Just so you know…
Click here to skip the intro and go straight to the recipe.
You are a great parent.
Always wanting what is best for your little one (LO). You picked out the best car seat, the best baby mattress/crib combo you could afford. You’ve also been careful what food you’ve put into your body while pregnant and nursing as well as your LO’s body. Breast milk and baby formula, and perhaps even Homemade Goat Milk Formula have been the nutritional mainstays your LO has been growing and thriving on. Now that your baby is over one year old and is officially on his or her way to becoming a toddler, you may be wondering, should I transition from the homemade goat milk formula to a toddler formula?
Question: “Should I transition from the goat milk formula to a toddler milk formula?”
It’s a great question and one that requires a bit of explanation.
When an infant is born, they need the nutritional equivalent of breast milk. Since breast milk is the gold standard and goat milk protein is very similar to breast milk protein, some mistakenly believe that undiluted goat milk is fine to feed babies under one year.
This is not true for infants.
Feeding babies undiluted goat milk can be dangerous. The newly developing kidneys cannot handle the increased protein, sodium, and potassium levels.
This is why we developed the first ever extensively tested, researched, and what I believe is the best baby formula recipe that you can give your LO.
But let’s get back to the question…now that baby isn’t a baby anymore, what should we feed them?
I recommend 3 options each of which should be discussed and implemented under the care of your child’s primary care provider.
People are different and this includes little people like babies. Some are slower growing, have less interest in food, and develop later in life. If your LO lacks interest in solid foods and struggles to gain weight, you might consider (with the guidance of your doctor) keeping them on infant formula for the time being and then switching to option #2 or #3 in a few months.
This is an excellent option! Goat milk is a fantastic food for your growing LO. It should not be given to babies under 12 months. Goat milk is a great alternative to cow milk because it is easier to digest, resembles human milk, and is less likely to cause allergies. In fact, cow milk allergy is the number one cause of allergies in kids under 3, which makes goat milk a great choice for toddlers.
You can continue to use our Whole Goat Milk powder and instead of diluting it and adding in extra ingredients, for your toddler you can just make it as recommended on the bottle: 2 scoops goat milk powder to 8 oz of water.
NOTE: I really don’t recommend UHT or Ultra-Pasteurized goat milk that your local grocery store carries. UHT milk is sterilized and extremely difficult to digest. It can negatively effect the gut microbiome of your toddler. Use only normally pasteurized, raw (only if you trust the source), or powdered goat milk.
Toddler formulas don’t get a lot of love these days. A quick google search reveals several critical articles on page one alone! And for good reason. Toddler formulas are largely cash cows for infant formula companies who are looking to increase the lifetime value of their transitioning customer base. Babies don’t stay babies and parents don’t keep buying infant formula. Enter toddler formula. Pretty genius actually.
Financial criticisms aside, the bigger problem with toddler formula is the fact that they are simply duplicates of their commercial infant formula cousins. They are generally high in sugars like corn syrup and high in cheap vegetable oils. Hardly the nutritionally vibrant foods we ought to be giving our babies. This is one of the biggest reasons I created the goat milk formula recipe in the first place.
8 years ago, I wanted to give my 3rd daughter formula that wasn’t packed with GMOs, maltodextrin, and corn syrup and that didn’t have cow milk or soy milk, both of which she was allergic to. This formula didn’t exist at the time so I created a recipe that checked every nutritional requirement box I had. Now, 4 kiddos later, my youngest has turned 1 and is now ready to change from the baby formula to toddler formula, which I will now unveil.
Drumroll please.
Directions for making an 8 fl. oz. bottle: Fill a clean bottle with 5 fl oz. very warm filtered water. Add ghee and wait to melt. Add milk powder, lactose, Clean Whole Protein, olive oil, grapeseed oil, and any ‘once daily ingredients’ except probiotics. Shake until ingredients are well mixed, then add the additional water to fill the bottle up to the 8 oz mark. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or feed within 1 hour and discard leftovers.
If you compare this to the original homemade goat milk formula you will see two key changes.
These two changes, lowering carbohydrates and raising protein are critical for toddler development.
Now you can get this same effect by simply switching to whole goat milk powder. Undiluted goat milk contains less carbohydrates and more protein than the baby formula. We created the homemade goat milk formula in the first place to address this issue. More carbohydrates and less protein is what baby needed then. Baby is a toddler and needs less sugar and more protein now.
This toddler formula has a specific advantage. It provides a sort of “middle ground” in transitioning from baby formula to undiluted whole goat milk. It could be the perfect formula to use for several months before fully transitioning to whole milk.
Let’s compare the nutritional components of these 3 options. Just for fun, let’s include the the leading toddler formula too.
* These nutrient numbers are based off the USDA Daily Recommended Intakes or DRIs
** Not determined (ND).
What we see in this chart is that Option 2 and Option 3 actually begin to move baby into further stages of growth and development. It reduces their reliance on carbohydrates (critical for infants and less critical for toddlers) and increases their intake of protein (critical for healthy growing bodies). On the other hand, Option 1 (unless medically required) and the Leading Toddler Formulas, merely contain the same nutrient levels and recommendations found in infancy. They do nothing to develop the growing toddler into nutritional maturity.
The health of your toddler is of paramount importance. All three options have legitimate uses. When making an important decision about what foods we eat or what foods we feed our children, it is helpful to remember this one thing that will ease our minds when a stressful decision is in front of us.
