My (Almost) 22 Month Old Son Wont Drink Milk Anymore,any Sugestions?

Have you tried introducing him to cottage cheese? You can make it savory by mixing it with salt and pepper and even tuna fish, or sweet by mixing with apple sauce or canned crushed pineapple. It's also good alone seved with pita chips.

My daughter gave up when when she gave up her bottle at 14 months. She is now 2-1/2 and the only milk she drinks is the little in her cereal. She eats lots of cheeses and drinks at least 1-2 yogurt drinks a day. At this age, as long and you can other milk products into him, you'll be fine. And be sure to discuss it at his 2 year checkup.

My 28 month old son stopped drinking milk completely about 3 months ago when we switched from a bottle to a sippy cup. (He had been drinking about 24-30 oz a day.) No matter how I present it to him, he refuses to drink it (sippy cup, regular cup, with/without straw, chocolate...nothing!). When I spoke to the doctor about this, she said not to worry as long as he was getting his dairy/calcium from other sources such as yogurt and cheese. So, just try to give him the things that he does like, even if it means daily grilled cheese sandwiches (mine eats them about every other day) and yogurt (every day for lunch). It may seem boring or not varied enough to you, but it will be fine for him.

Hi Tina,
He is smarter than most people!!!
You may want to try rice milk. Actually we get more calcium from dark green veggie's and salads.
Milk actually drains calcium out of our bones!

C.

Don't think of it as lacking milk in his diet to be healthy. My son does not drink milk either, but he gets calcium from other sources, cheese, broccoli, spinach fortified breads and juices and pasta. Start checking the back of foods for the calcium amount. A child your son's age typically needs abuot 500 mg of calcium a day. A single piece of bordan's fortified american cheese (almost all kids love it) has about 400 mg. Make a grilled cheese sandwich with fortified bread (such as wonder whole grain white with calcium)..and if he eats the whole thing, he's added about 700 mg of calcium to his diet. I have several friends that believe that milk is for baby cows, not children. Although i do not agree with this totally,I do believe that milk is not the essential diet ingredient that it is held to be. Milk fat can be unhealthy, and I've known children that will drink nothing but milk because it satisfies them, and they refuse to try other things as a result.
Another good source of calcium that is kid friendly is a chicken nugget found in the tofu section called "chick-un" They are delicious and have about 400 mgs of calcium per serving.

Hi Tina,

It's much too early to worry... At this age, kids have tastes and desires that change. I'm also the mom to a very active, always in movement, picking and small eater, now 6, and one of my worries would be that he would be missing some nutrients. He had periods where he wouldn't eat anything else than milk and cheerios, or refused to drink his milk, or other food. He's still perfectly fine. All I did was make sure that he would still get the nutrients he needs (milk is only one of the ways to get calcium, fat and protein in his diet), and monitored for weight loss/lack of weight gain, and modifications in his energy level.

There may be many reasons why he refuses to drink milk, from temporary change in what he likes and doesn't like to lactose intolerance, but I think unless you notice a change in his weight or behavior, your little boy is most likely still getting what he needs to grow healthily. Keep presenting the milk, varying the containers and types, and at some point he'll most likely start it taking it again. If you are truly worried, talk to your pediatrician, he or she will be able to suggest alternatives.

K.

hi tina,

i have a now 23-mo daughter who was a good eater up until a couple months ago. she is also on the small side 10th percentile and skinny. she is still drinking her milk, though. i have a friend who has her children on pediasure because they won't drink milk. i was stressing about her being too skinny until i talked to one of the doctors i work with. she said when she was worried about her son being skinny, her pediatrician said "let him be skinny. he has a lifetime to catch up". i haven't worried since.

Double check, but I asked about that a while back, and really milk if insignificant at that age, as long as he's getting his dairy in yogurt / cheese / etc you're golden. What I did do at one point was get some of the little drinkable yogurts, he got such a kick out of those he wanted a couple a day. plus his regular yogurt Stonyfield Farms baby yogurt... Good Luck, but I woudn't worry too much, think of all the kids out there that are allergic to dairy and can't drink it at all, they are healthy! So you're okay...

Hi Tina,

You wrote "I’m real worried about his sudden change and worried that it will make him totally drop off the growth charts by the time his 24 month appointment rolls in."

There is nothing wrong with your son. He is growing up and his body is very intelligent. Milk is for babies. No other species drink milk after babyhood. Seriously, there is no need for anyone to drink this white liquid that is meant for the baby cow.

