>IMO, mainly the reason people think that tots  "need milk" when they =
>stop breastfeeding, is that they aren't aware of the other ways to =
>provide the nutrients that are needed.   As many of our Netters have =
>posted before, there are a lot of non-milk solutions to providing =
>calcium; and I'm sure there are alternatives to milk to provide the =
>other nutrients as well.

IMHO, if children are nursed until they are several years old or older, then
it is probably easy to find other ways to provide the nutrients they need
from sources other than "milk" (of whatever species).  However, if a baby is
ONLY nursed for one year or even two years, then I would definitely be
worried about moving them to a diet without milk.  Children need their
mother's milk.  If that isn't possible, then they need the currently
available next best thing, which is iron-fortified infant formula.  I agree
with the infant formula companies (!) that toddlers should still be getting
modified infant formula for the second year of life, not regular cow's milk.
Babies on formula during the second (and third?) years of life should
probably also be getting supplements of DHA (available in cute little
fish-shaped capsules from Intelligent Choice, Inc. of California).


Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University