Not a Whole Milk Drinker

Try skim milk. My son says he doesn't like other milk because it sticks to his tongue but he will drink skim. It has more calcium than whole milk too.

My son is six and still will not drink regular milk. His pediatritian said that as long as he was getting his calcium in other ways he would be just fine.

My son was the same way. We mixed Ovaltine with it then gradually decreased the amount of ovaltine until it was just milk. He'd still prefer to drink something else but will drink just whole milk when offered.

Smart kid! Are you breastfeeding? If so, your daughter doesn't need milk. If not, then you may want her to drink something (milk/formula) until two (not really necessary either though...vegan babies never have milk). Then I would take her off it. Cow's milk is one of the hardest thing for human beings to digest...we aren't meant to drink the "breastmilk" of other animals...it's meant for their young, not ours. Lactose tolerance is actually a mutation, as the body's ability to digest lactose naturally stops. There is nothing in milk that cannot be gotten from other sources, it just takes a little research to find it. We don't drink milk in my house. I use Almond milk for baking/cooking/cereal. I don't use soy because large quantities of soy is bad. Good luck.

Can you blame her...lol j/k

I went right to 2% for my kids and they didn't have any problems. Just keep up with the cheese and yogurt.
My youngest just turned 2yrs old and we now have switched her to 1%. Also, when my youngest switched from formula to 2%, she wasn't to kean on the 2%. She was use to WARM formula and now we were giving her COLD milk. She didn't want to drink it from a cup, so we actually started giving her milk in the bottle for awhile and than switched to sippy cups. However we started this in her 11th month. She will eventually start drinking it, it just takes awhile. Just make sure she is getting fluids in her thought, like water...

I am not sure about the taste but have you tried Pedasure?

You could try 2% or skim if doesn't have trouble keeping weight on, or different types of milk, like soy. you can also try adding a little bit of flavor, or turn it into a shake with banana and orange juice.

As long as she is getting enough fluids and calcium from other sources (like cheese and yogurt), there's nothing to be concerned about. You don't HAVE to drink milk to stay healthy.

My son was like this also at that age. I did part milk and part fomula for a few days and gradually decreased the amount of formula. He did finally start drinking it better by about 14 months. He has always been in the upper percentiles for height and weight so we didnt do whole milk for very long. Now he is 2 and we have done 1% for a long time and he just loves his milk! Keep trying and mabye even let her try drinking it with a straw or something fun. She will get used to it im sure.

Have you tried a 2%. As long as your child is not under weight the extra fat in whole milk shouldn't matter. The other milks have the same vitamins. Also you could try putting chocolate or flavoring in it too.

Have you tried 2%? When my son turned 1 our doctor said 2% was fine if that was what we drank at home. Your daughter may like it since it's not as thick as whole. Good luck.

I agree with Kathy K. There's so much out there about why not to drink milk. Here's an article from a source I trust:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/0...

If you're interested, go ahead and to an internet search on the dangers of milk or why not to drink it. Even if you don't agree, it never hurts to read about what the other side is saying. That way you can make an educated decision.

Will she drink a lower-fat milk? You may just need to look for alternatives to get her the things she would lack from not drinking the whole milk. Cheeses, yogurts, juices and other items fortified with calcium, cottage cheese, etc... As long as the foods in general she's eating are good whole foods, and overall balanced, I don't think I'd worry too much about it. Ask your pediatrician for other food sources to accomodate her lack of drinking the whole milk.

My son was like that, too. I tried to gradually add milk to his formula but he still did not like it. What I did was I just bought the toddler formula for a while [I think until 16 months] and kept offering the milk. He started liking the milk more, and even though I tried to keep giving him toddler formula [because I was worried about his nutrition being the picky eater he is], he started refusing that and only would drink milk! He is now 21 months old and drinks any kind of milk. You can offer different kinds of milk and see if she will take it. She may like 1% or 2%, and then you could gradually add whole milk into those [which is a lot better than adding milk to formula anyway because it will be more subtle]. Even if she is just eating yogurt and cheese you probably don't have to worry about her fat intake so much. Keep trying- eventually she will take the milk too. If you're worried about vitamin D, you can give her poly-vi-sol [liquid vitamin supplement for infants] or foods fortified with vitamin D.

Our daughter didn't care for whole milk at first either. I started out mixing just a little whole milk into her bottles of breast milk. I gradually increased the amount of whole milk until it was straight whole milk. I think you can do the same thing with formula.

I'm pretty sure our pediatrician had us switch to 2% or 1% (whichever we drank at home) at 12 months. Try a lower fat content and see if she likes that better. Try adding a little chocolate or strawberry flavoring for an occasional treat. Good luck!

