Can Infants Have Regular Milk?

Thanks T.M. from Texas for your question about whether to change a spitty 5-month-old child to regular milk from formula.

The short answer is NO.

If an infant is not tolerating one formula, change formula, don’t use regular milk. If a baby is very “spitty,” the child may have formula intolerance, but the child may also have something entirely different, like reflux. If your baby is spitting up more than “normal” (a little bit a couple of times a day) and is fussy, then you may need to see your pediatrician. Your child may need a medication to treat the symptoms.

As for milk, the general rule of thumb is that babies need to be fed breast milk or formula until they age one. They need the calories and extra nutrition that comes from these sources of milk. If a baby can’t tolerate regular cow’s milk-based formua (e.g., Enfamil Lipil, Similac Advance, Nestle Good Start, Store Brand), then change to a hydrolyzed or amino acid-based formula (e.g., Nutramigen, Alimentum, Neocate, Elecare). However, changing to these expensive formulas should be under the guidance of your pediatrician. Typical signs of formula intolerance are extreme irritability or bloody stools.