Yeah, I think for kids we may need to remind them sometimes to drink water instead. It's very easy for them to just drink milk instead of water! The sugar content is one of my biggest concerns. As one of the articles I mentioned in my blog post asked\" Why don't formula milks list sugar content??\" I think it should be made a requirement in this age of diabetes and obesity!


Actually, DS1 is not officially \"diagnosed\" but had ADHD symptoms from about age 5. Long story but I have been able to manage his symptoms thus far without medication through supplementation. The P3 teachers have not mentioned anything to us yet and 3 other boys in his class frequently get into trouble. So I am glad he is not on any radar. He's also been doing well in his homework and assessments thus far. Maybe some day in the future, I will write about how I am managing him thus far. His symptoms first came to our attention due to his teachers in an international school overseas. (ironically!) Yup, minimal sugar, desserts and sweets!

Awesome! Glad to hear your kids are doing great! My DS1 is a little on skinny side but it's probably due to energy expenditure rather than diet. He was on formula milk till 5-6. This proves formula milk only does so much.

jetsetter:

My PD dentist told us about the sugar content in FM, so we decided to quit FM completely and switch to fresh milk when dc was about 3-4. We were already feeding 1 multivitamin + fish oil per day, as well as a wide array of fresh foods during the day.

Since your ds1 is diagnosed with ADHD, do what the doctor advises, i.e. cut down or completely eliminate his sugar intake and feed him with fish oil and fresh milk/soy milk!

So far, we've no problem with this combi: fish oil, 1-2 multivits, fresh food, fruits and fresh milk. DC's ht & wt fall within the healthy range recommended by HPB/MOE. Vision is also 6/6.

The truth!!!

TheAnswer:

Expect nothing. Anything is a bonus.

Yeah COE prices seem to be on a downtrend. Technical analysis of the COE chart would imply it goes lower still. There’s been talk of slowing economy in general population so some people will also hold back from buying thus less price pressure upwards.

That is true. They tend to advocate that in the West. It's not a common advice here. And I think Asians tend to be very kiasu about their children and nutrition. So many parents probably are afraid of making the move away from formula milk even at 2 years of age. Hence why I wrote the article to finally put some data down on paper! Please help me share with anyone who has kids or might have soon! Thanks!! :rahrah:

slmkhoo:

I switched my kids to regular milk (fresh, powdered, UHT - whatever was easiest and cheap) when they turned 1yo. That's the advice given to parents in the UK, so I followed it as I was living there. I am also skeptical about giving kids formula milk past 1-2yo - they are supposed to be eating, not drinking!

Awesome! You did better than me. I had my first one on formula till about 5. So I decided to make changes for the second boy. Wow, not much difference in the savings? Is that possible? :scared: Yoghurt is another great choice! They have been saying lately how the gut is linked to the brain... something I have been exploring as well! Maybe will research and see if I can write a post on that.


How do you get a child to cut down on milk consumption? My younger one (26 mths) is like drinking 800-900ml a day or something. I have no idea why but his appetite for milk increased in the last 3 months. Hmm... might be seeing a pattern here.. our return to Singapore after living in a colder country. Maybe he's thirsty and using milk for thirst quenching! Thanks for the idea! :idea:

I agree that natural food is the best source of nutrition! But I guess I am being a little kiasu especially with switching away from formula milk... so it makes me feel better.

Funz:

I switched my kids to fresh milk when they turned 2. Like your kid, they were milk guzzlers. I switched not so much because of the cost but more because of my concern with the sugar content in formula milk. At that time, the price disparity between fresh and FM was not that great so I guess, the savings was not that significant. We usually make about 3 trips to the supermarket for milk & yoghurt and each trip we will get 2x2litres of fresh milk. That typically lasts about 2-3 days.

DS had the habit of reaching for milk to quench his thirst as well. As he grows (he's 12 this year) we had to get him to reach more for water than for milk as a thirst quencher.

I am also sceptical about all the supposed fortified this and that. I see that as more a marketing and packaging thing than something necessary for the kids. Like Hercules, I also believe in whole and fresh food being the best for the body. Supplements are given only when I see that their diet is lacking in certain nutrients. Eg, DS hates fish so I supplement his diet with fish oil.

