whole milk and conflicting advice

[JuliaB]

So I just took the baby for her 1 year check up at the neuvola and she recomended that we give her non-fat milk. But my doctor in America who we had to see when we were on vacation this summer because of an infection recomended whole milk and when she is 2 years switching to 2%.

Why the disconect between these recomendations. And what about organic milk?

Very often there has been big differences between the advice from my neuvola and American pediatricians. I often end up feeling confused, how do you decide which advice to take.

[allan]

As far as l know the only difference between the different milk types is the fat content.......my son gets whats in the fridge at that time (since l drink 2% and the girlfriend likes 0%). Don't stress about it.

[raamv]

We have been using the dark blue (2%) for our kid and we use the light blue.
Also recommended by Neuvola!
Nothing to stress about the difference in advice, as it is expected from Doctor/Nurse to Doctor/Nurse.

[Rosamunda]

100 ml of skimmed milk (light blue) has more calcium than 100 ml of full fat (red) milk. In France (when my kids were younger) the pediatricians recommended semi-skilled (the dark blue one). I think the calcium content is not as important as the Vit D factor up here in the Nordics. If you aren't getting enough Vit D then you won't absorb enough calcium anyway. I think full-fat milk is harder to digest and who needs the extra fat anyway, so I would go with skimmed or semi-skimmed.

I only buy organic milk, which is non-homogenised, so IMO more healthy and easier to digest. The "Midnight" milk is also non-homogenised but it is the same price as the organic milk.

[DAL]

Until the age of 3 the human brain is growing faster than at any other point in our life. Fat is essential for the mylinization of our neurons and is the primary reason American doctors recommend a whole milk diet for babies in lieu of breast feeding. Fat cells wrap the outside of the neurons protecting the electrical impulse from interference.

A baby needs fat as it has meters upon meters of neurons to insulate before three, part of the reason a baby twitches when it moves instead of executing a fluid movement is the lack of the total fat wrap around the motor neurons. So I would caution against eliminating fat from the infant’s diet without further research.