My 2 1/2 Year Old Daughter Is Continuely Asking for Milk?

Updated on August 20, 2010
K.A. asks from Jacksonville, AR
11 answers

I know that you should limit milk to a toddler or preschooler to 3 cups. I do try, but she is very insistent. Lately, I have been offering her cheerios or chocolate shredded mini wheats as a substitute with a cup of water to wash it down with. Sometimes she will accept it and other times she won't. I want to give her a healthy substitute and steer clear of sweets such as cookies. Does anybody have any ideas for healthy substitutes?

Ok, let me add that she has constipation problems that I have to treat with a daily dose of prune juice. Dairy foods are constipating. This is another reason for limiting her milk.

Here is info on how much milk a 2 year old should get:

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/agesstages/a/two_years.htm

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So What Happened?

I am not looking to switch milks!!!! I am just looking for ideas for healthy snacks that I can offer in place of the extra milk she is begging for. She LOOOOOOVES milk but my doctor told me to limit it to 3 cups. She would drink milk all day and not eat anything if I did not limit it.

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C.T.

answers from Fayetteville on

My 3 year old loves milk-I typically give it to her in small amounts since I know she will want more later. Also I was told that pear juice was better than apple juice and less 'unpredictable' than prune juice-not to mention it tastes better-for constipation. If I can get my dd to drink a cup of pear juice every day she has a bm every day-otherwise she has lots of trouble. And sometimes I just have to say no more-yes she may whine and cry but that's part of being the parent.

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M.L.

answers from Houston on

Give her 1% milk instead of 2%, or 2% instead of whole milk, that will reduce the fats she in in taking by double the milk she is getting. Or, offer her rice, almond or soy milk too. Milk is a much healthier alternative than cereal. I haven't ever heard of 3 cups of milk as a limit for a toddler.

Also, she may like the cool taste of milk, so offer her cheese sticks or yogurt.

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Okay, the constipation thing makes since now. I also remember that a lot of milk consumption can give them full tummies so they won't want to eat at meal times, so offer the milk as a snack after meals.

Soy milk is good for constipation because is soften's stools so that could be a great compromise. Also more fiber,:

"Increase the amount of water and fruit juices (minimum of 2-3 glasses) that your child drinks each day.

Increase fiber: Increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables that your child eats. Raw, unpeeled fruits and vegetables (especially beans, sweet potatoes, peas, turnip greens, raw tomatoes and corn) have the most fiber. Popcorn also has lots of fiber in it. Give enough grams of fiber to equal their age in years plus 5 each day (check the nutritional label for high fiber foods and snacks with at least 3-4g of fiber per serving). Vegetable soups are especially high in fiber and also add more fluid to your child's diet.

Increase bran in your child's diet by offering bran cereals, bran muffins, shredded wheat, graham crackers, or whole wheat bread."

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/toddler/toddlerproblems/co...

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E.M.

answers from Louisville on

well you can either not offer it at all or try flavoring water and i dont lean with sugar drinks things like cucumbers oranges lemons limes strawberry cherries you get the idea. but humans are the only mammal that drinks after weaned from their mother its really not that important as long as your child normally eats healthy

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A.B.

answers from Tulsa on

When my 3yr old get into the milk kick
And nothing else will do... I add a little
Water to her sippy of milk. Helps the bm
And she's happy.

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A.J.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Three glasses is a lot for whole milk, however if she is given 2% I see no problem with it all. She would have to drink a lot of glasses of 2% to make up 3 glasses of whole milk.
Call you pediatrician's nurse and ask her.

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B.B.

answers from New York on

My 2 year old is constantly asking for milk. I can usually get him to drink something else, but when he is really insistant on it...I give him a very small amount to satisfy his craving. That seems to work, he brings his sippy back to me in like a minute and I say "You finished your milk, good boy!" and act like it was a whole cup of milk. It works!

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

Our daughter is the same age and has similar issues. All she wants to drink is milk, and she's had encopresis that we have to treat with daily Miralax in her milk.

At 23 months, per the pediatrician, we switched her to 1% and skim milk to lower the fat content. We also can get away with putting 1/2 water and 1/2 milk (or less milk) into a sippy cup and she gets the flavor she prefers (NO complaints from her yet).

I wouldn't try to break her milk preference, but I'd try watering it down so it prevents the constipation. I'd also ask your pediatrician about using Miralax in lieu of prune juice.

I'm not a huge fan of Pediatrics.com (just 1 pediatrician's opinion), I prefer HealthyChildren.org, it is the parenting website of the American Academy of Pediatrics (with over 56K pediatrician members). Here's what they have listed for milk intake:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

Good luck!

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J.N.

answers from San Francisco on

Do you have a whole foods or trader joes near by? We love the snacks you can find. Also make banana bread or zucchini bread. Apple slices with peanut butter or sunflower butter.

C.C.

answers from Fresno on

You could try soy or rice milk instead, maybe? I ended up going with raw milk. Surprisingly it did not cause the issues in my kids that pasteurized milk did. Obviously you have to be very careful about where you buy it (we bought ours directly from Organic Pastures dairy, but we live nearby so we can do that =). It's expensive and lasts only a few days but the taste is fantastic and like I said, it didn't cause constipation problems. Of course I didn't realize raw milk existed until I had been doing the soy milk thing for a while.

You can also try putting a hefty spoonful of Miralax in her milk. It is not a laxative; rather it makes the stool softer and easier to pass. Our pedi told us that it is completely safe in children of this age, and you can use as much as you need to.

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R.K.

answers from Boston on

my 3 yr old has the same issue. He gets a cup of milk in the morning and one with dinner the rest of his dairy is from snacks. Both my boys love water but if your daughter doesn't you could just water down some juice. Increase her fiber this is where I run into problems because he won't touch most fruits and veggies except during the summer when he can pick them outside. Our ped has said the best fruits for constipation are the "p" fruits prunes, peaches, pears

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S.G.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Try Juicy Juice. Or any 100% fruit juice. Just make sure it doesn't have any preservatives or colors added. We water it down, 1/2 juice 1/2 water to keep the calories down.
Apple juice or apples, peaches or peas, help with constipation. I can almost see results immediately with the apples. Of course when constipation is an issue, I don't water down the apple juice.
Take care!

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