Toddler milk is all the rage. Do one-year-olds require formula or are companies selling a lie?

Babies need breast milk or formula, but do toddlers need toddler milk? It's a question that new parents seem to be widely asking. They also seem widely confused as to how to find the real answer.

With their newly sprouted teeth, toddlers are likely to put just about anything in their mouths, from dog chew toys to actual food. Curious and ready to absorb everything, most babies will happily mash peas, carrots, meat cubes, avocados, and whatever parents decide to cut into little pieces and put into those adorable animal-shaped plates that stick to the highchair tray.

However, the vast number of, often pricey, supplemental nutrition beverages, like toddler milk and formulas on the market for babies 1+, might lead parents to believe the drinks are an absolute necessity. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned peas and carrots?

What is toddler milk?

Toddler milk (also called toddler formula) is not the same as infant formula. It is a supplemental drink marketed to parents of babies who are older than one and up until age three. Babies in this age range have aged out of infant formula. But parents and experts are torn on whether a special formulation specifically for toddlers is a smart or healthy buy.

In 2023, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a report that asserted there are absolutely no nutritional benefits to “formulas” targeted toward toddlers between six months and 36 months of age. And recently, a lawsuit against Abbott Laboratories, which makes Similac's "toddler milk", accused the company of a marketing ploy that essentially tricks parents into believing their toddlers need the nutritional support of the supplemental drinks.

According to UNC's Global School of Public Health, globally, toddler milk makes up nearly half (48%) of total sales for all baby formulas or breast milk substitutes. The market is massive even though formula past age one may not even be necessary.

Do toddlers really need toddler milk?

The suit claims that toddler milk is not necessary for toddlers to thrive — though it is marketed as such — is not an FDA-regulated product, and contains added sugar which goes against nutritional guidelines for children under two.

Abbott is, of course, not the only maker of these kinds of supplemental drinks. Just about every formula maker on the market, like Nestle, Gerber, Enfamil, Earth's Best, and others, has its own version of toddler milk. They are everywhere from grocery store shelves, where they typically sit right next to FDA-regulated infant formulas, to the social media ads constantly spamming parents. There are organic, grass-fed, and plant-based options to choose from.

While trying first foods is often a fun and exciting rite of passage for babies, the idea that the only way one-year-olds can get their nutritional needs met is from supplemental beverages feels odd. Still, the overwhelming presence of all of these drinks for babies can make it more confusing than ever to be a toddler parent who wants to make sure their child gets what they need.

Some parents feel the formula companies just want to keep parents whose babies age out of formula buying their products (even if they don't need them).

Experts weigh in on toddler nutrition

Carrie Murphy, an Austin-based certified breastfeeding specialist, full-spectrum doula, and a breastfeeding mom of a toddler, tells the Daily Dot how she has long held the belief that marketing tactics formula companies use regarding toddler milk are absolutely "predatory".

She explains that, while the toddler years are hugely important in terms of brain and body growth, and that a focus on nutrition is essential, she always recommends that parents rely on whole milk and whole foods, rather than these kinds of supplemental beverages. 

"Ideally, it's best to breastfeed till age two, per the World Health Organization's (WHO) guidelines," she says. But, Murphy acknowledges that there are many reasons parents can't or don't want to breastfeed for that length of time. Either way, infant formula is not recommended after age one.

Murphy says that while there are benefits to continuous breastfeeding, the bulk of calories past age one should be coming, first, from solids, plus whole cow's milk or another whole milk. With that in mind, she says toddler milk "doesn't make sense biologically."

Of course, formula companies say something else. In 2023, an Abbott spokesperson told CNN, “National health studies indicate that U.S. toddlers have nutritional gaps in their diet often related to picky eating. When they don’t do well transitioning to table foods, or won’t drink milk, our toddler drinks contain many of the complementary nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, that they may be missing in their diet."

Experts don't exactly agree with that either. Austin Rees, a Baltimore-based IBCLC and craniosacral practitioner, tells the Daily Dot, that bottles after age one aren't recommended, for starters, and that trying an array of solid foods is an important milestone.

"Babies should begin trying solid foods around age six months," she explains. "When they are exposed to a variety of whole foods, they are ready at age one to receive the majority of their nutrition from those foods, and they no longer need to rely on an infant formula." However, formulas can feel like a helpful solution for parents who want to make sure their toddlers aren't nutrition-deficient.

The controversy around toddler milk

Online, parents have been hashing out whether or not formulas are really the answer. Some say they can't be because many contain ingredients no toddler should be consuming regularly.

In a Jan 13., 2025 post, X user @SolBrah shared an image of the "awful" ingredient list on Enfagrow Premium Toddler Milk. "Top three ingredients: Nonfat milk, Corn syrup solids, Vegetable oil," the poster wrote. "Then a bunch of chemical synthetic garbage, a “natural” flavor and some xtra soy. This is POISON - do not give this to your kids."

Many commenters agreed. "Never understood why anyone would feed this to a toddler when they can just drink normal milk and at a fraction of the cost," one commenter wrote. Another dropped a link to a "healthier" toddler milk, writing, "Only clean one I've seen".

Even before the recent lawsuit, parents have expressed confusion about whether or not they should give their toddlers these products. Last year, a Reddit user asked how necessary toddler milk was, and there was a huge range of responses from fellow parents. "In the U.K. it is illegal to advertise infant formula, so companies create toddler formula which they can advertise as a way of getting their brand names out," one commenter chimed in.

Another shared the viewpoint that, if there are concerns about growth, sometimes toddler milk can be necessary.

"My friend’s toddler has some issues with eating solid foods and is in occupational therapy for that, and he does get toddler formula to make sure he is getting enough nutrients (he is like 1% for weight)" wrote u/thememecurator on Reddit.

What parents need to know

Surely, there are times when supplements may be good, healthy, or even necessary. Still, the idea that all toddlers need a specially formulated drink to survive and thrive feels like a stretch. Most experts seem to agree that whole foods, yes, like peas, carrots, cheese, meat, beans, and more, plus whole milk (whichever kind your family prefers) are the best ways for most toddlers to get their nutrients in.

Common sense would also suggest that the less babies depend on formulas and the more the get used to solid food, the less likely they are to be picky, the very thing those companies point to as the reason your baby needs their supplements in the first place.

Parents, especially new parents, have a lot of tough decisions to make. Often, it feels like all of the products being shoved in their faces, with the makers of those products claiming their babies need them to thrive, can make parenting more, rather than less, challenging. When it comes to toddler formula, however, it feels safe to say that, unless there is a known deficiency, it's not necessary. And, in some cases, it might even give toddlers too much of things they don't need, like added sugar.

Perhaps, like parents of toddlers have been doing since the dawn of time, they should focus on real food, rather than expensive supplements. And perhaps formula companies should drop the charade.

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