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I wondered this too when my son was that age. Circumstances had us wait to replace a nursing session until after a year, but we started milk at dinner a few weeks before his birthday. I don't see it as a big deal & I think it's good to introduce cows milk slowly to let their tummies adjust.

I would take your doctor's advice over a pamphlet from a company trying to sell formula.

I am not a dr but I think my understanding if the recommendation to wait until 12 months has to do with babies' digestive systems being immature prior to that. They used to do cows milk at 6 months but lots of babies has bad reactions and had bleeding in their stomach/ intestines I think. So at this point if your LO was going to react, I would guess you would have seen blood in his diapers. If not, it sounds like you are good to go.

My SIL switched my niece to cows milk around the same age at peds recommendation and she did fine....

My research has just been that their nutrition should be coming from BM or formula before one with solids as a supplement. So I think a couple of ounces wouldn't hurt but I don't know that I'd switch out a bottle or nursing session for it just yet.

According to my ped, the recommendation to hold off on whole cow's milk (WCM) until 12 months is based partially on digestive issues, but MOSTLY on the idea that peds don't want you to supplement BM/F feedings with WCM until a year because BM and F are more nutritious than WCM.

HOWEVER, my ped recommended that we give our daughter up to 4 ounces a day of WCM starting at 9 months. She is still getting about 16-20 ounces of BM per day and three meals of solids. Our ped only recommended this because I was worried about my milk supply and because my daughter has never had an allergic reaction to dairy - ped said why would you introduce formula now and then introduce WCM in a couple of months? Just go straight to WCM.

Made sense to me - baby girl (9.5 months) gets a couple of ounces in a sippy cup with her solids. Sometimes she drinks it, sometimes not. The introduction of WCM has not changed her BFing habits, and we plan to increase her WCM intake as she approaches a year so that she will be ready to wean (although I will likely continue to offer the breast at wake up and bedtime). I am SO done pumping!