Try googling 'cows milk and hormnes'. American milk cows have a very high hormone level and these hormones are stored in the milk fat. Hormone levels are high because the cows are pregnant most of the time they are being milked, and because they are bred to grow fast. Research needs to be done to determine the effects of these hormones on humans, but to me it's a huge red flag - especially with cancer on the increase.

I've always been one to listen to my kids about what they like and don't like because I believe they are in tune with their bodies needs (discounting highly processed foods, and sweets).

4 of my kids have never had whole milk.. they are all on 2% from the start. I even stopped WIC because now you can only get whole milk and nobody here drinks it and it would go to waste.

Child #4 on the other hand... is just like yours.. he will eat dairy foods but will not drink milk. Our Ped. said to try 2%, 1%, Chocolate, Strawberry... he wont drink any of them.

At 2 1/2 he has yet to drink a full glass of milk total in his life!! His ped said to give him a Vitiman D tablet every day and he is getting what he needs from the milk he isn't drinking. Or a mulitvitamin that has a higher vit. D in it.

He is doing just as good as the other 4 so far without drinking milk. So will your child :)

I agree with Kathy.... smart kid! Cows milk is meant to be digested by baby cows and their multiple stomachs, not humans, and especially not human babies. If your daughter is refusing milk, then she knows something you don't know, that her body is having a hard time digesting it.

We don't drink alot of milk in our home either. We use almond milk for drinking and cereal, and I do buy a small jug of skim milk for certain things.

She can easily get the vitamins and nutrietns she needs from foods, and vitamin D from sunlight. Even in the winter, all it takes is a few minutes of sunlight a week to get the recommended amount of Vitamin D. Calcium is found in veggies and greens, lots of vitamins in fruits, and of course iron in meats. As long as she is eating a well rounded diet of nutrient rich and healthy foods, she doesn't need milk. My boys are 7 and 4 and rarely drink milk and are the picture of health.

Listen to her cues, she is still listening to her body exclusively when it come to food, she knows what she can and can't handle. If she is refusing milk, its for a reason. I think its so drilled into parents heads by pediatricians and just in general that kids need milk, that parents balk at a different way of no milk. If she is taking yogurt and cheese.... she's fine, thats plenty of calcium.

We are just not big milk drinkers in our house. I think it flares my kids eczema up. I also think cow's milk is for baby cow's not baby humans. We do drink cow's milk but not much.

My 13mo.old is the same way.. so we've got her drinking chocolate milk the premade kind. She will gladly gulp that down. The only reason I am even offering that is she is low weight, and not a good eater.

whole milk is gross!! lol. i dont blame her!

just make sure shes eating healthy fats. peanut butter (if thats ok for her - some kids cant have it yet) avocado, that kind of thing. as long as shes eating healthy fats, drinking it isnt as important as they claim it is. you could also try soy milk or something to that effect.

OR
add chocolate sauce. my son's doctor said that its less important whether or not its chocolate, and just that he was getting some milk. my son was much more happy to drink skim milk than whole. and thats ok. as long as the rest of their diet is healthy. and your daughter eats cheese and yogurt.. so she should be fine :)

my son couldn't drink whole milk, it made him sick every time he tried it. He drank what we drank..2 %. The doctor said as long as he was gaining enough weight it was fine because the only nutritional value that whole milk has verse other milk is the extra fat for baby, which you can provide in other areas of babys diet! Good luck!!

I did daycare for 5 years and MOST parents switched their kids straight to either 2% or 1% milk. Whatever the rest of their family was drinking. Our two kids have never had whole milk. Just make sure to offer her plenty of water and give her 1% or 2% milk.

Whole milk is recommended for children because they need the extra fat for brain development. With that in mind...try skim or 2% to see if she likes it better and then make sure that she gets full fat yogurt and cheese everyday.

My DD is 13mos and still breast-fed. The only other milk she'll drink is raw cow's milk that we get from a very good local farm. she only takes a little bit, though (maybe 3Tb a day). I'm not too worrIed, tho, bc she's still nursing. I would be wary of the PP's who use vegan kids as an example of milk-rejection being healthy. Vegan diets are not reccommended by the AMA or AAP for young children. And a few minutes a week of sunlight will NOT fullfill your DD's vit D needs. Cod liver oil will naturally (u can get lemon-flavored oil at thehealth food store) if she's still not drinking milk and you're not nursing. Take care, Mama

Fortunately, she will eat the other foods that give her the calcium she needs, so I wouldn't worry too much about the milk thing. Try 2%, maybe the whole milk is just too "heavy" for her.