Getting My Toddler to Drink More Milk

When I first started my kids on cow's milk I would warm it up some before giving it to them. They seemed to drink it better warm, and I think it tastes a little sweeter warm without adding any sugar. Good luck!

Green leavfy veggies have more calcium than milk. have you thought about a mulit Vitamins they are good too. Milk only has 30% calcium oh and skim milk is soppose to have more calcium, and if you a worried about extra fat and sugar 2%, 1%, and skim milk have all of the vitamins and have most of the fat taken out of them.

Krissy

After my daughter drinks one glass of regular whole milk I add 1 teaspoon of carnation instant breakfast to all the rest of her cups. She gulps it down like this!~

I think maybe your ped. didn't do a very good job explaining the end goal to you! (shame on him) Calcium, Iron & Protien are all gained in whole milk - but you can find them in a bunch of other foods too.

This is a great site I've found a lot of help on:
http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/toddlercalcium.htm

Also - there's no reason to go cold turkey with the bottles/formula... my son's 28 months and still has a bed time bottle! He drinks milk during the day from a nuby cup and has a bottle (4oz formula) as a sort of night cap! (at least that's what we joke it is)

He's lactose intolerant, so we've had to buy rice milk, lactaid, soy cheese, and soy yogurt. He still gets plenty of nutrients. He usually snacks from a bowl of fortified cereal in the morning with a cup of milk, has some fruit and a yogurt once he's actually awake. He has milk with lunch too. He doesn't want anything but water or juice around dinner. I think the bottle at bed time is just a little extra goodness for him. And it makes us all happy.

That's what's worked for us - hope that helps you not worry so much!

T.

C., here are some other options for calcium. I wouldn't give your child chocolate or strawberry milk either. My daughters were allergic to milk products so they haven't had much of it and they are doing fine. They are on the skinny side but never sick very healthy and very active. Good Luck!

Yogurt, plain, low fat 8 oz 415 mg
Skim milk 1 cup 306 mg
Spinach, frozen, Boiled 1 cup 291 mg
Yogurt, plain, whole milk 8 oz 275 mg
Cheese food, pasteurized American 1 oz 162 mg
Cottage cheese, 1% milk fat 1 cup 138 mg
Baked beans, canned 1 cup 154 mg
Oranges 1 cup 72
Trail mix (nuts, seeds, chocolate chips) 1 cup 159 mg
Almonds 1 oz (24 nuts) 70 mg
Blackeye peas, boiled 1 cup 211 mg
Green peas, boiled 1 cup 94 mg

Your son needs about 800 mg per day. If he is getting 10 oz. of milk then that is about 375 mg. Then just add in some yogurt (8 oz. = 415 mg)and you are alomost there. With the fruits and veggies that you give him I am sure you get the other 10 mg. You are an AWESOME mom...there is no need to to worry!

I don't understand why so many parents think the magic age to stop so many things is one. If he wants milk from the bottle let him drink from the bottle. He's still a baby! Before you know it he will be all boy and not a baby anymore. Our son is 21 months and he still drinks his milk from a bottle, usually in the evening or before nap time. He also drinks from cups too. He will grow out of it, so let him drink from a bottle and you will know he's getting enough milk. You have to remember every kid is different. Some are more advanced at certain ages and some aren't. He will grow out of the bottle when he is ready. Don't worry what other people think of your son still being on the bottle. You're his mother, not anyone else. You are going to be judged by others forever, so you do what you think is right, not what others think!! Good Luck!

My son can not have milk. So, there is so much other stuff you can give him. Orange Juice with calcium, Broccoli, vitamins with calcium and D, tahina, Tofu, and Turnip greens, okra, navel oranges, brown sugar instead of white sugar, rhubarb, almonds, pinto beans, white beans, figs, unhulld sesame seeds, green food a good source of calcium, black berries, sunflower seeds and of course yogurt and cheese for with you. Sometimes the doctor push milk to much. You really don't have to drink milk. There so much more else you can do. And I gave you a small list. I hope this help you out.

My dad always said that the only thing that NEEDS cow milk is a calf. Your child needs calcium, it doesn't matter from where. Find out how much calcium children need. Figure out how much he is getting from the cheese and yogurt. If that really isn't enough, try yogurt/milk mixes, either purchase or blended at home. I used to make smoothies for my kids with OJ and yogurt. If you want to avoid the OJ, look for other calcium fortified juices, but keep in mind they may have a lot of sugar. Check out some of the fitness drinks, I think Propel used to have some calcium in it.

