Got Milk?

I had the same problem with my son. The best advice I gotr was Chocolate milk. You could add Hershey's syrup or to sneak in some extra vitamin try Ovaltine. It worked like a charm.

My son would not drink milk either when we first started offering it to him. I had to put strawberry syrup in it. I only put one or two tsp. in it and he was fine with it. Now he will drink it with or with out strawberry syrup. However when I really want him to drink milk I add chocolate syrup to it. He jsut gobbles it down or I hold a cup with a lid on it and let him drink out of a straw. He loves it. He is 18 months now. I did not wean him from the breast till he was 16 months old.

My children too went through a time when they wouldn't drink milk. I just added it to juice and then reduced the amount of juice on a daily basis until now they love milk. It didn't take very long. Just make sure that there are no allergies that might be giving her an upset tummy.
P. F

I would try adding something to flavor the milk or make it smell more appealing to her. Or maybe go to the store and let her pick out her own special milk sippy cup.

My son wasn't too crazy about milk, so we started putting a little Ovaltine in it. The jar says to add two tablespoons... we only put in 1 tsp. That is enough to do the trick. As he has gotten older (he is 3 now) he started asking for it sometimes with Ovaltine and sometimes just plain.

Good luck and keep us posted on how she is doing!

J.
www.MindBodyBabyStL.com

According to our pediatrician, milk with a tsp of Ovaltine is better than other drinks that contain a lot of sugar like most juices and some yoghurt drinks.

Nutrition is a tricky thing. My dad used to say that the only thing that NEEDS cow's milk is a calf. It's a nutritious food, but not the only one. Calcium fortified OJ has the same calcium as in milk. You didn't mention how old your daughter was, but maybe she would eat cheese or yogurt. There are milk/yogurt blends. Maybe even a smoothie type drink? If you use milk in a smoothie type drink, try something without lactose. Cow's milk may be upsetting her stomach or give her gas. It may not be so bad for you to notice, but it may be enough that it makes her uncomfortable.

Keep trying, she's going to change her likes and dislikes her whole life. Be flexible.

I agree with Suzi to try almond milk. I use it alot for a variety of things.

I personally do not believe in consuming cows milk. I know what all the "experts" say, but think about it, we are the only species to drink another species milk. We are also one of only a few nations to continue to drink milk past weaning. If we are being so proactiving and encouraging the consumption of milk, why do we continue to have some of the worlds highest osteoporosis rates?
I don't believe that dairy sources of calcium for stronger bones. Yes there is more calcium in milk than broccoli but the calcium from plant sources is absorbed more than dairy sources. I personally am 46 years old and paid for a bone density study out of my pocket last year to prove to my doctor that if you have an otherwise healthy diet you don't need milk for healthy bones. My report showed I had the healthy bones of a 20 year old at 45! He couldn't argue with the facts in front of him.
I also agree with another poster about getting your fat from healthier sources like some fish, avocados, olives etc. Our brains, especially those young brains, need fat to function properly.
Oops! Sorry J., I just read you are an ICU nurse. I am a registered nurse and in the last 25 years have worked, med-surg, as a pulmonary clinician, office nurse for pulmonologists, home health, in the research industry and in the legal field. In the past 6-7 years I have realized that we, as medical professionals really don't know and/or really understand nutrition and it's role in disease prevention.
I know I think differently that most nurses and docs, but since I've changed the way we eat we are rarely sick. And that includes limiting our milk.

Good Luck

Lori K.

I honestly don't understand doctors on this. Yes, their brains are growing and yes they need fat. But there are better fats. First of all, try almond milk and some of the others. They do have the right kinds of fats in them. Try yogurt which is a fabulous thing. The fat content is low but it's good enough. Of course, cheese is good. What about some sort of nuts? Start slow if you haven't tried. But the fat in nuts is a good type of fat. Try some fish products. That's probably some of the best type of fat ever. Avacado fat is good too. You can look up some recipes for that.

I'm not a big fan of flavoring milk for kids so that they won't ever drink it plain. But I do think adding a couple scoops of yogurt and a little fresh fruit and making it into a very thin smoothie is an excellent way to pack in the milk.

Don't forget that many kids are allergic to milk. She may actually be trying to tell you something and not even know it. She's just spent the last year or more drinking it day and night. She's just sick of it.

I am a big fan of carnation breakfast drinks. They add vitamins and kids like it. I know, it's flavor. But at least it makes sense. I can't stand those stupid syrups that offer no nutritional value. Just know that if you get it started you'll have to do it this way for a long time to come.

Also, assuming she doesn't develop or show signs of an allergy or intolerance, she'll be getting plain milk on cereal. So as she matures plain milk will grow on her. But even if it doesn't, I think I just gave you lots of ways to get both Calcium and good fats into her diet.

