12-Month-old on Whole Milk and Doesn't Care for It!

S.-
I don't know if this will help or not.... My now 2 year old son had a reaction to whole milk. But, if we gave him 2% he was fine. I know that they recommend whole, but I guess it just isn't for some kids. Maybe try that?
K.

1 mom found this helpful

What does his pediatrician say? I'm in the same boat as you except my son is 33 months old! he still nurses once a day. His Dr. said we can quit but to get him to eat yogurt, etc. and try pediasure. Well, my son LOVES cheese, but that's it as far as calcium products and I can't give him 3 servings of that every day. So we have made the decision to continue nursing for now, but I keep trying with the 2% milk! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Maybe if you try 2% milk instead of whole milk with just a little in the cup at all times might work. My daughter would put it in a sippy cup and put it where her daughter could reach it and if she was thirsty that is what she got. She is 3 now and puts it back in the refrig when she doesn't want it all and gets it out herself when she is thirsty. If he is thirsty enough, he will drink it.

I had the same exact problem with my son and I ended up nursing him from 18 mos because of it. I only stopped because I found out I was pregnant. I tried EVERYTHING, rice milk, soy milk, flavored milk, even chocolate milk.....warm and cold, you name it I tired it and all of which he refused. My son, just turned 2, is FINALLY drinking milk! My preditrician reccomended I put milk in as many as food items I could, and seek alternative sources like cheese and yogurt. They also reccomended giving him calcium and vitamin d fortified OJ, which he loved! I found putting the milk in cool cups, like those with straws helped him to warm up to drinking it. Good luck!

Maybe try giving him mostly breast milk and cutting it with the whole milk. then slowly increasing the whole milk until it is all milk. this will also help his insides transition from the easily digested breast milk to the cow milk.
Why are you switching? Breast milk is still the best food for him (i say this only b/c sometimes doctors tell us that the breast milk loses its nutritional value after a year, which is untrue)
good luck!

Actualy there is no reason for your son to have to drink whole milk. Cows milk does not taste like breast milk at all...breast milk is very sweet, and cows milk is not. Regular cows milk, is very hard for a baby to digest, also. If you could find a sourse that you could purchase raw milk from, it would be much better for him, and yourself. I know most people frown at raw milk, but if you do a little research, you would discover the benifiets of raw milk. Also, water will give him all the hydration he needs, and if he eats the right things, he will get all the calcuim he needs from other food sources...and you can always supplement calcuim, if you think he is not getting enough. Is there a reason that you want to stop nursing? Your breast milk is still the best thing for him, until he is eating the same foods you are.

try silk vanilla organic soy milk. it still has calcium like milk. also try stonybrook farms yo baby yogurt which is made with whole milk. definantly try some baby juice also and do it half water and half juice.water is still good to give him also.

I was in the same boat with my daughter 2 yrs ago.My doctor told me not to worry about it that some kids don't like milk.Water is all the fluid she needs and she got her calcium from other dairy products and broccoli.She is now a happy healthy 31/2 year old who still only will drink water but loves cheese and yogurt.They also make many kid foods with added calcium.I hope this helps.

Could you try alternating the whole milk with some formula? And I used to warm up my son's milk a little bit. Maybe try that if you're not already doing it.

I had the same problem with my son, now 5. He is just not a milk drinker. I worried about his calcium intake and than gave him OJ with calcium added (he then stopped drinking water and would only drink juice, argh!). My dr said as long as he was eating yogurt and cheese I shouldn't worry, some kids are just not milk drinkers. One thing you could try is to give your son 3/4 breast milk in a sippy cup with 1/4 whole milk and then if he takes that after a few days or a week switch to 1/2 and 1/2 and then 1/4 and 3/4 to see if you can "wean" him onto cow's milk. My second son loves milk and took it without batting an eye. I did finally get my older son to drink water again instead of watered down juice. Silly!!

best of luck. My pediatrician also told me that kids at this age will drink when they are thirsty, the desire to drink is still very strong so if your son is thirsty, he'll drink. At least it's not warm outside yet!

You could try Lactaid. Both of my children were milk intolerant (causing diarrhea)when I first introduced them to whole milk and so we used Lactaid for awhile (they are fine now). Lactaid is sweeter than milk so maybe he will like that more. When the time came to try milk again, I just mixed the two until eventually they were drinking milk. You could actually try mixing breast milk and milk as well to see if that works.
L.

Add a little chocolate or strawberry flavoring. That's the only way my sons would drink it at that age. Also, have him eat cheese, yogurt, icecream. Good luck!

