1 Year Old Won't Drink Milk

Some kids just don't like it. If you watch the other foods' sugars, you could try chocolate or strawberry milk. Or, can you try some cheese or other dairy foods, to get the needed nutrients?

Hi -
2 quick things...
1 -My little guy took about a month or more of offering him milk before he started liking it. Just keep offering it.

2 -I myself don't really like milk, but my neighbor gave me this bit of advice. She loves milk, but was explaining to me how different the brands taste. Maybe you should try a different brand. She said there are definitely some she wouldn't drink.

Good luck!

I think your doctor is being stupid. What have babies/toddlers drank for hundreds of years before we started giving them cow's milk? Right- breastmilk.
I would keep nursing, don't worry about getting him to drink other milk, and just make sure he eats cheese, yogurt, and peanut butter (unless there's an allergy) and other high-fat nutritious foods to get his required fats. Good luck and good for you for nursing your toddler!

Sweetheart, you're baby's fine. It's ok if he's nursing and drinking water...in fact, that's *MY* ideal situation for my 13 month old wee ones. You can give your child pleanty of the fats s/he needs with your milk and with the foods you allow him/her to dabble in; nuts, avacado, things prepared with olive oil, veggies with salad dressing (not much of the dressing), etc... The vit D is best from the sun anyway, 15 minutes out of the day will give him/her more Vit D than several gallons of milk.

If your son doesn't want milk, so be it.

If you want the complete low down on breatmilk you NEED to consult the WORLD authority on breastmilk: www.llli.org Sadly, the average everyday doctor does NOT have much knowledge about breastmilk, or "nutrition" for that matter. If you want to get reliable information on what fats, minerals, vitamins, proteins, and carbohydrates you're wee one needs the best thing to do is to consult a registered nutritionist (dietician) whom you can find by calling the hospital or several different clinics...you'll want to choose one that's familiar with working in pediatrics.

I think you can breathe easy though, your wee one is doing well...and so are you. :)

Sorry, but your doctor is wrong. Breastmilk retains its advantages as long as you continue to breastfeed. In fact, as your baby moves into his second year, the nutrients in breastmilk start to concentrate so your toddler, who typically drinks less breastmilk, is still getting full nutrients! For more articles about nursing toddlers, you can go to La Leche League's website at www.llli.org or www.kellymom.com. The KellyMom site has some especially good articles. Read the information about toddler nursing, and also about what to do when your toddler can't/won't drink milk.

Cow's milk is one of those things that has become religious doctrine for doctors without a whole lot of evidence to back it up. Many children are allergic or intolerant to milk and dairy, and they do just fine. There are whole cultures that do not eat/drink dairy, and they also develop just fine. My second daughter is violently intolerant of milk, and she has never had problems with growth or development. Human babies are designed to drink human milk. Human milk is designed to nourish human babies. When your son is not getting enough nourishment from your milk, he will get hungry and start seeking out solid foods. It's a beautifully designed system! One thing that (I think) is important is not to "dress up" milk with sugary junk like Ovaltine. It's not okay to add a bunch of refined sugar, fat and chemicals to food just to get kids to eat/drink it. The advantages of the original food are then outweighed by the junk of what you added to it. Additionally, you teach kids to develop a taste for processed junk food. If your son doesn't like milk, just leave him alone. He'll either warm up to it later, or he won't. It may be that he doesn't like it because his body does not tolerate it well. In the meantime, make sure you are giving him nutritious, high-quality, fresh foods. He will do beautifully. At this point, the most important thing you can do for him is to keep nursing. Way to go, mama!

Best of luck,
S.

Give him cheese, yogurt, cottage creese, etc. There are tons of whole milk products that are tasty. I hate milk too!!

I don't believe that you asked for an opinion on whether your doctor was right or not, so I'll answer your actual question!!

Since he prefers breastmilk, I would mix whole milk with that first. Express breastmilk and add just a tiny bit of milk. Over the course of a week (or more), gradually add more and more milk until the mix is more milk than breastmilk. Eventually it will be all milk.

