One Year On

When your child turns 12 months old, is fresh milk really better than formula? Doctors and dietitians weigh in on this hot topic.

Toddler Kester Lee has never tasted formula milk. The two-year-old was fully breastfed until he was about 15 months old. When his mum Alethia Lee’s breast-milk supply began dropping, she supplemented his milk intake with fresh milk.

Alethia, 29, says: “He’s never had formula. I don’t see why I should be giving him chemically made nutrients.”

She is among the minority of parents here who give fresh cow’s milk or UHT (ultra-heat treatment) milk to their children, shortly after they are 12 months old.

Most would offer their kids formula milk until they are closer to three years old, before making the switch to fresh or UHT milk.

A key reason for this is the perception among parents that formula milk is more nutritious than fresh or UHT milk. Many are also unaware that they can make the switch to cow’s milk after their children turn one.

But amid rising public unhappiness over soaring milk powder prices here – there has been a 120 per cent increase in formula milk prices over the past decade – doctors have assured parents that there is no need to feed their children pricey formula milk after they turn one. Fresh milk and a balanced diet are adequate for a child’s nutritional needs.

Just as nutritious

While the average price of formula milk has more than doubled over the past decade to $56.06 for a 900g tin, a 1-litre carton of fresh milk costs between $3 and $3.50, and six 200ml packets of UHT milk cost about $4.