:

"The potato even meets the needs of growing infants. Eleven Peruvian children, ages 8 months to 35 months, recovering from malnutrition, were fed diets where all of the protein and 75% of the calories came from potatoes.6,7 Their growth patterns were normal. (Soybean-cottonseed oils and pure simple sugars provided some of the extra calories—neither of these sources—oil or sugar—contains protein, vitamins, or minerals.)"

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/june/marys.htm
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Re: Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby choufleur » Thu Apr 13, 2017 1:35 pm

Hi! I was also told by other people (not doctors) that I needed to start giving my toddler whole milk after my freezer stash of breastmilk ran out. I've been mostly giving her water, and occasionally give her a plant-based milk (soy or almond) but not regularly. My toddler recently had a checkup with her pediatrician who supports this way of eating and she confirmed with us that it was fine to give water or plant-based milks. She does get other fat in her diet - right now she really loves avocados so I give those to her.
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Re: Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby EvanG » Thu Jun 22, 2017 8:57 am

This is a late reply, but may be helpful. Our pediatrician just wanted to make sure that our kid got enough vitamin D and B12. I told her that the soy milks were generally supplemented.
[This paragraph applies to Silk brand] We used the sweetened soy milk at first (from 1 to 1.5), because it has a similar calorie profile to milk. Then, we switched to the unsweetened kind, which has the same amount of fat, but is not sweet, and has less calories. The 'light' soy milk has sweeteners, but less fat, so we avoided that. Our kid doesn't drink much milk, it's now mostly given in the form of milk for cereal, mixed in with oatmeal, or used to make an herbal tea latte with a little honey. She loves the tea in the morning, as mommy and daddy have tea or coffee.
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Re: Alternative to Whole Milk for Toddlers

Postby zilly84 » Thu Jun 22, 2017 1:25 pm

My children receive WIC checks and the brand of soy milk they get is the refrigerated original Silk soy milk. And that's through the government so it's definitely comparable in nutrient content. But without all the cholesterol and pus. :wink:
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