Follow up milk

Hi, my son is fast approaching 6 months and i'm unsure as to what to do about introducing a follow up milk as he has always been breast fed. I know it is not advised to give cows milk - are there any reasons why? as y mother in law says just to boil cows milk and it will be fine.
Follow up it quite expensive and we are looking at cheaper options...

Have a look at the 'weaning' thread we had a long chat about this sort of thing there - is your baby very hungry, and feeding more? Don't recommend even boiled cows milk - it needs a lot of digestion and tiny guts can't always cope. Follow on milk is really only required if your baby needs more substantial food. Have a chat to your health visitor, she will be able to help.

Hi there
MG is right. Cow's milk, boiled or not, is not suitable until your baby is a year old. It doesn't contain enough iron and has too much protein and salt.
Formula is certainly expensive and if you have no reason to give up breastfeeding then your baby will be absolutely fine sticking to the growing amount of solids and your own milk.
Mothers going back to work or needing time away from their child to do other things or because they are unwell, do find the six-month mark is often a time to start combining their feeds with a few bottles of formula each day.
If you do need to be away from your child but don't want to stop breastfeeding, you can get into a regime of expressing, although you will need to make sure you are not 'over-working' your milk production during some times of the day and then not expressing anything for many hours as this can cause you problems.
Although formula is expensive, bear in mind that these days, a litre of whole milk is going to cost around 50p, which amounts to £3.50 a week compared with a pack of follow-on milk for between £5 (regular brands) and £6.50 (for the premium lines and organic ones) which will last for a 10-14 days.
Don't feel guilty about changing to some formula feeds a day but if you can keep up the breastfeeding full-time until your son is one, then go for it!