How Much Milk Does Your 16 Month Old Drink?

I was told that 8-16oz is sufficient. MOST of their nutrition should come from FOOD. Read online for recipes, different foods, etc... There are great recipe books too. Keep trying!! :)
Good luck!

My son is almost 15 months old and only drinks 6-8oz of milk before bed. That is it. My pediatrician said she wouldn't ever want him drinking more than 2 cups of milk a day anyways. She said he needs other vitamins and nutrition that comes from food, not milk and if he drinks more milk than that, he will be too full to eat. I give him half juice/half water in his cup in the morning, and when that's gone, I just refill it with water all day and he eats great. He's usually pretty hungry come meals and snacks and will scarf down anything I give him. Try to only give him milk once or twice a day and not too close to mealtime. Good luck!

I would not be too concerned about his protein intake if he is drinking a lot of milk each day. My daughter is the same way with juice, unfortunately. She asks for it all day long and won't drink any milk - even if I try to give it to her. Kids go through picky stages, I'd just try again with those foods at later times.

Good luck

Mine drank about a gallon a day once we switched over to solids & cows milk. This was a bit of a decrease for him, since he nursed an average of 22oz per feeding. (It was/is important to us, especially with that degree of consumption, that he not be getting rBst/pestacides... and fortunately both for our health and pocketbook, we live near a mostly organic dairy (no hormones & no pesticides, but they still had their cows treated by vets for disease, so they're not *totally* organic, which, IMHO, is all to the best).

I should say, we're also scandanavian, at 7 DS is pushing 5' tall. He's also a VERY active kid, and always has been. We intentionally hooked him on computer games so we'd get at least an hour of peace a day. Whew. MY poor mother. ADHD & Athleticism runs in our family. I AM ADHD, so it's not overly noticeable to me... but who can avoid noticing 4 hours spent up a doorframe? Or a 4 year old who can run 3 miles in under 25 minutes?

His solids intake has always varied a great deal. When he's "chubbing up" for a growth spurt he easily eats double what my weightlifter husband eats, and when he finishes that cycle barely eats enough to keep a bird alive. It's fun to watch... because he'll all of a sudden get absolutely rolly-poly, and then shoot up so that his ribs and vertebra are all showing. We've also always let him eat when he's hungry, instead of trying to have set mealtimes. He's always been rather like clockwork... milk 24/7, & meals every 3 hours.

My son loved green things, too. Broccoli was his absolute fav.

Our LO has a sippy cup of milk after breakfast, lunch, and then one about 1 hr after dinner. So I would say about 24 oz. We would feed her lunch with a water cup next to her and wouldn't bring out the milk until after she was more than halfway done eating. That seems to work best. Kids love milk, but you just have to be the one in control since you know what's best for them. I would also suggest that you keep offering proteins. Some books say that kids get used to seeing food and start liking some of them eventually.

my 18 month old drinks a 6-8 oz milk bottle at nap time & an 8 oz ____@____.com she wakes up early (5ish) we also give her about 6 oz of milk then too so she goes back to sleep. come the new year we are going to wean off the bottle and our dr said to expect her milk intake to drop. we'll try to supplement but if your son doesn't like cheese then maybe yogurt, cream cheese on bagels, milk in oatmeal...sorry, we are having our own milk/bottle issues but i thought any info may be helpful, good luck!

None. I've never given my kids cow's milk, only breastmilk and then good foods and water....no juice - as it is pure sugar....even the 100% natural. If you give milk firsdt, most kids will not eat their foods.

Hopefully, your son is enjoying breast milk. No need to worry if that is the case, it's great nutrition if you are eating a clean, green-rich diet. I can send you some great recipes if you need to enhance the nutrition in your diet. (Or start introducing these foods to your son, as well!)

If you are speaking about cow's milk, hopefully it is organic, without the pesticides, antibiotics and pus that is in regular milk. (Who wants pus?)

You may already know that there is very little nutritional benefit (if any) in pasteurized milk. Pasteurized milk has lost the enzyme needed for our bodies to uptake the calcium in it. Sure milk can have calcium but if we cannot absorb it, why consume it? Pasteurized milk only produces disease. Now, as asthma, lactose intolerance or allergies, or later as a form of cancer. Please see

http://www.realmilk.com/

Thank you for asking the question and best of luck!

I just started giving my 19 month old son 1 pediasure a day that way I don't have to stress if he is getting enough vitamins in the day from the food he eats. I still give him the same amount of food, I just replace one milk serving with a pediasure. It gives me piece of mind = )

As for milk, I agree with the mother that serves it as dessert and also with Barbalee who says milk is not as good for you as you may want to believe. The milk industry is a multi-million dollar empire with big bucks in advertising. I don't believe all of the nice things they say about themselves any more than I believe what the pharm. industry says about all the nice drugs they produce. ;)
There is protein in a LOT of veggies. Peas and beans are a great source. Maybe not the healthiest choice but my kids LOVE green beans from the CAN. They eat a whole can in a sitting! And petite frozen peas just thawed, not cooked.