It sounds like the biggest hurdles will be weaning him and getting him more interested in the sippy cup. My guess it that once you decide to officially wean him, things will go more smoothly. Right now he loves to nurse and as long as that's an option, he has no motivation to try anything else!!

Good luck.

I didn't read through all the responses, but it sounds like you got some great comments. I just wanted to offer you reassurance that you're doing great. You might like the book "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler," which is published by La Leche League. That book is one of my very favorites for this in-between time.
LLL has saved my sanity as a mother so many times. I highly recommend consulting that book and even attending a meeting--there are several meetings in the Salt Lake area and children are always welcome.
Human milk is scientifically proven again and again to be the superior infant food, and by far a child's best nutritional start in life for a thousand reasons. There's no need to introduce extra sugars, high fructose corn syrup, oils, flavorings or anything else when you're already offering perfection. Really. Think how much better off we'd all be if we just drank more water. That your child will willingly drink water means he drinks to thirst appropriately but does not ingest lots of empty calories with juice and such that displace his appetite for trying other foods. To me, it sounds like a *very* healthy and economical habit you don't want to break! The fat in cow milk is all saturated fat; if your child is below the typical growth curve or you are genuinely worried about offering enough fat, nursing is the ultimate answer and there are many healthy foods with unsaturated fats you can offer your little one. His brain will definitely not suffer for lack of cow's milk, so rest easy.
Best wishes!

My oldest daughter did this as well. Eventually adding about a tsp of Ovaltine to it did the trick, but in the meantime, cheese and yogurt will meet his needs just fine. Yo Baby makes an awesome yogurt made from whole milk for kids under 2 years old; you can find it at most grocery stores. They even make some with cereal added for some extra iron (also lacking in breastmilk). I have only seen this variety at Whole Foods and Target though. All my kids loved it. My pediatricion said that his concern is usually for kids who drink too much milk (more than 16 oz per day) because it fills them up and they miss out on eating much more nutritious foods throughout the day. Hope this helps!

My daughter stopped breastfeeding at 11 months. just quit but refused milk. after a month I was exasperated and met with our pediatrician and he said don't fight her, find alternatives. give her yogurt (which we had been doing) ice cream, chocolate milk, strawberry milk etc. if you don't make a big deal about it she will drink regular milk eventually. so that is what happened. she is 3 1/2 now and loves milk. I'm glad we didn't fight her and just let it be. she had lots of milk shakes but still prefers celery and carrots and pears as her treats of choice--so I think we did the right thing for us.

hi. my daughter was the same - exclusively breast fed until 13 months - and also refused to drink milk for several months. i just kept offering it. not at every meal but every few days. eventually she started to drink it and even ask for it. until then, please don't worry! you can find good fats and vitamin d in lots of other things. how about plain yogurt? i also made banana milk with frozen bananas, milk, and sometimes a scoop of peanut butter in a blender. this is hard to resist! homemade vanilla pudding worked too - you don't need to add much sugar at all. take care!

I switched my kids to cow's milk a few months ago and my doctor (who is a mother - has several children) recommended we do it cold turkey; give them no other liquids but cow's milk from a sippy. She said they may not drink as much as usual for a few days, but that they'd start drinking like crazy pretty quickly. We decided to try it and it worked with both kids. It took them more like four to five days to get really good and because I'm paranoid I watched closely for signs of dehydration, but there were none.

Now they're expert sippy drinkers and love their milk. I'm also very careful about not giving them any juice until they've had a good amount of milk. When I do give them juice, it's not much. They drink lots of milk and water and get their fruit servings from actual fruit, rather than juice.

All four of my kids HATED milk. I breast fed all of them until they were about 15-18 months old, and then straight to a cup. With all of them, the only thing they would drink is water. I remember being worried about them not getting certain vitamins...but as long as he is eating yogurt or cheese he is getting all the calcium and vitamin D that he needs. My Doc just told me to make sure they get foods rich in those things and they will be fine. He can also get the good fats from many foods. Cheese is a great way to add some fat and protein to his diet. My kids are older and still to this day will not drink milk from a cup. The only way they will touch milk is in cereal. Breast milk is so much sweeter than cow's milk and that is why it is hard for breast fed babies to make that crossover. As long as he is eating and trying new foods he is doing fine. Hope that helps. Good luck!