Hi Lee_yl,


It is true that you cannot compensate exactly for every single mg of discrepancy in every nutrient. However, we do have to keep in mind that the RDA is a recommendation, not a hard and fast requirement. if you come to 4mg daily instead of 5.51mg, it's not really going to negatively affect your child. The way most humans eat - some days you get more and some days less. But if you get a decent average intake over the long run - it's generally fine! Just taking formula milk alone without a multivitamin or fish oil also creates a \"shortfall\" in some other nutrients.

So I think the best way is to be mindful of each scenario (either fresh milk or formula milk) and try to compensate accordingly. For example, we normally provide beef combined with some greens or beans (that have iron) and toufu every other day. Once in a while, we give the boy some liver (my older son loves liver!) and sometimes he even gets nuts to snack on although this isn't usually for the intention of supplementing iron. Lol We still give salmon/cod every other day (though we have reduced the frequency from daily) since we supplement fish oil.

I am not sure if there are formulas with zero sugar content. So far most products I have looked at have them in different forms and names of which there are so many forms and variations. And if they exist but cost even more than regular formula, then that's another problem if you have 2 or more milk guzzlers. Yes, gummies do have a little sugar in them, but your child should only be having one a day so the intake of sugar is minimal and controlled. Milk, OTOH, they drink such amounts that we have no idea how much sugar is truly being consumed since they don't even state sugar content clearly!

I agree that there are greater costs down the road. But this to me wasn't just about saving money alone. It was about saving money PLUS having better control over sugar intake and improving nutritional intake via supplements and diet etc. I hate the feeling of paying more for a long content list of very minute amounts that can be mostly handled by myself for a much lower cost too.

But of course, some parents will just prefer to use formula milk too. But that's the beauty of this world - parents get to choose their preferred approach! :celebrate:

lee_yl:

For the figures you shared, you may wish to pay attention to the quantum differences in some of the nurturiens listed. For example, IRON, 500ml of FM provides 5.51mg of this essential nutrient whereas 500ml of whole milk only provides 0.14mg, a diffference of 40 times. To compensate for this short fall, a child needs to eat approximately 150g of Kailan (1 packet of Kailan in NTUC is about 250g). If you want to replace the missing iron with beef, the child would need to eat 180g of lean beef! Pretty large quantities for a 2yo child to consume on a daily basis.

*truncated because long quote*

If sugar level is a concern, there are brands of FM on the market which have low/zero sugar content but they cost more. Not forgetting that gummy bears and other children supplements may contain varying levels of sugar to make them palatable to young children.

@hercules


Thank you! You have no idea how glad I am to hear that someone appreciates the work that I did for the post. LOL! I actually went to NTUC and took photos of the labels and ingredients. Then keyed in all the data I had and averaged them using an excel spreadsheet before adding data for supplements and fresh milk etc. Only then could the comparisons be made fairly and truly be informative!

One of the reasons I decided to do the comparison is that many of us pay A LOT extra for Formula Milk expecting a complete solution that provides everything our children need. Yet, when you look at the nutrition labels, many of the values actually look really small. It's like some of the stuff were thrown in just to fluff up the nutrition label. So we're willing to pay more because \"look that's so much stuff we won't find in fresh milk! It must be worth it for the sake of our precious children.\" I mean we are all kiasu parents, right?

But I'm glad to hear that you took the same route in the past! Good on you! It's actually easier to spend the money for \"peace of mind\"... then to take the bolder approach of trying to be pro-active about it. This is why I wrote this post... in the hopes that it will help others who are sitting on the fence.

Just imagine how much money you saved! I do agree about food being the first choice but young ones being young ones.. can be a challenge to give them a well balanced diet.

So please do share it with everyone or I will feel really sad that no one is reading it. Remember to like the post and my blog too. Thanks ah! :rahrah: :xedfingers:

hercules:

Good job, adhd.dad!

I never believe it's 'value for money' to feed little ones with FM for long. I fed all of mine with full cream milk powder the moment they turned three coz I was so scared of the so many extras that were added to FM (as well as to save cost).

When my kids were 3 - 7 yo, I remember I fed them about 750 ml of milk per day (morning, tea, and before bedtime). The rest would be solid food in a balanced diet (I don't believe in supplements* too and so the focus was on balanced diets and a lot of play/exercises).

