Cows or 1+ formula milk for 13 mo baby?

[HappyAsEyeAm]

DS2 is just over 12 months old. He eats very well indeed, and s on the 91st centile, just like he was when he was born. He sleeps through, 11 hours a night, and is very easy and content.

This is what he eats most days:

Breakfast - one and a half weetabix made with full fat milk, piece of fruit and a 210 ml bottle of formula
Lunch - fish, veg and cheese sauce or similar, yoghurt, some fruit
Tea - beef casserole or similar, piece of fruit or rice pudding or custard thing
Bedtime - 210 ml bottle of formula

I don't know whether his very good diet and cows milk would give him all of his necessary vitamins and minerals ( particularly iron). Or whether I should give him formula. I can't find anything that compares the iron content of full fat cows milk with a 1 pls yr formula. The only thing I seem to be able to find is commentary that cows milk is quite low in iron, but no information as to what quite low really is!

[vj32]

You wouldn't expect to get iron from cow's milk though - he would get it from his diet - red meat, green leafy veg etc.

If he is eating a good variety of food, give him cow's milk. It so much cheaper. I would look up iron rich food if you are worried about iron content and make sure he has lots of these.

But if you are still worried then stay with the formula. Or use cow's milk and vit supplements, which ever is cheaper/easier.

[Bunbaker]

He doesn't need formula. At 13 months, and eating a varied diet he will get everything he needs from his diet and cow's milk. The marketing people for 1+ milk just love people like you.

[KatAndKit]

the iron hype is just something the manufacturers have come up with to get people to buy toddler milk. They contain far more iron than is actually necessary and anyway, your child is not on a vegetarian diet so should get ample iron from eating meat and fish a few times a week.

[MortifiedAdams]

Formula for +1 exists purely to line the companies pockets.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

Cows' milk. The only time my 15mo gets formula now is if we're out and about in the heat and she wants milk, I always have one of the little bottles with me. But she's not as much of a milk monster as her sister was and I do that out of habit more than necessity tbh.

[Cloverer]

Milk is naturally low in iron, because we are supposed to get iron from milk. Most of the extra iron in toddler formula isn't easily digested anyway.

[bountyicecream]

cows milk

[strawberrypenguin]

I do both for DS 18mo and have since he was about your DS's age. Mainly cows milk but a bottle of formula for bedtime because he finds it comforting. Also if he's ill he tends to eat very little so I up his formula on those occasions.

[HappyAsEyeAm]

Thanks for all the replies. They've reinforced what I really think. When he finishes the current tub of formula, I will switch him across to full fat cows milk, and keep some cartons for those times (which I fully expect will come!) when he is refusing to eat anything due to illness, teething etc.