Look up fruits and veggies with calcium, I think broccoli and cantaloup have calcium.

Before you turn your lives upside, check out an age appropriate calcium supplement.

If you find yourself obsessing again, you should do what you did this time. Question what you are obsessing about and look for different answers. Continuing to obsess doesn't help you or your child. You miss the obvious answers in your stress.

Don't stress too much about the cows milk. I can't even believe that a doctor actually told you to give him chocolate milk, that's crazy! If he liked that you would be stuck only giving him that, he would get to were he only drank chocolate milk. I'm sure he is getting enough calcium from the rest of his diet if you are giving him yogurt and cheese. My kids were never big milk drinkers, if they drank one cup a day it was a miracle, they drink water almost exclusively. However, they love cheese and yogurt. My kids are perfectly healthy and developing normally. If the doctor has him on whole milk it is more likely for the fat content than the calcium. babies and little kids need a certain amount of fat in their diet for their brains to develop normally. Again we are back to the cheese and yogurt, if he is getting enough fat from the other foods he is eating the milk becomes less and less important.

If you are still concerned only about the milk, you could always try goats milk or soy milk. have you given him orange juice before? you can always try watering it down to see if it affects him. Also, whenever my kids doctor and I disagree I was never afraid to point it out to him. If he still wanted it that way, I would just nod my head and smile, then do it my way. (we never disagreed on health issues, just parenting issues)

You'll get this worked out. Good luck!!

First off, I disagree totally with your doctor. Humans do not need cow's milk. We do need calcium and it sounds like your son is getting that. If your son enjoys milk and drinks 10 oz. of it daily, then that is great! BUT, you don't need to obsess about him getting the additional 6-10 oz. Do some research if you want and you will find soooo much research supporting the fact that humans do not need milk from another species. I'm not a radical by any means, so I don't want to link you with an article about how horrible milk is, though there are many out there. My point is that it shouldn't be pushed. I, too, had children that were not into the milk thing when I finished nursing them. Other mothers looked down on me because my children would not drink cow's milk. In the end, I could not get them to drink it (no matter what I added to it) and they are doing just fine. My husband and I neither one drink milk either which is why I was so adamant that my kids MUST drink milk. Ask about vitamins if you are concerned about his calcium (they come in liquid form too), but he will be just fine without cow's milk.

I can tell you from personal experience that milk is not actually necessary for a child. My daughter has a milk allergy and can't have any dairy. Instead I feed her cereal that has been fortified with calcium, dark green leafy vegetables, and I add sesame seeds (usually ground up) to everything from cereal to meatloaf. One ounce of sesame seeds has almost as much calcium as a cup of milk. The other things that you get from milk are fats and protein. If your son is willing to eat cheese and yogurt, then you don't need to worry. He'll still get plenty of fat and protein and there is a still a good amount of calcium in those foods as well. I believe that swiss cheese is supposed to be a particularly good calcium source as far as cheese goes. I guess that my point is really that there are plenty of other ways to nourish your little guy with out pushing the milk. Some doctors just seem to obsess about the drinking milk thing. If you are offering the milk and a variety of other healthy choices, your son is perfectly capable of self regulating and eating what he needs when he needs it. Good luck. I hope that some of what I've said is helpful to you.

I agree about not wanting to give him chocolate milk at this age. I fell for that with my first, and she refused to drink anything else after that ! NOT good ! What you can do, is mix a little baby formula with the milk for awhile, since that is the taste he is longing for. Then gradually decrease the formula in the milk until he is drinking straight cow's milk.

However, I do take issue with forcing so much milk on him. If he is getting plenty of yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products, he is doing just fine.
My youngest actually has a milk allergy. Not an intolerance, an actual allergy. She drinks soy milk, eats dairy replacements (usually made with soy or rice), lots of dark green veggies and takes a multivitamin. She is now 20 years old, and just as healthy as her brother and sister.
I think sometimes our pediatricians, although well meaning, place a lot of unecessary stress on young moms. They want each of their patients to conform to a textbook picture of perfection, and it just isn't going to happen in the real world. The "norm" isn't really the norm, it's an average.