I am in the same boat. My doctor suggested that I give my daughter yogurt with active cultures in it to help prevent her from developing an intolerance for dairy products. Keep offering it to him. The more I offer it, the more willing she is to take a sip, but a sip is all. It is a start though. Good luck.

My daughter went through something like this. She was 15 months and stopped drinking milk. We did the whole fat yogurt, string cheese and other good fats like avocado. I always gave a sippy of milk and water at meals so she could choose. She also got milk on cereal. Now at 21 months she'll drink milk.

Mine didn't like milk much until we weaned at 28 months. We did do other dairy, though, like cheese and yogurt.

Good luck! We did fats like avocado, and I gave her a liquid DHA supplement from Nordic Naturals.

G/L!

I had this issue with my youngest son. He was breastfed until almost 16 months old. I introduced whole milk at 12 months and he refused just like your son. I just kept offering at every meal and he eventually drank it. He now loves milk and can't get enough.

I just recommend consistently giving it to him, like you would with certain foods. He will eventually pick it up and drink it. Good luck!

Make it a GREAT day!

S.

My good friends little boy was just like this. He refused anything but water. Sad to say that he is still the same way. He will drink chocolate milk once a day and now that he is 5 he will drink the milk left in the bowl after eating cereal. He will not drink anything else. Just make sure your son is getting calcium and the fats from other dairy products like cheese and yogurt and he will be fine I am sure.

I know most mom's don't like to give their children chocolate milk, but have you tried buying the half gallon of pre mixed chocolate milk at the grocery store to see if he will drink it?

Sounds like an amazing boy and I'm so glad that he LOVES to nurse!

How about adding Agave or honey to the milk? If you're drinking it cold, agave has a better glycemic index than honey and comes without the contamination concerns for young children. If you're interested in a sleepy time drink,hHere's a few recipes that includes some interesting milk variations: http://www.mindful-mama.com/blogs/nourish/archive/2009/05...

For vitamin D, Carlson makes a great Vitamin D drop for infants/babies and it won't break the bank. Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption.

For healthy brain development, keep your eyes peeled for DHA fortified products (Horizon makes a great DHA fortified milk). But most of all, engage him in your world and he'll be the smartest kid on the block:-)

Lastly, I know that you aren't interested in alternatives, but you can also try adding coconut milk to cereals and smoothies for added fat and it's pretty inexpensive to buy a can ($1.29), which will last you a few days.

For weekly articles and practical tips on food and nutrition, check out our "Nourish" tab at www.mindful-mama.com and/or sign-up for our newsletter.

Good luck!

Hi S.-
My dd also didn't go for cow's milk at a year, like I'd hoped she would. She loved/s yogurt and cheese. We nursed till she was around 15 mos, but from 12 mos. I kept offering milk in all of her favorite sippy cups with meals and snacks. It took a little over a month but she came around and now we can't keep enough in the fridge!

I'd stay away from offering strawberry or chocolate, as a few friends of mine did. They got their kids to happily drink it but gave them all sorts of sugar and then had trouble getting them to like white milk.

give it time...xo!

I wouldn't stress about the lack of cow's milk. The stuff really isn't all that good for you anyway and we are the only species that drinks milk past infancy. There are other ways to get your good fats, just do a little research and you will still have a happy healthy baby, who will actually be better off for drinking and liking water instead of guzzling gallons of cows milk.

I'd get a second opinion, or do some research on your own. I have a hard time beleving that cow's milk is better than human milk for a baby human. I'm not an expert, but I bet your milk is just perfect for your baby. It changes as your baby grows, but it changes to meet his needs. Maybe look into a vitamin D supplement, if you think he needs it.