Suzi

My dd is almost 2 1/2 and she doesn't drink a drop of milk. Her ped isn't concerned b/c she loves yougurt so much we (hubby and I) tease her and sy she is going to turn into yogurt and we are going to eat her up! Knowing that yogurt and cheese are great sources of calcuim we are not concerned, we just wish she would drink more water. I saw a pp say that you could try fish, nuts, olives or avocado for good fat sources and let me say my dd loves all of the them.
She loves to eat walnuts and tilapia (good bland choice to start with) and salmon. She loves black olives (espceially putting them on hre fingers) and avocados, which I started out giving her plain chunks, but as she has grown we have started giving her guacamole (I leave it in chunks instead of mushing it up) and she loves the taste of it.
Good luck and as others have said don't worry too much she will grow out of it and drink it when she needs it.

I have 3 boys ages 5,3,& 1, and we had the same problem with the two oldest. We tried every type of milk out there, but they just wouldn't drink it. I was talking to one of the doctors on the floor that I was working on at the hospital, and he told me to try the pediasure drinks. My kids loved them and they provided them all of the nutrients that they needed. They also come in different flavors. Hope this helps.

My son was allergic to milk (milk proteins actually, which includes soy milk as well) and had to be on a hypo-allergenic formula when he was a baby. My ped. suggested Rice milk when we were done with formula, since we can't go the soy route. We buy Rice Dream and it's actually cheaper than milk these days! And it's fortified with most of the same vitamins that milk has.
My son has mostly outgrown his milk allergy now (he's two and a half), but when I've tried to see if he'll make the switch over to regular cow's milk, he hates it. He much prefers the taste of his rice milk!

J.,
Other sources of calcium are in certain veggies, yogart and cheeses. Plus, if she is old enough and doesn't have an allergy to eggs, you can add the milk there. Maybe calling it something else (like moo juice) or adding a little chocolate or strawberry to the milk might help. Maybe make her a smoothie with yogart could help with the problem. Or you could cook instant oatmeal with the milk in it. I wouldn't worry too much about her not drinking milk. You have different ways to get the calcium in her diet. Another thing is just put the cup on the table. Don't offer it to her, just leave it. if she sees it is not a big deal to her she might calm down and start drinking it on her own, making it less tramatizing for her. Just some ideas for you to think about.

Magi

Magi

We were also told to give our daughter whole milk because of the high fat content, but she did not like the milk. We tried Ovaltine, and she loves it. It is also very good for her with all the vit. it has in it. Good luck.

I can't get my 2 year old to drink milk to save my life. She was on soy for the longest time (lactose intolerant) and just stopped drinking it...She also screams like we're torturing her if we try and get her to drink it. I just keep offering it and in the meantime give her a multi-vitamin. I also try and make sure she gets the "good" fats from somewhere- she loves olives and avocado, etc.

When I first read your post I didn't think milk liking milk was actually the problem. It sounded like she just doesn't want to drink it from a cup because she thinks it should be in a bottle and she likes it that way. I'm also not sure how old your sweet baby is, but my daughter was kind of like that when she was around a year old. She did not want to stop drinking out of the bottle and at the time I was going back to work and our babysitter highly believed she should drink from a cup. Well, she struggled with her and I caved, of course, and in the end, a couple months down the road she gave up the bottle easily on her own. She just wasn't ready yet. Good luck.

Yogurt and cheese are both great alternatives to milk. My youngest wasn't a big fan of drinking milk either and his doctor said that as long as he was enjoying plenty of yogurt and cheese, he was fine. Keep offering it to her, but not too aggressively. It's great that you were finally able to wean her off that nighttime milk-binge and you don't want to bring it back. Good luck!

Maybe she doesn't like whole milk. If she will drink 2 percent and does fine with it maybe get her to drink that first then try whole milk again later after she gets used to drinking milk. You may also try sweet acidopholis which I have only seen in 1/2 gallon size in some of the local grocery stores here. I haven't seen it at Walmart though but when my daughter was little- she would throw up often and we switched to this milk and she did a lot better. It taste a lot better too and was recommended by WIC in Tennessee and they had it available in gallons everywhere there but not sure it is available on WIC here. We would still be drinking it if it wasn't hard to find and wasn't more expensive as it is easier to digest and we loved the taste of it.

When I got rid of my nephews bottles (my sister in law asked me to while she went on vacation) he would only drink water out of a cup. He has not drank milk since and the pediatrician said it was ok as long as he ate other dairy products such as ice cream, cheese etc. It has been well over a year and my nephew has yet to drink a single thing besides water. He won't touch juice, soda, kool aid anything. He will be 4 in October. Hope this helps!

My daughter did not like to drink milk at first either. She never threw a fit or anything, she just wouldn't drink it if is was offered to her. She did eat lots of cheese and yogurt so I was not worried about her nutrition and neither was her doctor. I just kept offering it to her and eventually she started drinking it just fine. Most of the time I would put a cup of milk and a cup of juice on her try so that she could choose and then when she ran out of juice, she didn't get anymore until she drank some milk. She still prefers juice but will take milk over water any day. As long as she is getting the vitamins and stuff from other things, I won't worry too much about the milk. In fact, I just had my doctor tell me on Wednesday that they are starting to rethink that whole only whole milk until they are two thing. I give my youngest 2% milk because she would drink more of it then the whole milk and he said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Just keep trying and she will get better about it.