Trying to Get My 4Yr Old to Drink Milk

Hi J., I have a couple advice tips for you, children will almost always be picky if we allow it. Allowing children to refuse what you want them to do gives them power they are supossed to have. Now you can't force something down his throat, bbut you can refuse to give him anything else. If you don't like that advice which you probably won't is you can add a little vanilla or ovalteen to his mild, ovalteen intrisious (I know I spelt that wrong)My daughter now 20 still does like milk, but when she was little like most moms I allowed her to be picky, but she did like the ovalteen, To this day she only drinks milk if its with cereal or chocolate milk. (MY Fault)J. L.

I give my son chocolate milk---very diluted with milk! Also, he loves the taste of coffee, so I put a tiny bit in the milk and he'll drink that, too! There might be other flavors you could try as well. Good luck!! (i love milk, too, so i dont get it that he doesnt like it either!)

J.,

Try adding chocolate syrup to the milk. Get creative with flavors. Use whatever flavor he likes and don't tell him it is milk. Make up drink names. I make what I call Monkey juice for my kids which is frozen straberries (like 4 or 5) and 2 cups of milk, mix that together until crushed, then add a banana (cut into chunks) and I add a teaspoon of vanilla pudding powder (yes vanilla pudding, I use it as a thickener) but you can use any flavor pudding. My kids drink that for breakfast but you can make it anytime.

Good luck

K.

If your child is not wanting to drink milk why the need to force it? You said he's eating cheese and yogurt... so why not leave him be and you can get a calcium supplement for him. I have my son on one by Nature's Plus that is a chewable and tastes like a vanilla sundae.

WHY?

I am a family wellness coach and here are two of the xources 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, no milk in this house.

B.
Family wellness coach

Dear J.. Please don't take offense, but your 4 year old is folowing the direct god given knowledge that he was provided. The information that we have been misinformed concerning milk is and has been an outright lie. ( mucous / pus )the calcium in milk is not adequately absorbed by the body, along with the fact that it is filled with hormornes which have been proven to have harmful effects on the body ( especialy that of a child's )
buy hemp milk, rice milk, or almond milk which tastes better, and most importantly is healthier. I am not preaching. I only long from my heart to share all that i am learning concerning natural health.
Research: recombinant bovine growth hormorne &
milk-the deadly poisen by: robert cohen
be blessed.

Hi J.:
Your son is old enough,that he doesn't have to drink milk to get his nourishment,or calcium.Hes getting it from other dairy products that he enjoys. I've never believed it healthy to force feed a child.They develop poor eating habits,as a result.Contrary,to what some believe, You don't have to be a constant reminder,to your child,that you control his every move or that you are this over powering,force,that prevents him from making even the smallest decisions for himself. Playing mind games,or power battles,are senseless and counterproductive,in raising a healthy child.He is fine,as long as hes getting calcium elsewhere.I wish you and your growing son the best.J. M

We put a small amount of drinkable yogurt into our 5 year old's milk and then we call it yogurt, not milk. He loves it! And now, after doing this for the past few years, sometimes he'll ask for a regular glass of milk.

J.,

I'd quit pushing it. If he eats cheese and yogurt he's getting all the nutrition he'd be getting from milk. If he'd rather drink water, I say go for it. However, I wouldn't let him have juice or any sugar sweetened beverages instead. I don't think most folks realize that juice (especially clear juices like apple) has very little (if any) real nutritional value. My little one does like orange juice and I do let him drink that. I do also let him have things like apple juice but not a whole heck of a lot of it.

:-)T.

Try chocolate milk. We use the Nestle's powder. Just a little makes the milk chocolatey. However, if your son is eating cheese and yogurt every day then he can skip the milk and have him drink water.

Good luck!

personally i hate milk and wont drink it however my kids cant get enough of it. why is it so important he is eating cheese and yogurt?

Hi J.,
I just discussed this with my pediatrician at my own daughter's 4-year check up. Her advice was to not worry about it since my daughter loves yogurt and cheese, too. Worry more about the calcium intake than the actual milk intake and find foods that are high in calcium. Does your son eat cereal with milk? If so, he's getting calcium there, too. Also, my daughter does love chocolate milk. Trader Joe's has a fantastic organic chocolate syrup that we all love.

Why? Most animals don't drink milk past a certain age why should humans continue? Milk builds up the mucous in our bodies and you can always find your child milk alternatives: soy, rice, almond, etc. If your worried about calcium: there are plenty of veggies that have it. Good luck, I'm sure you'll choose what's best for your child!

I agree with Emilee, that is what I was going to say. Barbilee's links are great info as well! I think adults grew up and lost their connection with food and their body. You have a pretty smart son!

