Does it have to be whole milk?

[MomofRocco]

A friend of mine is ready to start giving her 1 yr old milk.  She called me and asked me if it has to be Whole Milk.  She is a very chubby baby and doesn't want her to have all of the fat that is in whole milk.  Can you give other types of cow's milk??  2%, 1%, Fat free milk, skim milk?  What are the benifits of giving WHOLE milk instead?

Thanks, Brenda

[hatshetsut]

Whole milk is highly recommended because babies need the fats for brain development. I would consult her pedi, but I recently read a study about parents giving their children 1 and 2% milk to reduce their "baby fat" and the children had lower IQ scores. Tell her not to worry about a 1 year olds weight. Just to make sure that her LO is given healthy eating choices and the LO will be fine. (She doesn't want her LO to be like my 2 year old niece who's favorite food is french fries! )

[* Paula *]

It is not recommended to give your lo the low fat milks until they are around 3 years of age.

Like hjarovsky said, the full fat whole milk is recommeded to help for brain development and calcium for the bones.

HTH

[Kimberly®]

YES it deffinitly has to be whole. Even for chubby babies. The fat is for brain development and therefore it should be whole milk. Low fat is not good for children in general.

[Lªuren]

Cow milk is unique in that the absorption of calcium from it is superior to other sources of calcium, also full fat milk is best because of its concentrated source of calories.

Cow Milk    
calories                150    
protein (grams)    8    
carbohydrate g.    11    
fat g.                          8    
calcium mg.            291