Cow's milk vs formula
- 04-08-2008, 11:44 AM #9Registered User
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It seems to me, and I may be wrong that the formula vs cow's milk debate for toddlers is a cultural thing....
I don't know, but it seems common in Asia to give formula to toddlers, whereas in Europe/Western countries it is more common to give cow's milk.
I don't know if this has anything to do with the prevalence of milk and dairy products in Western food, and their absence in Asian food....!
I know fresh cow's milk isn't always particularly easy to get hold of in some Asian countries, nor is it particularly cheap. Whereas in western countries it's considered a staple/necessity and is very cheap.
Just wondered what other's thought, had found!
- 04-08-2008, 11:48 AM #10Banned
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Milk and Dairy products are very much present in Indian food. In India all Doctors recommend switching to Cows Milk once the child turns 1. So it is a personal choice
- 04-08-2008, 11:55 AM #11Registered User
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I agree with Bekyboo. If you are in a household that drinks a lot of cow’s milk then you are likely to always have it around and so it is natural to give the baby this milk as he reaches 12 months. If, however, you are in a household that rarely buys cow’s milk you are much more likely to continue giving formula. Cow’s milk tends to go off quickly so unless the whole family is using it there could be a lot of wastage.
- 04-08-2008, 12:13 PM #12Registered User
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bekyboo is correct also. Formula beyone 1 year old is very common in Asian countries, whereas it is less common in Western places. Maybe it also has to do with Asian's dislike of cow's milk and dairy products??
- 04-08-2008, 12:27 PM #13Registered User
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I'm Chinese and I don't drink milk except when I'm pregnant or with my coffee / tea which I only drink at home at weekends. My husband (also Chinese) doesn't drink milk at all. Therefore, sometimes the 1L carton of milk we buy gets thrown out before it's finished as it's already turned sour. Most Chinese I know hardly drink any milk or even coffee/tea at home. So it's not really that pravalent in our diets, hence that's probably why formula is more popular with the toddlers.
- 04-08-2008, 12:48 PM #14Registered User
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We had the problem of milk going off at home too. So I changed to buying six packets of small cartons (only 250 mls each). This costs more than buying the large cartoons (1 litre) but I decided as the small carton doesn’t go off as much I was in fact winning.
- 05-19-2009, 09:00 PM #15Registered User
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it depends on what you mean by "asia". atleast in southeast asia milk is an important part of diet for all ages and consumed in good quantities.
- 05-19-2009, 10:09 PM #16Registered User
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To throw another side to the argument, I recently took my daughter to the Peadiatrician who asked me if my daughter was on formula or cows milk (she is now 16 months). When I advised cows milk she said this was good as formula was not great for their teeth. Not sure if this is true or not.
Another thing to consider is how much travel you do. We switched to cows milk once my daughter was 12 months old. We have done a lot of travel and often been caught out in flight and in hotels who are unable to provide adequate cows milk. We would not have had this problem if we could take formula and just mix with water in flight or in a hotel room.
In saying this though, we do prefer cows milk, it is easy, convenient to obtain (when at home), no measuring or mixing and not fussed when there is wasteage (it is cheaper than forumla). Good luck, but if you are not fussed about the other factors, I would stick with cows milk as opposed to doing two transitions.
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