You're doing fine with what you are getting him to eat and drink. Calcium does not have to come in the form of milk. Most (natural)health people will tell you cow's milk isnot that great for you. If you decide you want him to have milk straight, try adding chocolate. (I know you don't want to) Nesquick has several vitamins in it & I believe they have a sugar free version. Yogurt is a great way to get calcium & a few other vitamins. Just keep trying, his intake may keep increasing. Milk is very filling & he may too full after a few ounces.

OJ is better on the heiny than apple juice. I wish I was in your position.... my son can't even drink milk, and don't even get my started on the sippy cup fights! LOL! Read the labels on the rest of the foods you feed him, there's probably a lot more calcium in his diet than you think. With milk, you're also getting the fat necessary for their tiny little brains to develop properly. So maybe see if your child will eat some fish? Other than that, all I can tell you is trust your mommy-gut. Good luck!

That's interesting, my doctor said the opposite. My daughter seems to get a rash when she drinks milk and my doctor said "cow milk is highly overrated, you can get the calcium other places." She IS still nursing, but even my 4 year old doesn't drink more than 10 oz of milk a day and never has. If you're really concerned, I'm sure there's calcium supplements, but there are so many calcium rich foods, I would look at them first! I always feel my kids are better off that they think having a drink means WATER. I would be uneasy using chocolate milk at such a young age too (though they have shown lots of studies lately about it getting kids to take in more calcium).

K.

I had the same concerns and our ped. reminded us (after asking how he eats during the day) that he is getting dairy from other sources. Yogurt, cheese, a little cottage cheese. We also mix whole milk into his pancakes we make, or anything else we can.
So, think about other ways for him to meet his daily dairy intake needs. I think you will find he is getting more than you realize!

Hi C.! Not that you want this advice buuuut I believe milk is not all the hype that everyone says. I have recently read the book "Don't drink your milk" and found out some scary things... milk can cause gastrointestinal bleeding among them. My only advice is to maybe do a little research of your own on the cons of COW milk drinking... maybe you'll decide he doesn't need all that they say he needs. Just my opinion. Good luck with everything you do!

Ask your doctor about any type of vitamins that may be helpful. My daughter did the same thing and at the age of two she is still not a milk drinker, she eats lots of yogurt and cheese and other milk products, but refuses to drink milk after we took her bottle away. We actually let her keep the bottle just so at night and in the morning she would drink milk, but finally put that to an end a few months back.
Tks T.

Do you drink much milk? You see, I have the opposite problem, but my husband and I drink A LOT of milk. We have four young 'skinny' kids (1, 3, 7,& 9) and we go through 7 gallons of milk a week. We actually get into trouble with the doctor for giving them too much milk. But it's hard to stop them from drinking it when they are begging for it.

Maybe drink it a lot in front of him. Maybe even use a straw and offer a sip of your cup at snack times, etc. (let me know if you need help teaching the straw) Sometimes YOUR food or drink is better then the stuff on their plate & cup - even if it's the exact same thing. We only have milk at mealtimes and snack times. I say just have it available and he'll eventually drink it more and more. Especially if it's the only choice of quenching thirst. Orange Juice is too acidic and WILL give diaper rash. Chocolate just promotes a bad habit. Just give it time. God Bless.

try giving him yogurt, gogurt you can freeze not so messy and cheese give it time he will drink when ready

If he likes yogurt and cheese, those are great toddler-friendly alternatives to milk for calcium requirements. My youngest wasn't a big milk drinker at that age and his pedi. said the yogurt and cheese substitutes were fine.

My kiddo was the same way. She was little for her age, so I wasn't bothered by the extra calories added to her milk. My pediatrician recommended Carnation Instant Breakfast, not Hershey's syrup. My DD needed the extra calories and it got her to consume more milk. But I backed off after she adapted.
Tricks:
1) warm the milk to the same temperature as the bottle used to be. Babies don't like cold milk.
2) Switch away from the bottle nipple in his sippy. Remove the plastic or rubber stopper from the sippy, so it's really easy to get milk. It's messy, so he'll need to be seated at the table. Once he gets that he can get milk that way, you can put the leak control thingys back in and he'll know he just has to take a harder pull to get milk.
3) If you decide to do chocolate milk or instant breakfast, start cutting back if you notice his stools get runny. too much chocolate
4) gradually wean him away from the extra stuff in his milk. We just cut back 1/2 of the usual amount each day so by the 3rd or 4th day of weaning, she was getting white milk again.

Good luck!