Look around on the internet. There is some eye-opening info available out there. Best of luck to you.

My Ped told me that too much milk will fill them up, and they won't want to eat anything. Try reducing the milk intake a bit and see if his appetite comes back. My boys at this age were picky eaters as well, and I was told that it was normal.

My kids drank 4-5 9 ounce sippy cups of milk at that age on top of 2-3 sippy cups of water/juice. Just depends on how hot it was or how active they were.

As for the picky eating...some kids are just picky. My daughter doesn't care for veggies. My son has always loved them. My son doesn't care that much for meat, my daughter loves all kinds of meat.

For now, I wouldn't worry too much about forcing eggs, cheese and meat on him. My daughter wouldn't even touch peanuts/peanut butter..turns out it's because she's allergic and it made her tongue feel weird/numb. Eggs and dairy are one of the top allergens for kids...so maybe he is telling you something by refusing them. I also know a couple of kids who are allergic to either cow protein or chicken protein. But it could also be that he is just going through a weird texture/color food phase. So maybe let it go for a few weeks and then introduce it back to him one at a time. You could also try coloring things like chicken with green food coloring to see if it's just a color thing.

But don't worry, your son is getting plenty of protein in the beans and legumes he is eating and his milk. Will he eat yogurt? Do you give him daily multivitamins? Both of these have a good amount of protein and vital nutrients.

We also have concerns about getting enough protein in my 16 month old daughter's diet - and she does not drink a drop of cow's milk!

A few great alternatives we've found for protein/iron:

1.) Quinoa (a grain that has a lot of vegetable protein). We boil and simmer it in homemade chicken stock. Sometimes she eats it plain, sometimes with rice boiled in chicken stock, and sometimes we'll mix in some pureed spinach, pea soup, an egg yolk, or whatever we have on hand.

2.) Have you tried pate? We make it out of lots of veggies and organic chicken livers, then mix it with the quinoa above, or with rice boiled in chicken stock. She LOVES this.

3.) Does your babe like soups? Ours does, so we make "bone soups" with whatever veggies, potatoes, and lots of fresh, organic meat bones. The trick is to simmer the bones for a few hours before you cook the veggies - a lot of the calcium, iron, and protein comes out of the bones into the soup.

Good luck! Hope you find some assurance and something that works for your precious one.

I can respond to the food part of your entry. I have 17 month old twins and I find one day they like chicken and next day they don't. Now one will eat eggs and the other won't eat them no matter how they are prepared. What I suggest is to keep introducing the food he doesn't like almost on a daily basis. I give the boys whole wheat products too to insure they are getting as many nutrients as possible. Currently, one of their meals is rotini pasta with a little butter and cheese with corn and broccoli. the rotini has little "nooks" that hold in the add ins so they get lots to eat in each bite. and try tofu if he continues to be stubborn about getting his protein. Good luck!

Well Milan never drank milk so there goes that one.. And she has been soooo picky lately too! She used to loved eating eggs and now she doesnt. She does still eat oatmeal in the mornings and soup for lunch or dinner but I'm out of ideas on meal #3!!! She started to like spagetti but I can't keep giving that to her everyday! Do you put chicken in soups you make for Dylan? I do, and I leave it in there and when i feed to to Milan i just cut it in tiny pieces and feed it to her with the broth and potato and rice and whatever else in there all together and thats the only way I get her to eat chicken..

Generally, 16-24ozs per day is the recommended amount for milk. My son gets half a sippy cup (5-6 ozs) when he wakes up, after lunch and about an hour to an hour and a half before bed. As for protein, I used to be concerned about that until I did a little digging online. For kids age 1-3, 10-14 grams per day is recommended. My container of whole milk says that one serving (1 cup/8 oz)has 8g of protein, so I wouldn't be too concerned about that.

If you run out of ideas on what to feed him frequently, there's a website that has tons of meal ideas and recipes for kid friendly meals. It's extremely easy to navigate the site, they've got sections for all 3 meals, plus snacks, etc.

http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/index.htm

My daughter is and was also heavy on the milk. I was able to correct it some by allowing her to get very hungry for her meals. I did this by eliminating snacks and just feeding her her next meal when she needed it. I got more of the healthy foods down her this way. Don't stress about the protein. Think of all the vegetarians who are perfectly nourished out there. One needs a lot less protein than we typically think. Have you tried brown rice a and beans? Thats a complete protein and frankly more healthy than eggs or chicken anyways.

Hi S.,

My pediatrician told us that our LO should be getting between 20-24 ounces of milk a day. She gets a cup of milk after she eats breakfast and with the other meals. She loves milk but we have to limit it because it can cause constipation. For the protein issue, we crush a chewable multivitamin into her favorite cereal, but check with your pediatrician first.

Good luck!!

Milk is NOT what is used to be.

