Suggestions Please! My Daughter Will Not Drink Whole Milk!

Hello,

Why does it have to be whole milk? Why not try alternatives such as soy milk, almond milk, ovaltine? It sounds like she's getting plenty of calcium from other dairy products.

Just a thought...

you could try smoothies, shakes or strawberry flavoring. I would also try fun straws or cups and no other liquids but water.

Goodness! I think you'll cause many more problems by being insistent on this. There are so many options for calcium that have nothing to do with milk or dairy. Other moms have given you lots of great suggestions. Forget the milk;; there's way too much fat in whole milk anyway. This is a battle not worth taking on.
J.

My daughter would vomit whole milk but she was fine with 2% milk.
I guess she didn't like the flavor because she loves quesadillas made of real cheese and have no problem with that.
She also loves strawberry milk.

Maybe she knows how milk is made and doesn't want anything to do with it. (somewhat kidding here) There were several things that my daughter didn't want anything to do with and it turned out she was allergic to it. It is ok if your daughter doesn't have dairy as there are other healthier alternatives - don't turn to soy as one of them. If you insist on dairy though please make sure that it is organic only or even raw. What I know now and wish I could have back then...

My daughter just turned 3 and has not been much of a milk drinker. She is getting a little better but it seems the milk has to be "doctored" in some way. I'm not really happy about this, having also watched Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution", but you also can't force this kind of stuff on them either. My daughter used to drink whole milk just fine when it was in the bottle (from 12 to 18 months) and then once we broke her of the bottle habit, she wouldn't do the milk (and before that we had her drinking water from a sippy cup and tried milk in the sippy cup but she was not having it - the water had to be in the sippy cup, the milk had to be in a bottle, and once the bottles were gone, the milk intake dropped too).

She does like other dairy products - she loves cheese and eats a ton of organic yogurt. Plus she loves OJ so we get the calcium-fortified kind and dilute it with water. And she gets a daily multi-vitamin, so between all that, calcium and vit D isn't much of an issue. I do mix in milk with her oatmeal. She will eat cold cereal with milk and then drink up the milk that is left behind (and the cereal is usually Cheerios or Life or something similar, nothing too high in sugar). And she loves chocolate milk and we've found that if we just had a microscopic drop of chocolate syrup to the milk (you can barely tell it's there) she will drink it - the chocolate milk that already has the chocolate added really does have as much sugar as soda!

I shared all this with the pediatrician and she said that was fine - just to watch the juice since it's also sugary and acidic, which can be bad for the teeth (she's good about getting her teeth brushed, which we do twice a day, and we dilute the juice with water, plus she drinks a ton of plain straight water every day). My brother actually had a milk allergy growing up and back then all they could recommend was giving him a Tums every day for the calcium, plus the multi-vitamin for the D. He eventually outgrew it and he has turned out just fine. I'm sure there are plenty of parents out there with kids who are lactose intolerant who have to come up with alternatives too.

What's the big deal? I hated milk growing up and would only occasionally drink it with strawberry syrup (I'm not a big fan of chocolate). The way I had it was, in the summer especially, my mom would make yogurt pops from plain yogurt, honey, oj concentrate and vanilla. I loved them! My daughter now LOVES them. Don't worry about the milk. If she is getting her calcium in other ways...remember it's in non dairy foods too, she's fine. Kids will eat what they need when they need it. Just relax and go with her flow.

Have you tried using the breakfast carnation powder and mixed it? that gives a really good flavor. However, it might not be the flavor at all. It might be the texture of the whole milk. why not put her on 2% or buy whole milk and mix it half way with fat free milk (it still is 2% if you consider doing that.) I wouldn't worry too much if she is not a big fan of it. As long as you are giving her other forms of calcium as you mentioned you are, then this is probably a phase she might be going through. Try different alternatives as other moms mentioned. Soy milk, the vanilla soy silk is my favorite. I had to drink that when i was pregnant with my 2nd baby and it was awesome. try that and see if that helps. or maybe even icing down the milk. My g/f from the moment she was drinking milk she could only have it with ice.

My son has always hated plain milk. He also has always preferred strawberry and vanilla over chocolate milk.
We used to mix a SMALL amount of the Strawberry Quik with his milk and call it "moo." I guess he thought since it had a different name, he wasn't ddrinking "milk"! lol Kids are weird like that. Try messing with the name and her head! hahaha
Personally, I'd stay away from soy milk. And for your own sanity, most organic milks are treated so the last waaaaaay longer than regular milk. So you won't be dumping out. Good luck!

there are whole groups of humans on this earth that survive quite well and have never touched dairy in their life...seriously how did the dairy industry brainwash us to the point we think our children couldnt possibly live without cows breast milk?

My daughter is the same way...she loves her fruit especially blueberries and strawberries so I make smoothies. I blend plain yogart with a cup of whole milk and frozen berries and that is her morning or night snack and she loves it!

Please ask your pediatrician!

Luckily my kids really don't care for flavored milks, but you just need to watch the footage on ABC for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution to realize why it's a BAD idea to flavor your child's milk. The extra calories/sugar are really unnecessary.

Whole milk is necessary for FAT not calcium. You can easily get other sources of calcium through her diet. But, the FAT is necessary for proper brain development.

