Hi - my 15 month old son has gone from drinking 20+ oz. of Next Step formula to almost nothing in the last week. He did have a cold, which made it hard to drink his milk (he's still taking a bottle, but just for milk). But now that he's feeling better, he doesn't want milk anymore. He refuses to drink cow's milk, and he won't drink his formula from any other kind of cup. I think I've tried everything, even Pedisure for something different. I'm at my wit's end because I feel like he's not getting enough nutrition.
Any suggestions or advice would be great! Thanks in advance.
Hi A.. My son had the same problem and his nutritionist suggested using flavorings/spices such as vanilla or cinnamon. I tried it and it works. He gets his milk with raw sugar and allspice and he loves it.
I panicked when my 12 mth old son refused milk after taking him off the bottle. After speaking with my ped, I felt much much better. SHe said to make sure he gets his calcium from other sources....cheese, yogurt, smoothies, cottage cheese, juices fortified with extra calcium. He suddenly started to take SOME milk when I offer cereal in a bowl. He is now two years and couldn't be more healthy. Just make sure that he gets the calcium in other ways!!
Have you tried Soy milk? I think the taste is a little sweeter so he may prefer that. It has Vitamin D added like cow's milk. I don't remember the calcium content though. Yogurt, cheese and smoothies are a good idea too!
My little one just went through the same thing. And I like you was so afraid she wasn't getting enough nutrition. But my ped. assured me it was most likely just a phase, and to keep trying. Also use cheese, yogurt and smoothies as a replacement. As long as Nixon is getting 3-4 servings of some dairy product a day, he's getting what he needs. You can try the chocolate / strawberry flavor in the milk. My ped. said it wasn't enough sugar to worry about. I found Kenzie will also drink milk if we put it in a coffee cup in the morning and tell her it's coffee (so she thinks she's drinking the same thing as her Grandpa) I don't agree about takign away teh bottle yet. We seem to be in such a hurry to make our kids grow up lately. My daughter is 19 months old and still uses a bottle at night time.
Good luck.
at that age it is so hard to get children out of a routine. my son doesnt like regular milk so much, so i give him milk with some strawberry syrup in it. (well he doesnt like chocolate either). with that in there i can get him to drink like three glasses of milk. try putting something in the milk to give it a little more flavor.
A.,
Hi! My name is A. and I have a 2yr old son.
Just leave it alone. Cow's milk and other dairy products aren't the best thing becasue it can cause mucus and flem build up, he might be feeling some of that. If you keep his diet balanced, he'll be fine with the nutrition. Plenty of DARK green veggies, fruit, and beans and he'll be fine. I watch my son's intake of dairy and we've had few problems. When he's ready, he'll go back. My son wouldn't touch pizza for almost a year after throwing it up during a stomach bug episode, and then one day he wanted it again. You'll find that with other foods as well as he gets older, but again, make sure he's getting the proper foods.
Good luck!
A.
Have you tried adding just enough chocolate syrup to flavor it? I had to do that with my now 7 yr old. The only draw back is that's the only way he'll drink milk now, and sometimes puts too much chocolate in it. However, he is not fat by any means, so it didn't actually hurt him in the long run.
Just make sure he is getting the calcium he needs in other ways. My daughter is 7, and she still wont drink milk out of a glass. She will drink it after cereal, or chocolate milk some times, but i made sure she got it in yoguart or cheese or other sources of calcium. She is just fine. Dont stress. klids are amazing. they know when the need something.
Try warm ovaltine. My daughter went through a phase where she didn't really want to eat, and her milk she could take it or leave it. My mom suggested ovaltine (i used the yellow lable jar, it's not as strong tasting). It didn't work cold, but when I warmed it up a little bit, she couldn't get enough.
Talk to your pediatrician; my son who is 12 mos does the same thing. When he is sick or not feeling well, he doesn't feel like eating. Our pediatrician said that as long as he is drinking at least half of what he was before, he is ok. If your son isn't drinking anything, maybe something else is going on like an upset stomach etc. We usually just call our pediatrician's office and a nurse calls us back when we have a question.
I have two boys; one is four and the other will be one on 12/20/07.
Ditch the bottle now while you can. 1 year olds' do not need to suck any longer. To get my 1 year old to drink milk after I got rid of the formula was to put it in a regular cup, not a sippy cup, a regular cup, with a straw. He was so excited to have a straw that he drank the milk without complaint. You should hold the cup for him.
My other two kids weren't so easy and I just gave them plenty of low fat cottage cheese, whole milk yogurt, other dairy as well as calcium fortified orange juice.
If you can't get him to drink milk at all make sure that whatever you do replace it with has enough fat. Babies need fat for brain development. Good luck.
A.
Put a little squirt of chocolate syrup in his milk.
My 3 year old loves her "curly whirly" straw!! After an apparent allergy at 1, trial and error with various dairy products until she was 2, at 2 she began drinking milk with the choc. syrup added. Yesterday I made blue and then purple milk for her with 2 drops of food coloring. She loved it.
Some may scoff at adding the dye or whatever in the foodcoloring, but I was thrilled to have her be so excited to drink Non-sugared milk.