I am a family wellness coach and here are two of the sources that I trust:

http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles/dont-drink-milk.asp

http://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?q=milk&k=milk

Do your due diligence. My children are 13 and 10 and there is no milk, cows, goats NOTHING in this house, hasn't been for years.

If you want a healthy option: This is my kids breakfast. http://liveitdontdiet.isagenix.com/us/en/isaleanshake.dhtml

And as for the "breakfast cereal", you know those little circle ones you want her to eat...check the ingredients. You will see TRISODIUM PHOSPHATE. Google it. Or better yet, head to your nearest hardware store and pick up wall paper remover and see what their number one ingredient is...you guessed it TSP trisodium phosphate.

PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELF. Things are not as they seem.

B.
Family wellness coach

That is the age when we had the "change" the rules to milk as dessert only (and only after they have eaten a taste of all the foods offered that night, no clean plate club, but def. nned to expand that palette). Both my little ones would live alone on milk but it will not give you all the nutrition you need so they have to eat real food. I will not lie, it is a battle (in one of my kids cases, we had food on the ceiling, on mommy, and all over her, but not in the child, that was hard not to back down to but remember if you let any of your rules slide you are not teaching negotiation you are teaching that lieing is ok...) but you have to stick to your guns.

my son is 17 months and runs through a gallon of milk in about 1.5 days and it has to be warm or he will throw it back at you(better yet he drinks 1quart of milk per day and 12 oz of juice)... he doesnt sleep through the night(he never has) I feel it is because he doesn't eat... he does not like to be fed, so I give him foods that he can feed himself, like those gerber baby cheetos, cut up fruits, toast, and he loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and sometimes he will eat mac & cheese.. I also add cereal to his milk cup because he wont let me feed it to him... he absolutely will not eat anything puree or soft, so baby food is out of the question(he gags on the stuff!). His 2 front bottom teeth came up in June and he didnt get any more teeth until last month and now he wont really eat anything because teeth are coming from everywhere and it hurts!!!! I worry about it because he is small compared to other babies I have seen his age, but the Dr. told me that everyone elses baby is just BIG for their age.. I figure he will eat when he is hungry!!

My now 18 month old gets at most 20 oz/day. He gets 4 oz 3 times during the day and once at bedtime and possibly another 4 if he wakes up at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. During the day I give him milk between meals so it doesn't spoil his appetite. In the morning he gets milk about an hr after breakfast. Then again when I lay him down for a nap. Then his last day milk around 4:00-ish.

About eating...I agree with the other mama about beans. Does he like refried beans? My son has LOVED them since about 7 months. Make some quesadillas with the refried beans and a whole wheat tortilla (sneak some cheese inside if you want). Have you tried fish? Something white and mild would be good.

Good luck!

Hi, I have a 15 month old boy... he has a bottle with milk when he wakes up and then eats his breaky about an hour later, a full breaky!!! I give him about 6oz's... He is satisfied but still hungry - that's the key - not giving him to much milk. If he cries for more, I avert his attention to something else until I get organized for the day and then give him a scrambled egg with some fruit or just a good big bowl of cheerios with some fruit. Keep trying with the cheese, chicken etc. He will take to it one day... My boy gets three bottles with homo milk a day (6oz before break and nap, 8oz before bed) and water with meals or whenever he is thirsty. Ohh and congrats on your 2nd baby!!!!

My 16 month old girl drinks 4 oz as soon as she wakes up, 6 oz as a snack at daycare in the afternoon, and then 4 oz after dinner/before bed - all in a sippy cup. So only about 14 oz a day. We constantly offer her a sippy cup of water during the day, so she drinks a lot of water. If he doesn't like water, maybe you could put mostly water with a splash of milk in it at first to wean him off it? As for food, have you tried plain yogurt? She LOVES yogurt and if your little guy likes milk he'll probably like it to. You can cut up fruit pieces like banana or pineapple and put it in it if it's too tart for him at first... sometimes we add instant oatmeal too. Careful not to get the yogurt with fruit already in it though because it usually has a lot of sugar. We usually buy organic too, so less hormones. My daughter's other favorite is cheesy scrambled eggs with broccoli in it... have you tried melting cheese over the scrambled eggs? She's a cheese fanatic though, so it's so interesting how different their tastes all are! Good luck!

At his age, he should be drinking 16-24 oz of milk per day. Any more than that is too much and will probably spoil his appetite. My son (who is now 2.5 but has been on this schedule since about 15 months) gets milk 4 times per day. He gets 6 oz when he wakes up in the morning, at lunch, and after his nap, and about 3-4 oz at bedtime. When he was taking two naps, he got a cup after each nap instead of at lunchtime.

Beans are great protein so if your son eats a lot of those, don't worry too much about the meat. You can also try tofu and yogurt. At that age (and even still now), sauce was a huge help in feeding my son. Put sauce on anything and he'd eat it. Soy, teriyaki, BBQ, salad dressing, ketchup, etc.

Happy holidays!
K.
http://oc.citymommy.com