It is confusing indeed, being a parent. Ali Mac, there,s no doubt that the amount of milk given has an influence and that it is not the same that the child gets 2 ounces of cow,s milk or 20 ounces, the second quantity would undoubtedly have a bigger influence.
However, one should "count" ALL milk given to a baby (or all of everything) as milk intake (for that matter, also yogurt or cheese) when one wants to know the real intake for nutritional reasons. A couple of ounces on the cereal, is one thing. 8 ounces total in the day (custard, white sauces, cereal) is a different thing.
Remember I was replying to a mother who uses formula already; expressing breastmilk is a real pain in the neck and while it remains the main source of milk for the baby probably the odd two ounces really do not count. However, if you are already using formula, there,s no big hassle in mixing it with boiling water for use in custards, or cereals, just boiling the water and mixing it, and therefore do not see what is the advantage of using cows milk before one year. Not that having a mild anemia is going to be dangerous for your child or anything, it is just that if you already used formula, why not continue for a few months instead of using cow,s milk (or water) to mix with the cereal?
As I said before, cultural differences are important. One thing I,ve learnt reading these pages is the difference on how cereals are introduced in UK or US; dry, mixed with water, mixed with fruit rather than mixed with the formula you were already using (exception again being breastfed babies, of course, because mixing formula would be adding a hassle to your life). After all, making mother,s life easier also counts for the well being of your baby!