Milk that is pasteurized and homogenized is very difficult to digest. Cheese is even more difficult.

There are plenty of resources out there for you to educate yourself on this subject. As far as him not growing well without milk - if all he ate was milk products than you would just have to widen the selection of foods you are offering to him. There is nothing wrong with being thin. We also need to listen to what our bodies communicate to us. When we constantly ignore the signals our body give us and follow our brain instead (milk is necesseray for strong bones and other misconceptions we have been fed by the media for all these years) - we can end up with a lot of health problems down the road.

Everything will work out in the long run. I highly recommend you look for recipes in healthy cook books so you have a wide variety of dishes you can make for him and your family. My favorite is Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair.

Breakfast can be anything. It does not have to revolve around dairy. (Cook your oatmeal with water, offer some other sources of protein instead of the usual yogurt or cereal etc).

We live in a country where it is super confusing for most of us to figure out what is healthy and what is not. The media and the FDA does a wonderful job to make sure folks are mislead.
And your pediatrician or family physician is usually clueless, too, when it comes to nutrition.

If you need recommendations for books on this subject, let me know.

All the best!

C.

Tina,
22 months is about the time when kids cut back on their milk consumption because they are eating more solid foods to get the nutrition that is in milk.
You could try offering him orange juice that is fortified with calcium in the morning.
Broccoli is a great source of calcium.
Chewable multi-vitamins help to round out whatever is missing in the diet.
Hopefully your picky eater likes yogurt. That's a great solution that was mentioned by at least one other Mom.

All you can do is keep offering him the healthy foods. If he is hungry, then he'll eat. Usually, a toddler's eating habbits balance out on a weekly basis. He may not get all the vitamins that he needs in one day, but if you average out the week, he does get what he needs.

Try not to let the "chart" get to you. He won't waste away, I promise! ;-)

try the whole milk yogurt by Stoneyfield, usually in the organic section. i usually mix it with some flavored applesauce. try rice milk it is sweeter than regular or almond milk

relax!!! my youngest son,(now 16 yrs old) as soon as we took his bottle away refused any dairy product! except cheese! go figure! don'r make a big deal out of it! Joey has pretty much become a vegitarian. will eat chicken! sometimes steak. as long as your son is getting some kind of protein let it be~ he'll come around. he'll eat what he sees his brothers eat! just don't make it an issue! you'll see! God bless~ no worries! breni

I feel like a broken record on this board. Milk is not the "golden liquid" people in the US make is out to be. Your son can get plenty of healthy fats from meat, oils, avocado, coconut, seed/nuts (you can get them in butter/spread forms if your worried about choking), etc. Calcium look into green veggies, sesame and fish or other dairy products. Vitamin D is best gotten from spending some time in the sun every day.

As for dropping off the charts--don't worry about it. People (including doctors) put way to much emphasis on those charts. They are averages of all children--if you have no other indication that something is wrong with your child, being small/skinny is not a problem. Look for an active healthy child--don't try to "fatten him up", just make sure that he always has a heathy variety of things to eat.

Here's some of what my dairy and soy free 20 month old DD Loves to eat:
veggie sticks with avocado dip (avocado w/ a splash of lime and some salt & pepper)
veggie sticks with homemade mayonnaise
veggie sticks with pesto (basil is her favorite, but loves any kind really--use GOOD olive oil)
veggie sticks with tapenade (olive or eggplant are great)
yaki tori (salt flavor) (grilled chicken skin w/ salt & herbs)
fish (sushi, grilled, baked, any way you can make it.)
coconut milk in baked goods
nuts & seeds--she eats them whole or crushed, but nut&seed butters are good too.
marinated veggies add a splash of oil to them
stir fries

--Just noticed you mentioned picky eating. This can be a sign of allergy/food sensitivity. Try removing ALL dairy from your son's diet and see if his eating improves. (For more info on picky eating and food sensitivities check out Doris Rapp's "Is this your child")

Hi,

My 25 month old was breastfed until 15 months, and has never wanted any milk. He refused it at 12 months, which is why I nursed him 3 more months, at my 15 month appt, the dr told me to wean him, and he would be fine without milk. So here we are 10 months later, and he still will not drink milk. He will drink those healthy kiddie yogurt shakes, eat white american cheese, eat ice cream (healthy vanilla), and we give him orange juice that is fortified with vitamin D and calcium. My dr is not at all worried about him not drinking milk, he said some kids just are not interested, and as long as they are getting the fats and nutrients that milk provides, they will be fine. Just push the other stuff.

J.