I like the comparison of the nutrients presented in your charts to see that all those extra nutrients that were added to FM are actually not that significant and can be obtained from a balanced diet (I knew this thru reading before but then never bothered to chart it out as detailed as you).

Again, good job and will definitely share with friends with young kids!

* I don't believe in any 'extra nutrients added' and supplements as I am someone who believe in eating WHOLE food (that so far I researched can be absorbed best by the body). Like you, I am very sensitive to sugar content and all ingredients that were sugars but hiding behind different names.

@lee_yl,


Hi! Good questions but I am guessing you did not read my post. I know it's long lah but alot of info leh!

Yes, I did the number crunching and worked out that formula milk does not offer substantive benefits over fresh milk as a whole. Sure, there is SOME fortification but I also covered how you can easily do better by adding a multi-vitamin. And you will completely ACE it if you add a fish oil too. Then formula milk really doesn't compare at all. You can find this info in my post. I know it's a long post, so scroll down until you see the colorful Excel sheet image. :rahrah:

I do agree with you that it would be better to avoid oily carbs where possible. Yes, fruits contain fructose which is a sugar that can cause tooth decay. You might be surprised that many formula milk products also have a variant of sweetener in them.

Formula milk is no more packed with calcium than ordinary fresh milk though. Any difference is marginal. And the addition of the other nutrients is also very marginal at best. All can be compensated for by a multivitamin. Do read my post if you have the time! Support another parent la!

lee_yl:

Why do you want to cut down on FM? After you did the number crunching or due to other health issues?

I believe that children below the age of 5 should not be deprived of formula milk. I feed my children FM (NOT fresh milk) regularly to the extent that when I bring them to hawker centres for meals, they still ask for milk. I don't feed my children what Chee kway, chee cheong fun etc as these are pure carbo. For that, I got chided by mum that they should eat a slice a bread instead of just drinking milk before going to kindergarten.

Btw, they also had threadfin fish porridge almost 365 days, fish oil supplements etc. after the age of 5-6, before I start cutting back on FM.

No tooth decay, maybe, because I brushed their teeth (very hard!) every night until they are quite big even though they were capable of brushing their teeth themselves. Please do not eat fruits at night (e.g. grapes) as this is one cause of tooth decay.

If you can, don't scrimp on FM lah, just for the kids to grow pass 5yo. Studies have show that from birth to 5yo, the child's brain is developing at the fastest pace and we need to feed the kid lots of \"good fats\" to support the brain development. FM is also packed with calcium and other nutrients needed by the growing child.

Sounds good! Except I am not sure adding a bit of formula milk samples here and there is going to do much in the long run. But every bit of savings is good! The problem though is that formula milk actually contains sweeteners and even other additives that can cause allergic reactions in sensitive children. So perhaps cutting out is the best solution!

Excelmethod:

Just to add: To save further, you can get a free sample, some companies like Abbott are very generous. You can find links for free samples here: http://www.babyment.com/infantcare.php?infant=Baby-Milk-Powder-Free-Sample-For-Abbott,-Meadjohnson,-Friso,-Dumex,Nestle,Wyeth,Aptamil

The same site also share latest promotion on baby milk powder from supermarket or online store. This can help us to save further:You can check https://www.babyment.com/promotion/promotion.php

Wah, why you spank me? :rotflmao:


He's really drinking too much milk!! No kidding. I think close to 1L a day!! He still eats but portion size went down at home tho teachers said ok in care. The guy is strong... he can do pull-up or hang from monkey bar for 20 secs. I guess I am happy he has a hearty appetite but not at the expense of proper food!

Yup yup, giving more fresh milk now to save $$. LOL (and cut sugar la) This guy is indeed crazy about apples and bananas. I think he watched that song way too much.

Thanks for advice!!

laughingcat:

noti daddy :spank: :rotflmao: want to cut down on $ when kiddo is so hungry.

Growth spurt leh. Aren't you happy that kiddo is healthy.

Replace formula milk with fresh milk, to prevent heaty. Just increase his food intake slightly and monitor. Introduce banana/fruits and milk before he goes to bed.