My son just turned one last week. He drinks from a cup very well. He still loves his bottle but he only receives it twice a day at 5 p.m. and bedtime and he always drinks it at 5 but not at bedtime. He will drink milk (warmed) from the bottle, but everytime I've mixed it 1/2 and 1/2 with formula.. He does not want to drink milk from his cup. He normally doesn't like things cold so I've tried warming it. I've tried strawberry flavoring. He just mostly bats it away. Any suggestions. I have a 10 year old daughter who refuses to drink milk too. My husband and I will drink it but it is not something that we desire each day. When I asked my doctor, he said it wasn't that big of deal. It is more important that they learn to eat a variety of food. Any suggestions...though. Thanks
Just keep offering him the same thing all of the time. He will begin to see that there is no other choice. He'll drink eventually.
I never gave my last 2 whole milk. It was too heavy. They started on 2% and are now down to 1%.
just give it time.I highly recommendthat you continue to offer plain milk ( no additives).It took my daughter about 1 month before she would drink the recommended amount of milk a day.
in the meantime do cheese,yogurt etc .
Good luck and hang in there
Well, there are a couple of issues here.
Check out the AAP site for more info, but the recommended calcium for toddlers is 1300 mg/day. 300 mgs in a cup of milk. If you tried to make it up in his diet you would need 2 1/4 cups of broccoli -which is fairly high in calcium. You can go the supplement route or just get his dairy some other way such as cheeses or yogurts.
Someone mentioned lowfat milk for her kids. The AAP still recommends whole milk for the under 2 crowd due to growth and brain development issues. They just need more fat in their diet (although research is being done to look at this now). There is antecdotal evidence that shows poor brain development in kids placed on a lowfat diet under the age of 2-your brain needs fat to develop. Then again there are risks to their hearts too. So for now stick with whole milk until we know better.
How I got all my kids to whole milk was room temperature worked the best for us. And I started with 1/2 and 1/2 formula (or breast milk) with whole milk. Then every week I would decrease the amount of formula (or breast milk) until it was pure milk. We did room temp milk for a while about 3 months before doing it cold.
My son went through this when he turned a year old. We bought Ovultine and added a spoon full to make his milk chocolate. Once he learned how yummy that was, we decreased the amount of Ovultine we added and now he is on plain milk. We chose Ovultine over other chocolate additives because it does over some great vitamins and minerals instead of just added sugar. He does still get Ovultine every now and then, but he will also drink the plain milk. Oh, and he usually likes it better when it isn't so cold - I think his little teeth are just too sensitive to be really comfortable with the milk straight from the fridge. Good luck!!
Stop using the formula...even in his bottle. And offer it cold. He may like it after it has set for ten or fifteen minutes. But, don't try to adjust things. He needs to see that this is it. Just give it to him. If he doesn't drink it for a few days, fine. But, don't give him juice for now; and don't flavor it...just give him milk or water. He'll begin to drink it after a few days. Everytime you do something different with it to try to get him to drink it, you'll have to start all over again. Be consistent and try not to worry about it. He can sense your anxiety over it. If he's getting 18 ounces a day, after a time, he'll be just fine.
Hi J.,
My son unfortunately did the same thing - he's now 2yrs old and still does not care for most dairy products. :(
I've talked with my pedi on several occasions, and he has basically said, as long as you try and give him other dairy products + vitamins, that's all you can do. I can't "make him" like something, he just doesn't care for. Ya know? :/
He doesn't care for milk, juice, yogurt, or ice cream BUT
he loves STRING CHEESE, plus any other products I can think of that contain extra Calcium. I try and give him cheese at least once a day + his Flinstone vitamins. :)
I hope this helps. Good luck to you!
Have you tried chocolate flavoring yet? Has he tried the milk alone in the cup? Maybe it's the 1/2 and 1/2 he doesn't like. Has he tried it cold? If he still won't drink much, you could try some yogurt in place of the milk. WHen my sons were about that age, we changed the bedtime bottle to a cup of yogurt instead.
Your children really don't need milk as long as they are getting a balanced diet. I don't drink it and my children only do rarely (they are two and four) and their pediatrician is fine with that. If you're worried about him getting enough fat, try giving him avocados and if it's the calcium/vit. D, get fortified OJ. The vitamins and minerals in milk aren't easily absorbed in the form they are in milk anyway.
I say, don't stress. Listen to the doctor and please, don't force them to drink milk. My parents did that to me and it was awful.
Read the book: "Don't Drink Your Milk"
Humans are the only animal on earth that drink milk after weaning. If a baby cow was to drink the milk we buy in the grocery store (at $5+ a gallon I might add), it would DIE.
If you feel it is important to get milk into your child, offer yogurt as a treat, feed him some cheese, or other milk-based foods. But, it is not necessary for him to DRINK milk. In this case, I agree with the doctor (oh my, did I just say that?).
Best wishes and blessings,
P. <><
