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Moms: Tips on getting a toddler to drink milk
DD is almost completely weaned from the bottle but is refusing to drink milk from a sippy cup or a "big girl" glass. I've tried warm milk and I've tried cold milk. I've also tried a few different types of sippy cups. She loves to drink water from my glass, so I even put milk in glass for her and tried to hold it for her while she took sips. That worked for about two seconds until she realized it was milk. I figure there are two possible solutions to this problem:
1. give up on getting DD to drink milk altogether and substitute it with other calcium-rich foods (if you've done this, suggestions on foods are welcome!)
2. give her chocolate milk or add some type of flavor to the milk
I would prefer to stay away from #2, unless I use something semi-healthy like Carnation Instant Breakfast or Ovaltine. I've only given her water and milk to drink up until this point because I don't see any reason to introduce sugary drinks when it's unnecessary.
Any help is appreciated with this! Thanks!!!
Re: Moms: Tips on getting a toddler to drink milk
Have you tried a straw sippy? That was the only way I could get Jake to drink milk (Liam doesn't seem to care what he's drinking, or what it's in)
I wouldn't give up completely on milk, I'd keep offering it and just make sure she's getting the dairy products from other sources like you mentioned. When I asked my pediatrician about the milk intake for Jake (he would barely take anything more than a sip at a time initially) he said to not stress about it at all, that milk is not a substitute for bottles or a nursing session (so he shouldn't be consuming the same amount of milk during the day as he would have when he was on bottles) and that if he was getting it from other sources, it was fine. He did end up catching on eventually, once I introduced the straw cups (we just used the take & toss kind)
Personally, I'd stay away from option #2.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
You know I worried about this with my DD when she was that age. I didn't do anything special. she just eventually drank some not a ton. Then when she turned two and Ped said she could drink the same milk as us (skim), she wants nothing but milk all the time!
I know that doesn't answer above but thought it might help to know we had similar issue that worked itself out. I do seem to remember the Ped saying to just add some other calcium rich foods to her diet. Or just look for foods that are vitamin enriched.
FWIW my mother would bring chocolate milk over all the time on weekends and my DD wanted nothing to do with. And she loves/loved sweet, choc, etc in general. So that option might not work anyway.
Joys of motherhood!!
I agree with Emmy on staying away form #2, trying a straw, and giving it more time. DD could take or leave milk in the beginning, but 2 months later she wanted it constantly.
I think sometimes they just need to aquire a taste for it. In the meantime, give her some cheese and yogurt.
C takes her milk exclusively from a straw. That was always the only way she would drink water from a cup as well though. So ditto the other moms on the straw suggestion.
She took WCM milk cold and not mixed with anything right away so I was lucky but the doctor did suggest warming it (which I see you have tried) and he also suggested mixing it with breastmilk and then slowly cutting down on the amount of breastmilk I was mixing it with if she gave me a problem. I'm sure formula would work too if that's what she is used to.
A toddler can have a healthy diet without drinking milk. It isn't replacing breastmilk/formula, it is just a healthy source of calcium/protein/etc. that is one part of what we offer toddlers to eat.
Offer milk and other dairy products on a regular basis. Let her choose what and how much to eat, just like everything else. Neither of my kids drank a lot of milk from 12-24 months. Now DD drinks a lot and DS still prefers water but drinks some milk. They both love yogurt and cheese, so I never worry that they are low on calcium.
I really struggled with getting M to take to WCM. She hated the sippy cup. We skipped it. Straight to a straw cup. It took awhile to find the right one. Playtex Lil Gripper with the handles is what finally worked for several months and now finally she can take any straw cup. I especially like the weighted straw in the Lollacup ($$$) during the bottle/sippy/straw cup transition when they are learning to not tilt the cup to get the liquid like a bottle.
My ped wasn't concerned with the smaller amount of milk that M took in because she did love her other sources of dairy. Just keep offering.