If you don't want to mix in chocolate or strawberry syrup into the milk, you can try mixing in yogurt. A friend of mine tried this with her son when he was refusing milk, and she said it was the only way she could get him to drink it. She eventually decreased the amount of yogurt until he was on straight milk.

Give him a (kids) multi vitamin & make sure you check the calcium dose. Good luck & God Bless!

My 2 y/o was the same way. I put a tiny bit of Ovaltine in his milk. The container says 4 Tablespoons to 8 oz.!! He gets jus enough to offset the milk flavor. He calls it his 'colored milk' since it has a light tinge of brown. I like chocolate milk, but the 'colored milk' I give my son only has a hint of chocolate flavor. 4 Tablespoons of Ovaltine has 18 grams of sugar. I use 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of Ovaltine for 8 oz. of milk. You can also check out rice milk. It is slightly sweet, but I don't know about the calcium.
Another idea is to add instant nonfat dry milk to his yogurt. 1 Tablespoon of instant nonfat dry milk adds 55 mg of calcium & 15 calories.

God Bless!

Whatever you do don't go back to the bottle. It is not good for his teeth. He'll be fine. There are sugar free flavorings for milk that we used. My kids now only get chocolate milk on special occasions. But they love white milk. I grew up drinking chocolate milk everyday and even now I drink a ton of milk a day, white milk. He'll get the calcium he needs in other foods, like most of your dairy products. Don't fret. The doctor gives you a guideline, not an ultamatum. He'll be okay. Enjoy him at this age and don't fret the small things. Good Luck and God Bless.

My niece is 20 months old. She is the same way about milk. We give her Pediasure. She loves it, and she gets more calcium. You may want to try that.

Don't drive yourself crazy over the exact ounces.

You could always try giving something that makes their mouth dry. :)

They do have chocolate milk that has low sugar. You dont want him to be filling up on milk before dinner then he wont eat. They also have cereal with calcium. I wouldnt worry much if he doesnt get alot of milk as long as he is drinking some and getting his calcium in other foods. If he is growing and gaining weight then its good.

C., mu daughter just turned one a couple of days ago and we just had her 12 month appt. Our ped told us that 12-18 ounces of milk a day is all she needs and then to have her drink water (and juice, which I disagree with) for additional fluids. I would believe that 10 ounces a day is fine and you are giving him additional calcium. A friend of mine told me yesterday that her daughter refused to drink milk or anything from a sippy and her ped said to hold out and she would eventually get thirsty enough to drink. He called it the "power of wills" and she was testing her parents. It was an entire week, but then she started drinking again from her sippy, milk and water.

I have never liked plain white milk. I do add chocolate, but only a little--just enough to barely see it, but I can taste a difference. I buy organic chocolate syrup. You could try it and only add a tiny bit. However, I never transitioned to liking plain milk as a kid. Maybe you could switch it around sometimes so that he gets used to drinking plain milk too. Also, kids do take a while to start getting used to different tastes. It may be that he just needs more time to start liking it plain.

I'm really not sure why some doctors are still recommending going to whole milk at 1 year. It doesn't have all the nutrients a child would have been getting from breast milk or formula. The AAP and WHO both recommend breastfeeding or formula feeding for a minimum of 2 years. Your doctor really has some old information even if they have done pretty well in other areas. Maybe you could go back to formula and transition by putting it into a sippy cup before you try making them drink that much cows milk. Just an idea. That just sounds like an awful lot of something that's not that nutrient dense.

Just keep the milk available throughout the day. Don't push the milk, just have it there for him to grab when he wants it. It is just another transition that they have to get used to. Give him some time to adjust to the new drink, a few days of only 10 ounces will not hurt him. I avoided juices when my daughter turned one, and now she asks for milk whenever she is thirsty. STAY AWAY FROM CHOCOLATE!!!! At least as long as possible, let him get acclumated to cow's milk first. Once my daughter found out that we could put chocolate in her milk it took a while before the fits stopped when she wanted it. That was a battle that I wish I had avoided!

My daughter won't drink as much milk from her "big girl" cup either. To ensure that she gets what she needs I still give it to her in her bottle. Everything else is taken from her cup. I don't worry about it. The older she gets the more she wants to do what we do so I'm not worried that she'll be stuck with the bottle forever.

