How Much Milk Should a 1 Year Old Drink? Breastmilk, Formula and Cow's Milk After 12 Months (Australia)

How much milk should a 1 year old drink? Around 250 to 500 mL of full-cream cow's milk a day, which is one to two cups, once bub is eating a varied diet. Breastfeeding can continue for as long as you both want it to. Formula, including toddler formula, is not needed after 12 months.

Those figures come from three Australian sources that land in the same place. The Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) suggests 1 to 1.5 serves of dairy a day at 1 to 2 years, with one serve being a 250 mL cup of pasteurised cow's milk. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) puts it at about 1 to 2 cups (250 mL to 500 mL) a day. The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne(opens in a new window) sets the ceiling: under 500 mL a day after 12 months.

What changes with milk at 12 months?

Milk stops being the main food and becomes a drink alongside meals. For the whole first year, breastmilk or formula carries most of a baby's nutrition. From around 12 months, the NHMRC Infant Feeding Guidelines(opens in a new window) expect toddlers to be eating family foods from the five food groups, with milk as one part of the picture.

The same guidelines are the reason cow's milk waits until 12 months. Before then it is linked with iron deficiency and is not a substitute for breastmilk or formula. After the first birthday the picture flips:

NHMRC · Infant Feeding Guidelines

Pasteurised cow's milk is an excellent source of protein, calcium and other nutrients and may be introduced as a drink at around 12 months of age and be continued throughout the second year of life, and beyond.

The amounts in this guide are about milk as a drink. Cheese, yoghurt and milk stirred through porridge all count towards the same dairy serves, so a toddler who eats plenty of dairy at meals usually needs less milk in the cup.

How much cow's milk for a 1 year old in Australia?

Around 250 to 500 mL a day is the usual range, and the Australian sources agree on the shape of it. The lower end comes from a serves-based food guide, the upper end from a clinical ceiling.

Three details on the milk itself. It is full-cream: the Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) advises against reduced-fat milk under 2 years, because toddlers need the energy in full-fat milk for growth. It is pasteurised and unflavoured. And it sits inside a bigger fluid picture: toddlers need around 4 cups (1 L) of fluid a day, and water is the best drink for the rest of it.

One to two cups of full-cream milk a day, water for thirst, and meals doing the heavy lifting.

Breastmilk, formula, cow's milk or plant milk: what the guidance says

Australian guidance treats each milk differently at 12 months, and only cow's milk carries a daily amount. The table below is the short version, with the source for each row.

On plant milks, the wording is worth reading closely. The NHMRC guidelines allow fortified soy drink or calcium-enriched rice and oat drinks "after 12 months under health professional supervision, as long as a full-fat variety is used and other sources of protein and vitamin B12 are included in the diet". The Raising Children Network food guide counts a cup of soy, rice, almond or oat milk as a dairy serve only when it has at least 100 mg of added calcium per 100 mL, and asks parents to speak to their doctor before giving a toddler dairy alternatives. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) says the same: fortified alternatives such as soy or rice milk can start at 12 months, full-fat until age 2.

How much formula for a 1 year old?

Usually none. Formula is not needed after 12 months for a healthy toddler who is eating a balanced diet. The Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) puts it plainly: a formula-fed child who is eating a balanced diet probably will not need formula after 12 months. The move is from infant formula to full-cream cow's milk in a cup, not from infant formula to toddler formula.

Toddler formula is the product most parents ask about, so it gets its own line. The NHMRC guidelines list special milks for toddlers as not required for healthy children, and the RCH Melbourne nutrition fact sheet(opens in a new window) describes them as often expensive and ultra-processed, with added ingredients a child does not need. A toddler on a restricted diet for medical reasons is the exception, and that is a conversation for your child health nurse, GP or a dietitian.

If bub is still on several bottles of formula at the first birthday, the swap does not need to happen in one day. The formula feeding guide covers the first-year amounts, and the cup section below covers the handover.

Can breastfeeding continue past 12 months?

