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I wanted my little ones to grow stronger, faster and smarter. So, is it recommended to give toddlers or little ones milk powder of higher age group or adult milk?

e.g. For my kid of age 5, is it recommended to give them milk powder belonging to age group 7 to 10 or even adult milk?

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    Why not give them milk?
    – Dave Clarke
    Commented Aug 30, 2012 at 5:46
  • The reason for asking is that according to nutritionist, they often say that kid should be given the their own age group of milk. Although sometime, I find it quite amuse. Some milk company even have their own nutritionist that do the recommendation. (which I sometime think it could be a marketing strategy)
    – Jack
    Commented Aug 30, 2012 at 5:59
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    I reckon it's marketing. It's probably only the babies you really need to worry about, and then there's mum's milk for them.
    – Dave Clarke
    Commented Aug 30, 2012 at 6:02
  • Yes, but mum's milk is not sufficient for the babies. (I asked the question in here - parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/5946/…)
    – Jack
    Commented Aug 30, 2012 at 6:07
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    That's a pity. In Belgium, we don't have milk powder for 5 year olds and certainly not for older kids. It seems like a marketing scam/strategy.
    – Dave Clarke
    Commented Aug 30, 2012 at 6:41

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It is known that the composition of breast milk changes over time, to account for different nutrition needs when the baby grows up. I think that is the reason behind different formula milk types for different ages.

But:
Considering that you should start supplementing milk with solid foods after a few months (ask two different doctors when to start this, and you get at least four different opinions, ranging from four to eight months) and that solid food soon is the main source for all the babies needs, including micro-nutrients, I definitely think that formula milk for ages over eight months is nothing but a marketing scam.

That being said, my wife breastfed our daughter, but we supplemented it with formula occasionally, when it was more convenient to do so. Our daughter would only accept the formula for newborns, we tried several times to give her formula for 6 months old children, but she just refused... So we stuck with newborn formula, all the way until we replaced it with cow milk after 10 to 12 months.

So, the answer to your question "Is is possible..." is: Yes, if the baby accepts it.
Is it more helpful than other formula milk? Probably not.
Will it hurt the baby? Probably not.

My recommendation: Give the baby as much mother's milk as possible, and if that isn't enough and her milk production doesn't increase to compensate that, supplement it with the formula type that your baby likes.

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