My 13 month old loves to sip on her straw cup all day long. It's nothing pathalogical, she just loves to drink. It doesn't affect her eating as she is a good eater as well. I'm just not sure what I should be putting in her cup. She drinks a variety of milks (mostly rice and cows, some soy and hemp), and in between that she has either plain water or diluted juice. It just seems like she's downing an awful lot of milk! I know it is nutritious, I'm just not sure if I should be offering more water, and/or some more food snacks in between meals instead of drinks. As it is she has 3 meals with small snacks in between. Her growth/weight are completely normal. Do I just keep doing what I'm doing?
2-3 cups of milk is all they need at this age I would be a little concerned if she is constantly thirsty that is one of the first signs of diabetes.
If she eats well and is taking 2-3 cups of milk daily, I would just keep water on hand for her to sip on.
J. L.
According to my doctor, a 13 month old can get between 24-30 oz of milk a day. Then at 15 months it goes down to 15-20 oz a day. However different doctors may say different things. I have friends whose kids still drink more than they are supposed to and they are fine. Some kids just prefer milk to other drinks and I personally believe its better for them to drink something as opposed to nothing. Hope this helped :)
I'd offer more water. Three 8 ounce cups of milk is plenty of milk at this age. Some kids are drinkers and others aren't. Even though she's eating for you fine now the very stubborn streak of suddenly foods she loved she doesn't anymore is right around the corner. You don't want her filling up on drinks all day long either. It might be a good idea to limit the sippy cup to just in the high chair except for water.
Hi R.,
Sorry I have not read any of the response so I am not sure if I am repeating here but my sons doctor advised me that I should not allow any more then 24 oz a day at the most. She said that there is something in milk that blocks the absorption of iron.
My daughter is a milk lover too. They're supposed to drink 16-20 oz of milk per day. I started limiting my daughter's milk when she was drinking more than 30 oz. I wasn't worried about the fat, but about the sodium. In my opinion, if she's drinking more than 24 oz of milk per day, you can substitute water (preferentially) or diluted juice (which I give sparingly, but only because it interferes with my daughter's appetite for food.
What your doing is fine but as far as costs go I would shift to more water. A book that I have read said that toddlers only need 16 ounces of milk a day. Which for my kid is 3 sippy cups full. He has one sippy cup for meals and another for around the house which is just water. This also makes it easier if there is a spill!
Hope this was helpful, Nat
Cow's milk and soy are not good for her. There's lots of research to show this.
Keep up with the rice milk! My son and husband love oat milk as well!
E.:-)
I would give her milk at certain times of the day and then give her a sippy cup with water the remainder of the day. If you keep her busy she may be more unlikely to keep drinking throughout the day. But water is important throughout theday. She should be drinking more water than juice. Juice is tasty and if I gave my son juice all day, he would drink it all day. The more milk and water and juice she drinks all day the less room she will have room for solid foods. At around 14 months I started to feed my son first thing in the morning yogurt, oatmeal and and applesauce and then an hour later I would give him milk because if I did the opposite he wouldn't eat anything. I think babies at this age should be drinking between 16 and 24 oz of milk and only juice if they are constipated, only because juice can be addicting. I would also do more fruits peaches, pears, etc. throughout the day. They have water in them but more nutrition. Best wishes.