My daughter will not drink ANYTHING but water, will not touch milk at all. I asked the pediatrician about it (over and over) and she tells me to make sure she has yogurt every day (since she does like that) and I give a chewable calcium supplement. Also, calcium-rich foods... http://pediatrics.about.com/od/calcium/a/06_calcium_food.htm (that website has some good info!) Spinach, peas, cheese, tofu, almonds are my daughter's favorites. And fortified cereals. My daughter does eat cereal with milk (doesn't drink the milk after though). So we buy cereals fortified with calcium.

I guess I haven't helped you find a way to get him to drink milk, but I think the concern is more about the calcium, and I know I've had to let go of the milk milk milk attitude and find other ways to get her the nutrients she needs.

good luck!

I put vanilla yogurt in his milk and called it a milk shake. He also does better drinking it from a straw. He now drinks milk straight without the yogurt. Good luck.

My daughter wouldn't drink milk either. I started to pour a bit of Kefir (It is like a thin yogurt) in with her milk. It comes in lots of flavors. Blueberry is her favorite. She now asks for "blueberry milk" in the morning. Good luck!

Milk is for babies. A 4 year old is no longer a baby, so there is no reason to force it on him. If he is eating a well balanced, varied diet he will get enough calcium. There are a ton of foods that are fortified with calcium, like juices, cereals, and breads. And if you're not sure, you can always give him 2 gummy bear calcium supplements. They taste like candy to the kids, but are the equivalent of a glass of milk. Also, green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli are loaded with calcium, as are almonds. Maybe try almond butter sandwiches instead of peanut butter. There are just SO many much healthier forms of calcium than milk, which is loaded with estrogen and growth hormones.

Hello, Well, when my now 38 year old was little, he was having to drink soy milk, due to allergies. He didn't like it after getting off of the bottle. I too was concerned, and discussed this with our pediatrician. His reply was that he didn't really need the milk as long as he was getting his protein from other sources. Our son was a very good eater and grew to be quite healthy. He only got milk in his cereal, but got protein through other foods.
Good luck with your precious son.
K. K.

He sounds like a smart child. Contrary to what the Dairy industry would like you to believe, drinking cows milk intended for baby cows is not good for you or your son. Please do some research before you offer it to your little one. I think you'll be surprised by what you learn...

http://notmilk.com/

I know this is late and you're already resolved, but here's another option to try, and it's really a healthy one... carnation instant breakfast shakes... they have a chocolate flavor, that provides calcium and protein, along with other vitamins/minerals. And they taste really good now, not like when we were kids. My daughter loved milk until she had chocolate milk, and then she wouldn't drink it white anymore... well, I didn't want to load her up on the sugar all the time, plus she didn't eat very well at that time either. So we started giving her those. They were perfect! It filled her up, gave her some nutrition, and satisfied her taste and my desires. They even have a sugar-free variety if you're not opposed to artificial sweetener.

I never liked milk growing up, but i DID like chocolate milk..I don't know if you'd be cool with giving him that, but he would get just as much calcium and maybe would enjoy it!

One thing you can try is mixing the yogurt with milk and call it a smoothie. I do that with my son and it is his
after nap snack and will hold him over til dinner. See if it works. Good luck.

You could put a TEENY amount of the Nestles powder flavored like strawberry and then slowly put less and less.

my son stopped taking milk when he was about a year and a half. the doctor said when they do that on their own a lot of times they have developed an allergy and have figured out on their own naturally that it's not good for them. i don't know, it hasn't been an issue for my son and he's now 3. i did some research and there are fruits and veggies that have calcium. raisins have tons of it. good luck.

K.

Same problem here. I asked my ped about it at his 4 year check up a couple of weeks ago. The issue is the overall need for calcium so if he is eating cheese and yogurt every day as well as some calcium rich veggies then you are probably fine. My son is not very big into any dairy products. I do get the yogurt drinks for him to have once in a while and we will sometimes make smoothies (just milk and fruit maybe with a little bit of yogurt). We do supplement with gummy calcium if I feel he hasn't had enough in a the day.

I am assuming it is the taste of the milk he is not used to. Try to give give him incentives. Start off slowly. "If you take 5 sips of milk I will give you an extra cookie," or something you know he enjoys. Just keep adding as you see that he is progressing. Also, yuo can make milk shakes for him. Strawberry milk shake, banana milk shake, add some ice cubes which make it more refreshing. Have him try chocoloate milk or strawberry milk and only put a minimum amout of the powder to give the milk a faint taste. One last option you can try is make milk shake popcicles. You can buy those tupperware popsicle molds. Good luck!

Have you tried chocolate milk? Maybe he does not like the taste.