Ask your pediatrician what they recommend as a proper alternative instead of whole milk. Not all fat is the same either, so you can't replicate it by feeding heavier fat meals. You need the DHA that would normally be found in a nursing child.

Good luck! You can always switch to the toddler versions of formula if you think she'd take to that better.

Will she drink water? You can wean her up from skim. I had to do that with my daughter who would throw the cup at me with whole milk in it. Few days I'd give 1/4 skim, rest water, next few days 1/2 skim 1/2 water, etc. Took about a month and a half to get her accustomed to whole milk. On the plus side, at 2, most peds don't want kids on whole milk anymore and recommend 2%.

Don't stress over this, many, many kids never drink milk. It's not the end of the world for them, get it to them in other forms and don't worry. One of my kids never drank it and still doesn't to this day. She is 9 yo's and is perfectly healthy

My son was like that. Something that we do for him is use lowfat milk and mix it with just enough ovaltine to discolor ir. He also likes the strawberry flavored milk that gerber sells for toddlers. It is extremely fortified.

Hi,
I was told that kids do not need whole milk except for when they are 1-2 yrs. old after they have had formula or breast feeding for the first year. My daughter never took to whole milk and I never pushed the issue as it upset her tummy and was too thick for her.

It sounds like you've tried a lot of stuff and if she's almost 2 and it hasn't been going that well, give up the fight. If she eats cheeses, ice cream, yogurt, etc. then I really think it's fine. As other people suggested, if she likes juice, maybe get her calcium fortified juice, but as long as you're offering it and she's getting other dairy, I think she's fine.

Oh and my daughter doesn't really like chocolate milk either...she's almost 3 and she's never really been exposed to it so I don't think she really likes it...it's not a bad thing! ;)

My son isn't all that fond of milk, chocolate or otherwise either.

I know what "they" say about the flavored toddler formulas, but I will buy the regular toddler formula (not so great taste) and mix the flavored and unflavored. So he's not getting as much sugar as full on flavored (vanilla) with the unflavored mixed in. But tastes better than the completely unflavored. He's beginning to not want that now too though. : (

I realize that's almost $50 for 2 cans, but it lasts forever since our son was only getting two 8oz cups a day. I don't give him a vitamin when he drinks the toddler formula because of the vitamin content in that.

Or you could try Almond milk... I don't like milk, but I love the Vanilla Almond Milk... Mmmm.

My kids now do it with the chocolate, but before, when they wouldn't drink it I did ask my doctor. She said as long as they are getting the servings in other things, like cheese, yogurt, etc, that it is fine they don't drink it.

I guess it's not how they get it, just that they get it.

She doesn't need milk. :) Give her fresh, clean water. Cow's milk is made for cows, so it is not necessary for a person. Our children drink water. It is the most important thing for them to drink. She is getting dairy in other forms, which is sufficient.

If your daughter is not significantly underweight, start with 2% or skim. Also, what does she drink happily? V8 smoothies (watered down) may be something to try. You can also get calcium-enriched juices, but I wouldn't stress out about it too much. If your doctor is not giving you specific causes for concern, just play it by ear introducing new foods and new beverages slowly over time. Best wishes.

Just keep at it. My daughter didn't like it a whole lot either. She drinks it regularly now.
If she goes to pre-school or daycare, she will get it there. As she gets used to it, she will want it.
You could try the New Horizon's little milk or chocolate milk boxes - that could make it fun for her. Or Hershy or Nestle Quick boxes of chocolate milk.
Keep at it and doing what your doing.

My son never drank milk - whole, 2%, soy, flavored, or otherwise. I tried everything. His ped told me he didn't need milk as long as he was getting calcium from other sources. He has a glass of calcium fortified orange juice per day and then one or two dairy products (yogurt, string cheese, cheese on veggies or a burger, mac-n-cheese, etc.) He is 4 1/2 and his weight and height have always been in the 50 - 75% range with no other health problems.

My daughter still will seldom drink milk, but she will drink alot of Yo-J Milk. Its more like milk and juice together, and she loves it. Give that a try and see if she likes that.

Both my son and I despise white milk. To get him to drink milk, I mixed a little carnation instant breakfast (vanilla) in with it, which he loved. I usually only use 1/2 packet. The breakfast milk also has a lot of vitamins and protein, so you are getting that in too. Hope this helps!

Have you tried Strawberry or Caramel? My 3y prefers milk in the order of Strawberry, Chocolate, Vanilla (plain). I even mixed Choc. and Strawberry one day. That was a BIG hit!

Also, try offering her 2%. It could be that the whole milk is just too thick for her tastes.

BTW. My 9y HATES chocolate and Strawberry milk.

You have plenty of options, so don't beat a dead horse...or yourself up anymore! Like others have said, she may be allergic to cow milk or just doesn't deal with whole milk well...we are all different. I'd let her try some other kind of milk: rice, almond, or cashew milks, for instance. As long as she's eating well the whole milk issue should be a non-issue.

She COULD just not like it. It's really OK! You are doing exactly right by getting the calcium to her in other ways. Cow's milk is for baby cows anyway. No worries! I read some of the other posts...just be careful of the flavorings you might use or the flavored milk..loaded with sugar.