Feeding Your One-Year-Old--Introducing Cow's Milk

Feeding Your One-Year-Old--Introducing Cow's Milk

At age one, your baby still needs to have a lot of milk -- about 2 to 3 cups a day. Most pediatricians and nutritionists recommend a baby should be at least one-year-old before cow's milk is given. It should be whole milk, not skim. Until your baby is one-year-old, breast milk or iron-fortified formula is the most appropriate milk to give him.

Your Baby Needs Variety in Her Diet.

Offer a variety of foods from the Food Guide Pyramid: Besides milk, give several small servings from each of the following food groups over a two-day period:

Bread, crackers, cereal, rice, spaghetti and tortillas.
Vegetables.
Fruits.
Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and cooked dried beans.
Milk, yogurt, and cheese.

How Much Should Your Baby Eat?

Your baby doesn't have to eat something from each food group at every meal. Baby may eat well at one meal, not so well at the next, and refuse a third meal. Consuming one hearty meal a day plus four foods from the food groups is about average at this age. Forcing him to eat can work in reverse, and make your child refuse any food. Or, she may eat just to get your approval.

Offering food to babies when they are upset may quiet them for a few moments, but it will also teach them the habit of using food as a solution to problems. Try to find the cause of the problem and solve it without using food as a pacifier.

Title:	Feeding Your One-Year-Old--Introducing Cow's Milk	Number:	377
Script writer:	Dave Riley	Source:	U of WI/U of MN Extension
Date:	1996/1999/2007	Reviewers:	Mary Schroeder, REE, Food & Nutrition

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