Here is the one thing:
The human body is incredible at adapting and adjusting needs in accordance with food supply.
Think about this. Of all the different cultures and different foods throughout the world, our bodies do an amazing job of adapting and adjusting needs based on the foods we consume. Regardless of the choice you make, your little bio-individual child will continue to grow and develop (likely faster than you would prefer) and soon will graduate from the bottle entirely. Once your child is eating the same meals you eat, their health is as simple as your health and you’ll have one less choice to make.
For larger batches, mix the ingredients with only half the required water. Once mixed, finish by adding the additional water needed to make the desired TOTAL VOLUME of liquid (eq 1 pint, 1 quart, etc.)
Please talk with your doctor before starting your child on a new feeding program. Additional information can be found at GoatMilkFormula.com
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16 thoughts on “Toddler Formula – Transitioning baby from infant formula.”
Hi.
We have been using the infant formula for about 2 years , have a 2+ year old and a 1+ year old.
Want to transition.
1. IF we choose the goat milk only option (2 scoops whole milk instead of 1 scoop for each 8 ounces), does this mean that we do not add ANYTHING to the milk?
2. IF we choose to transition to the Toddler formula, how long can we do that?
3. In the Toddler formula, why is the oil Olive Oil replacing the Sunflower Oil? .I tried that for a short time, and I do not like how it refrigerates. I always make 8 cups of formula at a time, and refrigerate it. I need to be able to shake the milk before pouring out the amounts the girls drink, and the olive oil fat doesn’t like to stay in solution – it hardens.
Thanks so much.
Mary West
Hi Mary,
1. Yes, if you choose to do the goat milk only option (2 scoops whole milk to 8 oz) you do not need to add anything extra to the milk. Please note if making bigger batches of goat milk, you will still use the water to total volume, like in the original recipe. For example if making 24 oz of milk, the powder will displace some of the volume so you won’t be using 24 oz of water exactly.
2. If you choose to use the toddler formula, there is no set amount of time that you can use it or when exactly to switch. Some parents use it past 2 years old, some only use it for a few to several months once their little one turns 1 yr old. We recommend discussing this with your child’s pediatrician.
3. Olive oil is generally easier for parents to find and is typically already a pantry staple. If the high oleic sunflower oil works better for you, you can still use that, but please note that it has to be the high oleic sunflower oil, not regular sunflower oil, as the fat ratio is different.
You can always email us (orders@mtcapra.com) with further questions.
Can you please email me the toddler recipe for larger batches.
Absolutely!
Is there a dry mix recipe card for the toddler formula? My little one will be 12 months this month, and I’ll likely be transitioning to the toddler formula in the next couple of months. Dry mix works best for our family. Thanks!
Yes, we have a dry mix recipe that I will email you, as there isn’t a way to attach it in the comments here. It can also be found in the Files section of our private Facebook group “Goat Milk Formula – Mt. Capra”
Could you email me the toddler dry mix recipe as well.
Thank you!!
Done!
HI Joe,
How is this formula recipe intended to be used? Is this recipe designed to provide complete nutrition for children 1-3 years old or is this intended to be used in place of cow’s milk for a toddler that is eating a variety of foods from all food groups? Do you have a complete nutrition analysis available that I could have?
thank you!
Hi Carrie,
Generally it is assumed that a toddler between 1-3 yrs old will be consuming some solid foods as well. A lot of people use toddler formulas now that this could be used as or it could be used in place of milk. We don’t have a nutritional breakdown for the toddler recipe like we do for the original recipe for those under 1 yr old, but they would be very similar. The main difference is no molasses, increased protein and decreased lactose. You can find the original recipe nutrition facts (not the toddler) here for consideration: https://goatmilkformula.com/2020/09/26/baby-formula-nutrition-data/
I was reviewing the toddler formula and it says to include molasses in the directions for mixing but the recipe does not have what amount of molasses is in the formula.
Hello, that was an error in the directions that has been fixed. There is no molasses in the toddler recipe, just the original recipe.
My son will be 1 year old next month, and he still is not eating ANY food (other than tasting things here and there), but my milk supply is decreasing, therefore we are needing to supplement something for him until he starts eating more solid foods/moving away from milk. I noticed in another article that you had said once a baby is getting closer to a year, their kidneys are more fully formed and they can handle goat’s milk undiluted. However, since our son isn’t moving away from milk at all yet and still won’t eat solids, would you say we are okay to purchase the whole kit and make the original infant formula for the time being?
I was going to order the kit and then started reading about transitioning baby’s to different formula ratios/just goat’s milk, so now I’m unsure what to do.
Like I said, he doesn’t eat solids yet and has had a lot of trouble gaining weight.
Hi Molly,
It sounds like you might be in a great position to try the toddler recipe as it might be the perfect “transition.”
The higher protein would offer help with weight gain and overall digestion.
Keep your doctor in the loop on what you are planning here.
We recently brought our almost 2.5 year old twins home from China. They still take a bottle and though they are old enough for whole milk, they were on formula and we are making a gradual change. However, concerned with potential allergies and looking into goat milk. At this age, would you suggest the toddler recipe above? Or something different. Trying to make life easy – I have five daughters – three have Thalassemia which requires regular blood transfusions, so want to avoid additional iron. Was surprised when I started to read the ingredient list on the toddler formulas!
Hi Leah, great question! As in all things, check with your doctor, I would think 2.5 years old is a perfect time to have these twins on undiluted whole goat milk powder.