If the interest of growth milk is not obvious to everyone, it is nonetheless an essential food to meet the colossal iron needs of young children. Often replaced too early by cow’s milk, this milk is ideal for the development of your baby until the age of 3. Don’t give it up too quickly!

There are differing opinions among health and baby food professionals about the benefits of senior’s milk, also known as “growth milk”. Some believe that a sufficiently diversified diet is sufficient to cover the nutritional needs of the child.

That said, beyond its interesting fatty acid, calcium and vitamin D contents, the real indisputable argument concerns the iron content of growth milk. Opinions on this point are almost unanimous: the iron needs of a young child beyond one year cannot be satisfied if he stops infant formula. In practice, it would take the equivalent of 100 grams of meat per day, but these amounts are far too important compared to the protein needs of a child of 3 or even 5 years old. And contrary to popular belief, cow’s milk is not a nutritionally correct solution: it contains 23 times less iron than growth milk!

Thus, experts in infant nutrition recommend switching from second-age milk to growth milk around the age of 10/12 months, when the child has a diversified diet, and to continue this milk supply. up to 3 years.

Growth milk, as its name suggests, is milk specifically adapted to allow optimal growth of the child.

There are very big differences between growth milk and cow’s milk, especially when it comes to the quality of lipids, iron and zinc:

Thus, growth milk contains:

• more than 6 times more essential fatty acids: linoleic acid from the Omega-000 family and alpha-linoleic acid from the Omega-6 family, essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system and the development of the baby’s brain.
• 23 times more iron, essential for the neurological development of the young child, to protect it from infections and from unnecessary fatigue due to anemia. So many symptoms that can be silent but no less worrying for the health of the child.
• 1,8 times more zinc, essential for optimal growth in young children

And if growth milk contains slightly less calcium than cow’s milk, it is, on the other hand, richer in Vitamin D which facilitates its absorption.

Finally, growth milk is very often enriched with vitamins A and E, antioxidants which are particularly involved in vision. It is also less rich in protein than cow’s milk, which makes it an asset to spare baby’s fragile kidneys.

If they all look the same, in powder or liquid form, depending on the references, 1st age, 2nd age and 3rd age milk each have their own specificity and must be introduced at specific times in baby’s life:

• First-age milk (or infant formula), dedicated to newborns from 0 to 6 months, can in itself constitute the basis of infant nutrition by replacing breast milk. It covers all of the baby’s nutritional needs from birth. Only vitamin D and fluoride supplementation is necessary.

Second-age milk and growth milk, on the other hand, only partially cover baby’s needs and can therefore only be offered when dietary diversification is in place:

• Second-age milk (or follow-on preparation), intended for babies from 6 to 10-12 months, is a transitional milk between the period when the diet is exclusively milk and when the child is perfectly diversified. It should be introduced as soon as the baby eats a complete meal per day, without a bottle or breastfeeding. In this sense, it should never be introduced before 4 months.
• Growth milk, dedicated to children from 10-12 months to 3 years old, is a milk which makes it possible to supplement the nutritional contributions of the child who has a perfectly diversified. In particular, it makes it possible to meet the needs of iron, essential fatty acids and zinc in young children. Needs, which are difficult to meet otherwise, due to the quantities ingested at this age, despite a sufficiently varied and balanced diet.

In the same way that cow’s milk does not fully meet the nutritional needs of a child from 1 to 3 years old, vegetable drinks (almonds, soy, oats, spelled, hazelnut, etc.) are not suitable for the needs of the young child.

Remember that these drinks even have risks of serious deficiencies, especially iron, whose reserves produced before birth are exhausted at this age.

These drinks are:

• Too sweet
• Low in essential fatty acids
• Low in lipids
• Low in calcium

Here is a very telling example: a daily intake of 250 mL of almond plant drink + 250 mL of chestnut plant drink provides 175 mg of calcium, while a child aged 1 to 3 needs 500 mg / day! A precious lack when one is aware that the child is in a period of full growth and has a skeleton that evolves impressively at this age.

Regarding vegetable soy drinks, the Nutrition Committee of the French Pediatric Society advises against the use of soy drinks in children under 3 years of age because they are:

• Too high in protein
• Low in lipids
• Poor in vitamins and minerals

We also lack perspective on the effects of phytoestrogens they contain.

Regarding vegetable almond or chestnut drinks, it also seems essential to remember that they should not be introduced into the diet of the child before the age of one year in the absence of ante´ family members and after the age of 3 years only if one of the family members has an allergy to these nuts. Also watch out for cross-allergies!

If, however, you do not want to give your baby growth milk, it is best to opt for whole cow’s milk (red cap) rather than semi-skimmed milk (blue cap) because it is richer in essential fatty acids, essential for the neuronal development of your child who is in full maturity.