Formula vs Cow's Milk

Hello,


My daughter has just turned one year old.


She happily drinks formula, breast or cow's milk.


You can buy formula for aged 12 months +, so it obviously has lots of vitamins etc in it. But it's also not natural, right?


So which is better: formula or cow's milk?


If cow's milk, then is UHT okay? What brands do you suggest? And what about full cream versus low fat / high calcium.


I bought formula for aged 1-3 years.

I also bought organic full cream milk from the supermarket and later found it is UHT.


I'm just wondering what to buy for my daughter now.


Thanks!

Sam

Cow's milk is fine (actually it's great for kids) as long as she eats other things besides and she has no dairy allergies.


Definitely go full cream. Children should not get low fat. They need the nutrients.


UHT is a preservation method. And by the way so is "ordinary" pasteurization of what is erroneously called "fresh" milk (real fresh milk is directly from the cow without homogenization and pasteurization). As far as I know UHT doesn't make any difference to the milk apart from taste and sell by date. Then again I'm not a food chemist. The fact that a milk is organic does not mean it cannot be UHT. The concepts of organic and UHT pertain to different stages of production.


Brands: Well, given the history of Chinese manufacturers I would personally not choose one. For flavor, Clover is astounding but very expensive. Pura is also very good but still costly.


I would say I'd rather give my kids cow's milk than formula, but there's no need to choose. We simply phased the breast milk out slowly in favor of cow's milk while adding more and more "normal" foods.


Formula is not natural. It was conceived as a replacement for breast milk but its role has since expanded into later phases of development. In essence, one could say that if the child is taking breast milk and there is enough there is no NEED for formula. Unless there is a medical reason (such as insufficient milk) formula is a matter of CHOICE. There are many studies that point to the fact that breast milk is better, but I'm sure you can find a lot of data that points to formula being just as good.


The advantage of UHT is that you don't need to store it in the fridge, and that it lasts a long time. Now, if you use more than a liter every few days, spoilage is not a worry and "fresh" is just fine, and in my opinion better tasting. There are even services that deliver if you don't want to lug it home.

Thanks for the reply!


Haven't heard of Clover. Where do you buy that from?


I've heard of Pura, being an Aussie myself!


UHT - if it's Ultra Heat Treated - would suggest it would kill certain 'good' bacteria perhaps?


Once again, thanks for your advice! Much appreciated. :-)

"Haven't heard of Clover. Where do you buy that from?"


Jason's/Wellcome has it, as well as Great (I think). It takes completely fab but the price is too steep for us. ;)


"UHT - if it's Ultra Heat Treated - would suggest it would kill certain 'good' bacteria perhaps?"


Again, I'm not a food chemist, but as far as I know those "good" bacteria are found in yogurts and the like, not milk.