Yes, for as long as you and your child want to. The Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) recommends breastfeeding until at least 12 months and says you can keep going beyond that for as long as you both want. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby(opens in a new window) cites the World Health Organization, which recommends continuing to breastfeed alongside solid foods until 2 years of age or longer. The WHO's own page is the supporting evidence(opens in a new window): continue breastfeeding "for up to two years of age or beyond".

A breastfed 1 year old does not need cow's milk on top. The Raising Children Network lists the healthy drinks at 12 months as breastmilk, full-fat cow's milk and tap water, so breastmilk fills the milk slot on its own. Some toddlers have both, and that is fine as long as meals are still getting eaten.

There is no mL figure for breastfeeds at this age. Feeds are on demand, often shorter and fewer than in the first year, and shaped as much by comfort as by hunger. A toddler who breastfeeds morning and night and eats well through the day is following a very common pattern.

Cup or bottle at 12 months?

Cup. Australian guidance is consistent that bottles are best phased out by 12 months, with a cup introduced from around 6 months. The NHMRC guidelines say milk and water "should be offered in a cup rather than a feeding bottle" from 12 months, and the Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) gives the same 12 month mark for weaning off the bottle.

The reasons are practical:

• Teeth. Bottle-feeding after 12 months raises the risk of tooth decay, especially when a child settles in bed with a bottle. During sleep there is less saliva to protect the teeth from the sugar in milk. The RCH Melbourne bottle feeding fact sheet(opens in a new window) is blunt: never put a baby to bed with a bottle.
• Appetite. Children who bottle-feed at this age tend to drink more milk, and the Raising Children Network notes that when children drink more fluids, they tend to eat less solid food and miss out on nutrients like iron and zinc.
• Habit. A bottle at bedtime becomes part of the routine, which is why it is usually the hardest one to drop.

The Raising Children Network's gradual approach is the one most families use: swap one bottle for a cup, hold that for about 3 days, then swap the next. Daytime bottles go first and the bedtime bottle last. Cups hold less than bottles, so offer drinks more often through the day. An open cup, a straw cup or a spouted cup all work; the aim is the cup, not the brand.

Signs a 1 year old is drinking too much milk

The main risk of too much milk is iron. A toddler who fills up on milk eats less iron-rich food, and the iron in cow's milk is low to begin with. The RCH Melbourne iron deficiency guideline(opens in a new window) lists excessive cow's milk as a risk factor and caps intake at under 500 mL a day after 12 months. The Raising Children Network(opens in a new window) describes the mechanism: more fluids, less solid food, fewer nutrients like iron and zinc.

Signs worth noticing at home:

• Meals go untouched while milk is always welcome, or bub asks for milk instead of food.
• Milk intake creeps past 500 mL a day once you add up the cups, the bedtime bottle and the top-ups.
• Pale skin, tiredness, irritability or behaviour changes. healthdirect(opens in a new window) lists these among the signs of iron deficiency, and the RCH guideline adds fatigue, behavioural disturbance and pica (eating non-food things like paper or soil).

None of these signs is a diagnosis. If milk seems to be crowding out meals, or you notice the signs above, your GP or child health nurse can check iron with a simple blood test and help rebalance milk and meals. Iron-rich foods at this age include red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, legumes, tofu and iron-fortified cereals, and vitamin C from fruit and vegetables helps the iron from plant foods absorb.

Keeping milk and meals in view

The tricky part of "under 500 mL" is that nobody measures a toddler's day. A cup at breakfast, a top-up from grandma, a bottle at bedtime that a partner gave. Each one is small, and the total is a guess.

That is where a low-typing log earns its place. In BabyLog a cup of milk is logged the same way as a bottle, two taps with the amount in millilitres, and solids go on the same timeline, so the day's milk total sits next to the meals it competes with. Because logs sync between caregivers, the top-up at daycare pickup and the bedtime bottle land in the same count, and the weekly feeding pattern shows whether milk is drifting up while meals drift down.

Looking back at the first year? The milk amounts by age guide covers the mL per kilogram figures from birth to 12 months. And if meals are the part that feels new, starting solids in Australia walks through the timeline, textures and iron-first foods.

Track feeds free, and let the milk total take care of itself.

Common questions