Hi, my 16 month old daughter has never had a problem drinking breast milk or formula, and didnt have a problem weaning off the bottle, although, shes not a huge fan of drinking her milk these days. I give it to her as much as i can, i limit her juice and water intake, thinking she'll give into the milk if shes that thirsty, but she just wont drink it. I have put a little chocolate in there one time and of course she drank it all ! she does get her calcuim in other ways, but i feel its not enough, is there anything else i can do or give her such as a supplement!
thank you for you help!!
thank you soooo much for all of the advice!!! im taking each and everyone into affect!!!
My son hated white milk (as do I), so I just added 1/2 packet of carnation instant breakfast (vanilla) to his milk and he loved it. And it has a lot of vitamins and protein. Hope this helps.
Neither of my girls (3 1/2 & 18 months) drink milk and the doctor does not have a problem with it. My older daughter gets hives when she drinks milk and the younger one just doesn't like it yet. They eat yogurt, cheese, veggies and other fortified juices daily and seem to be doing great.
Milk is not a necessary food group, but because politicians have so many hands in the milk industry and the milk industry pays for their support... they make it into one. If she's having organic yogurts, cheese and veggies - her calcium level is good.
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STOP STOP STOP forcing your child to drink milk. She doesn't like it. There's a good chance that it's upsetting her stomach. She doesn't need it either, so please stop.
I just wanted to add that they do have either a "sugar free" or "reduced sugar" chocolate syrup. I use that for a treat for my kids. And choclate milk isn't the enemy - it's very healthy, just like anything else, in moderation. but it is also good to get other sources of calcium and vitamin D too.
Think about how tiny she is....she doesn't need *that* much calcium just yet. If you're giving her cheese, yogurt and other calcium sources then I wouldn't stress about the milk. Keep offering it, chocolate if necessary (which is not the devil, by the way! lol), but don't get all bent out of shape about it.
First, don't limit her water intake. Water is far more important than milk.
Second, I say if she'll drink it with a bit of chocolate, then why not? I use Nesquik powder in my six year old's milk sometimes, but I use WAY less than they tell you to (I actually use a baby spoonful, not three heaping tbsp) and she likes it.
There are plenty of calcium rich foods besides milk, but if you're still concerned, ask her ped about a calcium supplement.
My 16 month old is still breastfed exclusively and will not drink any sort of milk or milk substitute, and I have given up. She drinks plenty of water...no juice at all, because she doesn't like it.
My daughter drinks mostly chocolate milk (shoot me now, if you choose, moms). I like chocolate milk better than regular, why wouldn't she? I drank chocolate milk every day of my life growing up, and I've never been overweight. I can make it with just a little chocolate syrup, so I know how much sugar she's getting.
I'm with Magenta on this one. My two girls (3 1/2 & 19 mos) also have never drank milk. They were both breastfed until a year and then we "drink" water or watered juice. I make sure they eat plenty of cheese & yogurt & give them vitamin D drops. They are healthy as ever & their pediatrician thinks it's great---as long as calcium & vit D are coming from other sources!
If your child is eating yogurt and cheese, she probably doesn't need to drink cow's milk. You could try goat's milk instead (pricier though). Here is a list of non-dairy sources of calcium:
http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/nutrition/calcium_non_dair...
If you're still concerned, bring it up at her 18m checkup (I usually write a list of questions down, because invariably if I don't, I remember 2 or 3 at home after the appointment & it's hard to get a call back from the doc, sigh).
Google "foods with high calcium content" and you get lists (mostly from vegetarian websites) of high calcium food.
Topping the list is blackstrap molasses, kale, collard greens, tofu, turnip greens. In short, dark, leafy green veggies have much more calcium than milk and dairy.
Concerning the choc milk and juice, remember she's only 16 months old. The less sugar you give her now, the less addicted to it she'll be later. And sugar is a really tough habit to break. Right now she doesn't know what she's missing. So don't start with the sugar. Once she goes to school, your control over her diet goes out the window. So give her a healthy start. Good luck!
