Twelve months is exactly the time to begin transitioning your baby. At this point in time, the baby is beginning to depend less on breastmilk and formula for nutrients and calories. The baby needs more of protein, vitamins and fat to enhance growth. This usually means that it might be time to start looking for new milk alternatives for toddlers.
However, as long as it's available, your baby can continue with breastmilk if that is what it has been on. But for babies that are on formula, they're encouraged to make the transition to milk.
So, which milk alternatives are recommended for your toddler? Your doctor can help make this decision, taking into account the toddler's age, your family history with cholesterol and early heart attacks, food sensitivities and whether your toddler is having issues gaining weight.
Milk alternatives for toddlers
There has been much discussion on which milk is better between cow milk and non-dairy alternatives. Non-dairy milk are considered to be cholesterol-free. This kind of milk is gotten from plants, and plants are known to be lower in calories than cow milk. Here are some great milk alternatives for toddlers.
If your toddler is lactose intolerant to dairy milk, soy milk can be the alternative that provides the toddler with enough calories and protein to keep growth him bouncing in growth.
Unfortunately, you may find that most of the children who have a problem with cow's milk also have a problem with soy milk. So only use soy milk as an alternative under peculiar circumstances. And go for soy milk that is not sweetened.
If you end up picking almond milk as your toddler's alternative, go for the unsweetened almond milk, one fortified with calcium and vitamin D. This is because your toddler needs fat and protein, and almond milk doesn't offer those. It is low in protein and fat. But you can compensate by making sure your toddler's diet contains other sources of protein.
Like almond milk, rice milk is also low in fat, protein, calories, vitamins and minerals. In fact, it might be lower than most non-dairy milk. If you choose rice milk as your alternative, support it with other good sources of fat, protein, vitamins and minerals.
If you choose goat's milk as your alternative milk, support it with B12 and folate. Even though goat milk contains calcium, B6, vitamin A and potassium than cow milk, it doesn't contain folate and B12. But if you're still going to go along with goat milk, choose fortified goat milk as an adequate alternative to cow's milk.
Read also: 7 Super Nutritious Weight Gain Foods For Kids
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