KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hello,

My younger boy has been drinking ALOT of milk lately. It's like he's hooked on milk... asking for it way too often! So I recently did some research on the costs of milk (and the other options) and posted it all on my blog. I hope the mods here won't mind me sharing it here as it is a NON-PROFIT blog and has no ads etc.

The average parent can spend up to $11,000 on formula milk for one child alone. Double if you have 2! I decided to explore my options and work out all the maths and nutritional data too. I look at the nutritional RDAs and evaluate if formula milk is truly sufficient!

There are also other benefits to cutting out formula milk. Sugar, for example, is found in many formula milks in different forms. But please do have a look at the long article here:

http://adhd.sg/save-thousands-formula-milk/

Please like the post if you found it even a little useful! And please share it with your friends. I am actually trying to build up the site with a focus on ADHD but I will post on various non-related topics that are more general too.

Thanks for reading! Do comment on the page itself! Or here if you prefer.

May I know how old is your younger boy?

Hi laughingcat,

He is slightly over 2 years of age now. I have no idea why but his milk intake has increased in the last 2-3 months. So much so that it is starting to affect his food intake. However, trying to let him cry it out and deprive him has been very tough as well. He's a very headstrong boy and will just keep going on and on and on crying for milk for 10mins easily each time.

The good thing is that he eats well at childcare or so I've been told. He's also of a very healthy weight all along and very strong. Nonetheless, I only recently noticed how quickly the milk has been disappearing. LOL and thus the article idea was born.

adhd.dad wrote:Hi laughingcat,

He is slightly over 2 years of age now. I have no idea why but his milk intake has increased in the last 2-3 months. So much so that it is starting to affect his food intake. However, trying to let him cry it out and deprive him has been very tough as well. He's a very headstrong boy and will just keep going on and on and on crying for milk for 10mins easily each time.

The good thing is that he eats well at childcare or so I've been told. He's also of a very healthy weight all along and very strong. Nonetheless, I only recently noticed how quickly the milk has been disappearing. LOL and thus the article idea was born.

Do u mix FM with fresh milk? Don't worry too much as long as BMI is within healthy range...drive to JB to buy FM.

I also spent a lot of $ on FM last time...really milked my grocery budget dry...all those jumbo Enfalac tins.

noti daddy 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.

yah, don't cut down...I know he's concerned about the sugar level in FM. But ask toddler to drink from sippy cup or mug instead of suckling his bottle till he falls asleep to prevent tooth decay?

Intro some Healthy Times organic snacks.

If too hyperactive, feed him with fish oil with milk milk? it'll calm him down.

@jetsetter

I know right??! It's insane how much we pay for a 1.8kg can of Formula Milk when normal powdered milk is like 30-40% of the FM price. We spent lots on FM for my first child so I decided to do some number crunching and the results shocked me! No wonder those FM companies are so rich!!!

We use more fresh milk and normal powdered milk now. Cut Formula Milk down to 20% or less. I added the fish oil and multivitamin so that I can feel more at ease and actually the nutritional intake should have improved... so I should feel happier.

JB inconvenient leh since we didn't buy a car after returning from overseas. Maybe if COE free drops to low low low price. Haha in my dreams.

jetsetter wrote: Do u mix FM with fresh milk? Don't worry too much as long as BMI is within healthy range...drive to JB to buy FM.

I also spent a lot of $ on FM last time...really milked my grocery budget dry...all those jumbo Enfalac tins.

Wah, why you spank me?

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 wrote:noti daddy 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.

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? ... th,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

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.