Seeking Advice on 14 Mon Toddler Drinking Regular Milk Now......

M.,

The milk thing is tricky! Just give it time. My son didn't really know what to do with the 'regular' milk, plus we started him on Soy because of his lactose issues. But, we've tried everything and now at 30 months, he loves milk (Horizon Lactose Free) and even asks for it.

I found we were most successful with shakes, added stuff like chocolate powder or Ovaltine and mixing it with other stuff until he got used to the taste. Just give it time and she'll get used to it. Or you could opt for other stuff like rice milk or almond milk that has a sweeter taste and the same stuff as cow's milk.

Good Luck!

Maybe try putting less and less formula in it until she is drinking just the milk. My son won't drink straight milk either. I just put a teaspoon of chocolate nesquick(it calls for 2 TB per cup but that just seems like too much sugar to me) in and he drinks it up fast. Nesquick has less sugar than ovaltine and it adds vitamins to the milk. My pediatrician recommended making him chocolate milk.

My son is the same way, exactly. And super picky.

Plus, he will not eat cheeses, yogurt, or dairy "kids drinks" type things. But he does like milk... BUT,
so for me, I still do add a little bit of formula in his milk... just one scoop. THEN he will drink milk.
I have indeed tried and lessened the amount of Formula and the proportions in it, and in varying mixes etc.... but my son can always tell, and will reject it.

This is the only way he will drink milk. He loves milk...but only prepared this way. He will not drink any flavored milks either. He will not drink any type of milk alternatives, besides "Pediasure." Nor will he drink soy, or almond or rice milks. I have tried ALL kinds of things. THIS is the only way he will drink milk. Sure he drinks other liquids like diluted juices and water. But only milk, this way.

So, (and I did ask the Pediatrician), it's fine. And besides, Formula contains tons of vitamins in it and omega-3 vitamins too. And my son is healthy as a horse and rarely gets sick and grows like a weed!

All the best,
Susan

I had the same thing happen! Except my daughter would gag SO drmamatically, it was like we were feeding her pee. Frankly it made me laugh, she was such a drama queen about it. So I put her back on formula (I switched to the toddle kind) for a few weeks and then one day we ran out and I didn't know what to do and I gave her milk AND... what do you know, she drank it all up and has drank it ever since. KIDS! Just keep trying, don't give up. One day she might just drink it.

I still warm my sons sippies. He likes it better that way. You might want to try taking the cold edge off of the milk.

My son is 12 months and we just started milk. I breastfeed so I couldn't add formula and he never wanted breastmilk from a cup. Soooo, I came up with this and it's working pretty well. I add a little banana to the milk and blend it up into a little smoothie. He was spitting the plain milk out but he will drink it this way. Good luck.

My daughter never touched the stuff. Would drink it in cereal, but straight? forget it. She will drink non fat milk though, so you could try that. You need to talk to your doctor about it, but that is what we ended up with...
R.

THey don't need milk as long as they eat yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, green veg, whole grains, tofu, beans... you can find calcium many other places. My doc recommends just water to drink. You could try soy milk, rice milk... some have a lot of sugar though.

Hi M., I'm a Filipina mom with two boys who are 10 and 7 years old. Back in the PHilippines, I had to change formula because there's formula for infants from 1-6 months, 6-12 months and also 12-2years and even milk for 6-7 years old. Anyway, my trick was mixed the formula together but did it gradually. On the first day, just add 1 part of the new formula to your existing formula and then do it for a couple of days or so until she's used to the mixed formula and then after that try adding 2 parts of the new formula and just continue to add some more until she's completely shifted to the regular milk. Good luck!

Ok, this might not sound like the best choice... but add some "pink chocolate" as my son Sebastian calls it...

It's really just pink Quik... you can add it for taste at first then slowly reduce for just color... my son looks for the color and he sometimes catches us if we add too little...

Good luck...

I slowly increased the amount of whole milk in my daughter's bottle b/c she wouldn't drink it either at first. I kept increasing the ratio until it was all whole milk and no fornula and she never looked back. It took awhile b/c I did it gradually (about 3 to 4 weeks) but each kid is different so after only a short period of time yours may adjust better than mine.

I think the other posts about milk alternatives are interesting and I'm going to look into them.

My first had this problem too - I just mixed formula and milk - starting w/ 3/4 formula and 1/4 milk (less if they refuse) and then changing the mix every few days to a week slowly adding more milk until it was mostly milk and finally all milk - it took us about a month - also we never had this issue because I did not warm her formula, but... from friends that did, they used the same method with the temp. just warm it less little by little - Good Luck -

my first one had a hard time with the switch to milk. What worked for us was warming up the milk slighty. and putting it in a familiar cup. good luck!

My DD would never take it mixed. She refused milk for about 3 days. I would just keep trying and give her formula after a good attempt. After she finally got used to the taste, she finally accepted her first bottle of milk and she never went back to formula.

However you are mixing it now, start decreasing the formula every few days and adding more regular milk. That's how I did it with my daughter and it worked like a charm. She didn't even know what happend.
good luck!

My son also loves hemp milk. It's a great high protein option. Sometimes I mix hemp with vanilla rice or almond milk (they only have 1 gram of sugar more then regular milk).
Talk to your pediatrician first, but it could be a good option.
Also you could offer cheese and yogurt as substitutes.-www.weelicious.com

I have a 2 yr. old who got really constipated with dairy. I took a class on health and nutrition and learned about almond milk (Almond Breeze is the brand I use). They sell it for less at Trader Joes but you can also find it at smiths. I buy the chocolate to drink and vanilla he drinks and eats cereal. He will drink it as much as I will give it to him and always asks for it. I have heard that it is not necessary for kids to drink milk after formula or breastfeeding according to the book perfect health,the natural way. It makes sense to because humans are the only species who give milk after the weening stage.

I also have a 14 month old doing the smae thing. I tried for a few weeks to offer her milk and she refused. Then we started mixing it with fruit and she was taking it. Then I gave her a break for a couple weeks where I didn't offer it and now I've tried again and she's taking to it (without fruit). She won't drink a whole serving at once, but will take several sips so I feel we are getting somewhere. She also eats a lot of yogurt and cheese, but I do want her to drink the milk for the Vitamin D. Just keep trying and hopefully she will drink it eventually.

When I was getting my daughter to drink straight milk, I would mix it with a yogurt drink - dannon has them in 4 oz bottles...then top it off with milk. She loved it and evenutally she stopped asking for "yogurt milk" and just wanted "milk". Our ped also told us that as long as she was eating cheese and yogurt and other dairy products, not to worry. Hang in there, she'll get it eventually.

Hello M.,
I would have you try to continue watering it down. Use less and less formula, till she finally is switched over. Worth a shot! Good luck.
~~D.

Hi. What I do with my little guy is once a day, either before nap or after with a snack, I take a baby yogurt and mix it with the milk. I shake it up and call it a smoothie. He sucks it down. He gets everything he needs. Then eventually I was able to give a little milk with dinner and he would drink it. Of course, he doesn't guzzle it like the smoothie, but he is drinking it. Plus, it is so cute when they start asking for the smoothie and how they say it. My son calls it a "moona". Good luck.