Your doctor is wrong. Your baby is smart to refuse it. Breastmilk is the perfect food for young children. Cows milk is never necessary and in fact can be harmful. It's the perfect food for baby cows, though. There is no age at which breast milk is not beneficial, and in fact the World Health Organization and many other health organizations recommend breastfeeding until at least the age of 2. At the age of 1 year, your child should still be getting half of his or her calories from breastmilk, and half from table food, gradually increasing the amount of table foods in the diet until the child weans.

We have never given our children cow's milk, though they eat cultured milk products such as yogurt and cheese as a source of calcium.

I have a 14 month old who would still be happy to nurse (but I am done) and prefers water to anything else in a sippy cup. But, she will drink milk now. Here's how I did it.
- Pumped and gave her breastmilk in a sippy cup. Once she figured out what it was she drained it in an instant.
- Started mixing in milk 1/4 milk to 3/4 breastmilk at first but adding more milk as we went along until it was all milk
- Offered her milk when we are out of the house. (This was the real kicker for us -- once she realized that there wasn't anything else she would drink her milk.)

She's still not really happy about milk and prefers water, but she does get enough milk.
Now for your doctor's comments. He's right that breastmilk changes, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding to one year and as long afterward as both mother and baby want to continue. The World Health Organization encourages mothers in 3rd world countries to nurse until their children are 3 or 4 years old. I didn't want to continue so I stopped, but if you don't mind nursing then HUMAN milk is what is best for your child. Cows milk is great for those that aren't allergic to it (I love milk, my 2 kids and I go through a gallon a day).
Also, I asked my first pediatrician about that whole fat from milk thing to help their brains. There has been no scientific studies to prove that they need the fat from milk. Fat from other dairy products will work just fine -- whole fat yogurt, cheese, sour cream, and whipped cream will work just fine for getting that "fat". You could also get in some other healthy fats like avacados, olive oils, etc.
Hope that helps -- I know it's hard when they don't want to drink milk on their own.

Humans are the only animal that drink the milk from other species...it's not necessary. I would encourage his love of water. Vitamin D can come from eggs, fish, and fortified foods such as cereals and grains.

Good luck!

Hi S.,
If you are nursing, you have the perfect milk for your baby. Your body is designed to feed your baby exactly what he needs. If your doctor suggested that you need to suppliment your milk with milk for baby cows, he is wrong about this issue. He does not need cow's milk. Water, along with your breast milk is all he needs for drinking. I have 6 children. It took me a few to figure this out. My last baby nursed for 2 years, didn't start solids well until about a year (she had issues with food), and has pretty much only had water other than my breast milk. Juice is mostly sugar, which can cause cavities. God designed your milk for your baby. He knows what He's doing. : )

I had some of the same problems with two of my kids. Our DR said to flavor the milk chocolate or strawberry. We use Nesquik or Heshey. I still have one that only drinks flavored milk and one that doesn't drink milk. She likes cheese and yogurt so we give her lots of those instead. Talk with your DR about a suppliment if you think he needs more Vit. D. Also, I know it may be hard, but get him off the breast. Why should he take milk or juice from a cup when he can have breast milk. Until you cut him off completely you don't really know if he will or won't take the milk from the cup from now on. He is controlling you and getting what he wants. Remember it should only take a few days and no harm will come to him without milk for a few days, but keep the water coming and offer him milk in a cup. Good luck.

As you have been told by many of the others, just don't worry about it! If you are nursing than your child is still getting fats and vitamins from you. If you are wondering if your milk still has fat in it, try expressing a small amount into a cup or bottle and put it in the fridge. I would bet you will still see a nice layer of creamy fat rise to the top! Just make sure that you are well fed and you will pass that nourishment on to your child. Cow milk is not a necessity, nor is any other type of milk, for a nursing child. And it is best if you never get on that juice wagon. My child is a total juice addict and it is something we have to fight every day. Water is best, so if he is drinking that up, sounds like things are going well! Good luck and hang in there with the nursing.