My Breastfed 1 Year Refuses Both a Bottle and (Cow's) Milk. Any Suggestions?

They say it's better to just switch to a zippy cup at that age. I'm having the same problem with my baby not taking a bottle when I'm at work. Good luck!

She really doesn't need milk there are plenty of other things she can get calcium from. And at a year if she doesnt like a bottle I wouldn't even bother with it.

Maybe she would like it warmed? That's what she's used to for her milk.
I'd skip the bottle tho, no sense in going there at her current age.
Find a cup with a picture of a boobie on it :) j/k.

There is no reason to have a bottle at her age - kids shouldn't be put to bed with one ever anyways - the natural sugar from milk slowly rots their teeth. Don't worry about milk - just give her lots of green veggies for her calcium and organic cheese/yogurt. Joy of Cooking has a super easy recipe for making your own yogurt, too (lots cheaper).

M.,
Bottle is not necessary if she is taking sippy - I would start the cup instead! you actually don't want to start a new thing when you'd be looking to end it months later so it doesn't start to affect her teeth.

Milk, on the other hand, if you don't have to - don't. Great that you have introduced water - and dilute any juices is great too - but remember to do juices/fruit at the beginning of a meal, rather than the end.

sugar free anything is not good.

I know these are not tips to get her to start...but if she doesn't like - don't force. Besides, she has YOUR milk - which is absolutely wonderful for her - I would continue that (or pump for a while so you have a supply after you are done nursing her) for a long time. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 2 YEARS for nursing - where our own AMA only recommends one. Why is that? No, it's not water supply - it's culture. (and my Chiro took a poll of her patients only to be completely and utterly stunned that most of her families BF WELL into their third year - or beyond! How utterly amazing is that!? How much better for the child!)

Good luck,
M.

Why not the milk in the sippy cup? I think you're supposed to wean from the bottle at a year old anyway. Also, we love Trader Joe's organic chocolate syrup -- not sure if you have those in your area. Everything I've ever read says that if they'll only drink chocolate milk, by all means, serve it!

Skip the bottle - I took both mine off of the bottle by 13 mos anyway. Go to the sippy - good she takes that. I'd mix milk and BM together for a while slowly changing the percentage of cow's milk up... maybe she'll get used to it. Unfortunately some kids just don't like milk... but give the mixing transition a try : )

Hi M.,

I'm sure you have some great answers here. For what my 2 cents is worth, and just to reassure you, it's OK if your daughter doesn't take to cow's milk. Cow's milk is for calves. We have totally exploited the poor cow and it's babies (by stealing their milk). My daughter solely nursed for 21 months and though she has used organic cow's milk throughout her life, kids don't need it. There are plenty of substitutes. I had a girlfriend who NEVER drank cow's milk. Don't you wonder why there are so many dairy allergies? So don't worry about your daughter not taking to milk. You can give her all the nutrients she needs in other beverages and foods.

"Grams"
from the Pocono Mts. of PA

Each child is different.

My 1st child, breastfed exclusively, took milk in a sippy.
My 2nd child, breastfed exclusively, would only take it from a bottle.
But they both did drink milk, from 1 year old. Though I was still nursing until they self-weaned later.

For my 2nd child though, I had to transition him to it, putting half breast/half whole milk in the bottle. Then changing the proportions of it, over time.

Do not fill up your child with water/juice.

Or try a straw cup, for her. Some kids like that better, and by pass the sippy/bottle things.

good luck,
Susan

If she is breastfeed then why would you want to introduce cow's milk in a cup? How about pumping and using that? If she is BFing enough then she really only needs water out of sippy, and the juice really only has to much sugar in it for her.

Don't worry about the bottle. My kids were breastfed and went straight from the breast to sipping out of regular cups we held then to sippy cups.

Also, don't worry about cow's milk. She doesn't really need it right now anyways. Add a little in her cheerios (if she has teeth yet and eats them). The proportional shift is a good idea, start off with a majority of breastwork in a sippy and a little bit of whole cows milk, then gradually adjust it over a week or so until it's just cows milk.

Personally, I would avoid the chocolate milk though until she develops a taste for regular milk. I would also avoid juice, even watered down. It's just an empty filler, well unless it's really really watered down!

Don't worry about the bottle! In fact, it's a good idea to replace bottles with sippy cups at 1 year anyway.

I would keep trying cow's milk periodically, and hopefully eventually she'll learn to like it. However, there are lots of other ways to get calcium ... cheese, yogurt, broccoli, etc. Calcium is important, but milk itself isn't.

my DD and DS didn't like milk either and it turns out they are allergic to it. I would listen to your daughter and maybe try again in a few months. My kids have almond milk and they love it. We make sure to supplement with calcium vitamins and use goats milk cheese, yogurt, etc. They are doing great! I, on the other hand, LOVE milk and do fine having cow's milk products. Everyone's body is different!

My daughter was not really into the whole milk thing at 1 year-we breastfed until she was 13 months and then weaned. She took a bottle sometimes but rarely, since I am home with her. We put the milk in a sippy cup-her new "princess cup". She went from drinking like 3 oz a day (I calculated!) to much more in a short period of time. I offered it to her all day long and finally she acquired a taste for it, I guess. I think if you hang in there, she will gradually become more interested. We would just have the cup out randomly during the day to see if she would go for it and she did. I hope this is somewhat helpful! Good luck!

You absolutely do not want to introduce the bottle at this point. The latest recommendations are for bottle feeding moms to start weaning them off the bottles at 9 months!

Also, avoid sugar free anything for you and especially the little ones. Better to have some real sugar than who know what in the chemicals found in sugar free stuff. You could try organic whole milk. My exclusively breastfed son didn't care for regular milk but would accept organic. It did have a much better taste. He was well over a year old though. You can also try warming it or adding a tiny amount of Ovaltine. But really as long as he's still nursing at this point you really don't even need to worry about it.

skip the bottle and skip the milk. she's getting the best kind of milk from you and cow's breastmilk is a substitute for that (as is formula). Cows milk is not a necessary staple to a human's diet. Yogurt and cheeses will easily fulfill the calcium needs as will broccoli and other veggies.

Have you tried adding chocolate or strawberry? I did so for my son and now he's 5 and had been drinking cows milk plain for 3 years. And even if you insist on het taking a bottle, try different bottles with different nipples. I breat fed too..and when i stopped and switched to formula he didn't easily take to a bottle. I bought about 10 different types and eventually one did the trick. Hope this helps