In addition, I agree that you don't need cows milk for the calicum that we need. My daughter doesn't like cows milk and will only drink the almond milk that I make for her. Cows milk creates mucus in the body that almond milk and other alternatives do not. When my daughter gets sick she doesn't get congested like I do with the same illness, therefore recovers faster than I do. In addition, almond milk is far better than milk and the other milk alternatives as it provides more calcium (many milk alternatives have none), good fat, protien and vitamin E. Our doctor was fine with our choice but tested her when we first started to be sure she was getting enough nutrients. The test came back fine. She just had her 18 month check up and is still as healthy as can be.

Hi C.-
We have the opposite problem - my 15 mo son loves milk and would probably forgo most food for it. My ped nurse recommended Enfamil Next STep Lipil (he was on the regular Lipil before turning 1) so that he gets enough vitamins. Maybe that would help? Is it all milk/formula that he's not drinking, or is it just because of the sippy cup? We've had a huge problem converting ours to the sippy too, so he still takes a bottle at breakfast and bedtime. Anyhow, sorry I can't be of much help, they are a challenge, aren't they? Good luck!

M.

I respect the fact that you dont want to give him alot of sugar.you dont have to put alot of flavor in it two or three drops will do it because its new to him,and you dont have to do it all the time. Once he gets use to drinking that kind of milk he would probley prefer not to have flavor.stores have flavoring now that has less sugar in it.i am a mother of two and i have been through this situation with them,its not going to hurt. If you are still not comfortable with that then the only other thing is to give a liquid vitamin.SOME PEOPLE WOULD SAY JUST LET HIM KEEP HIS BOTTLE BUT THAT IS WROST THAN GIVING HIM SUGAR. BOTH MY KIDS WERE OFF THE BOTTLE BY THE TIME THEY WERE TEN MONTHS.THEY USED A SOFT SPOUT SIPPY CUP CALLED NUBBY UNTIL ABOUT ONE AND HALF.THEN REGULAR CUPS ITS NOT GOING TO BE EASY BUT ITS WORTH IT IF YOU WANT YOUR KID TO LOOSE HIS FRONT TEETH WHEN HE IS SUPPOSE TO AND NOT AT THREE OR FOUR.

If he is eating yogurt and cheese he is getting more milk. Some kids just don't care for the taste of the milk and try different brands. My kids prefer the taste of Aldi milk over Walmart or the other brands and I am happy for that since it is usually cheaper. You may also try sweet acidopholis. I have only seen it around here in 1/2 gallon or in the carton. When we lived in Tennessee it was in the gallon and it is very healthy and taste really good. My daughter didn't tolerate milk very well and got car sick a lot until we got that milk when she was little and she did a lot better about drinking milk and didn't get sick as often. It was also available on WIC in Tennessee but not sure if it is here.

I also have a 1 year old and a 3 year old. It has not been easy to get my 1 year old off his bottle as well. After doing some research and trying to be consistant in when I give him a bottle vs sippy cup, I've found it is very important they get their fluids, but it's not necessary that all the fluids have to be milk. As long as the child is eating healthy meals and taking an appropriate vitamin it ok that some of the fluid is water, or all natural/organic watered-down juices. Plus, I totally agree that no chocolate or strawberry should be added to the milk. All you can do if offer the fuilds.

There is sugar free chocolate milk mix out there if you are that worried about the sugar, but my daughter is 3 now and she drinks chocolate milk almost exclusively. I know she needs to drink other things too and push the water and juice but she wants her milk. The dr. said the calcium is really important and anyway I could get her to drink the milk would be good. It's not like your going to put a ton of flavoring in it, just enough to make it not plain anymore. My son who is 12 would not drink plain milk when he was younger either because he did not like the taste, but now he drink plain milk every day by choice. I think the chocolate milk thing will be fine, just don't use too much.

i use ovaltine and sometimes nesquick but it will do the trick of drinking milk its the only way i can get my daughter to drink milk and she is 5 and sometimes i only put in enough of the drink mix so that the white is brownish

My son also had this problem. He really likes his bottle. I had to slowly take away on bottle at a time. This took about 3 weeks to get him from 4 bottles down to 2 a day. He would not give up the morning one and night one. I finally started putting hersheys syrup in his morning sippy of milk and he now drinks it. He still takes his night bottle and I don't see that stopping any time soon. Also at first I had to mix his milk with formula to slowly introduce the taste of milk. The other thing to try his heat up his milk since he is used to the formula being heated.

Maybe you could try offerering him a cup of milk before each meal. He might be more inclined to drink a greater amount if he's hungry. Good luck.