¿Cuál es el mejor tipo de contenido de grasa láctea para un niño normal de 18 meses? ¿Leche entera regular, 2%, 1% o sin grasa (descremada)?
7
Se recomienda que los niños menores de 2 años NO tengan leche baja en grasa. El riesgo es que las calorías perdidas al darles leche reducida en grasa no permitan un crecimiento adecuado [ 1 ]. Aunque "los niños pequeños con sobrepeso pueden cambiar a leche baja en grasa incluso antes, después de su primer cumpleaños" [ 2 ].
A partir de esa evidencia definitivamente no vaya a grasas reducidas hasta 12 meses. Después de 12 meses, solo hágalo si tienen sobrepeso, de lo contrario puede afectar su crecimiento.
Después de 24 meses, lo haría a su discreción. Si su familia toma leche baja en grasa, es más fácil para ellos tomarla también.
Our Doctor suggested using toddler milk up to 24 months and then regular milk.
If you skip toddler milk, regular milk should be used at least up to 24 months (see this reference), unless they are at risk of being overweight.
Also, we were warned to always add sugar when using cow's milk. (Unfortunately I cannot find an online reference for this.)
My baby is dairy-allergic, so we give her coconut milk that is certified dairy-free. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention the brand, but you can google it and it's pretty easy to find the brand; it comes in shelf-stable boxes as well as refrigerated cartons.
There are significant benefits to coconut milk because the fats are medium-chain fats (as opposed to long-chain fats) and contain fats that are present in human breastmilk. This study (PDF) details some of the health benefits and how the blanket recommendations to avoid coconut milk because it was dangerous for the heart were unfounded.
The silver lining to my daughter's dairy allergy is that we discovered something far healthier for her than whole milk that we never would have even thought of otherwise.