Hi S., I wouldn't concern my self to much about the whole milk. My 15 month old doesn't like it to much either. The milk isn't needed like a fourmula or breast milk would be for nutrition. They need the calcium and some of the fats in the milk, but I always feel if my daughter has a well balenced diet then she will be o.k. Another thought is that my 5 year old was unable to drink milk because of being lactose intolerant and I supplemented with orange juice or other juices that were fortified with calcium ( If you were concerned also with his calcium intake) For my fifteen month old I tried mixing a little vanilla, or ovaltine chocolate drink mix into the milk to just give it a little flavor-- she still doesn't like it!! Just keep trying though- they say that a toddler/child should try something up to 15 times before they will like it ( I keep trying too) Good Luck!

This may sound silly, but have you tried warming it up a little. He is used to breast milk, so he may be having trouble with the temperature. My 12-mo old won't take her milk unless the chill is gone. But if I heat it just a little bit, she takes it quickly.

Since he likes water so much, start adding some whole milk to the water a little at a time. Then slowly increase the amount of milk in the mixture and decreasing the amount of water. Eventually, he will get used to the milk taste and will like it.

Hope this may be of some help. I had the same problem with my youngest son, although he was 13 months when I tried to give him whole milk. I put him on stage 2 goodstart formula and waited until he was 18 for the whole milk. Then was ok with the taste and consistancy.

Try organic milk. I find regular whole milk to be bland and dry. Remember, breast milk tastes yummy!

You could also try adding Carnation Instant Breakfast-vanilla. My friend got her daughters switched to whole milk using that.

HI this P. im 49 yrs old have had 3 children when I had a problem such as yours I would put a half teaspoon of sugar in his milk or try fat free milk

Really, water is the best thing for him. I nursed my daughter for a long time and she was not keen on milk at all to begin. We never forced the issue because she drank a lot of water. In time she aquired a taste for milk, as will your son. We started out with whole milk as well, but when she tasted skim that was it. We could barely keep enough in the house. Our daughter tells us whole milk is tastes too sweet. Your son can have the benefits of milk in so many other ways, just be glad he drinks water so well. I have many friends who complain that their children will only drink juice or chocolate milk. My daughter enjoyed sippy cups of water and they seemed to comfort her. You will be surprised what his tastebuds are like in another year's time. You might not be able to keep enough milk in the house too! Good luck.

Why don't you try skim or 1%. They are a little thinner and my pediatrician told me that it didn't matter which I give my daughter.

Does he have to drink milk? What about cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt etc... I have two kids who besides in cereal almost never drink milk - also what about formula? Are you more worried about a balanced diet or that he is drinking enough? Because I think its great that he wants water and I wouldn't worry so much that the amount of milk he drinks - replace it with milk products he likes.
As for stopping to nurse - with both I moved to formula which really solved both the issue of fluid intake and nutrition.

S.,

There are lots of alternatives out there if your son doesn't like whole milk. I would still try to get him to work on liking the whole milk, but maybe you could try one of the Soy Products out there in the market.

Good Luck
A. C.

You could try 2% or even 1% milk if you think the thickness is the reason for the baby not liking milk. If you kept up your own milk supply, you could mix the whole milk in gradually. You might also want to try rice,almond or soy milk ,alone or mixed with whole milk. Goood Luck.
D.

I had the same problem with my son when it was time to start cows milk. I tried everything, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, smoothies with banana, toddler formula, cutting it with breast milk... he just didn't care for it.

My Pedi wasn't too concerned becuase he was getting his calcium from other sources like yogurt and cheese. Eventually he started drinking milk after repeated exposures - just keep trying! It also helped that he was given milk at daycare and saw the other kids drinking it. Peer pressure isn't so bad at this age!

Just keep trying!
J.

I started to put my breast milk in a sippy for a couple weeks, then I switched it to half breast milk half whole milk for a week. The second week we switched her to straight whole milk, and my daughter was fine. However, if it helps, my mother told me I didn't like milk when I was little so she gave me a lot of pudding.

I breastfed both of my children and neither took to milk when they were a year. I believe this is very common in breastfed children. I ended up nursing them until 30 months and 23 months so I never worried about forcing milk on them. Like your son they also love their water. As long as he is drinking water I wouldn't worry about fluid intake. If you are concerned about nutrition you could ask your pediatrician if he is missing any nutrients.

Don't sweat it and good luck!

Have you tried putting a touch of vanilla in it?

Hi S. -

I would recommend mixing 1/2 formula or next step formula with whole milk. Play around with the ratio to see what works best at first. As time progresses - increase the amount of whole milk and decrease the amount of formula.

Hope this helps!

My daughter did the same thing when I introduced milk at 12 mos. She hardly drank any of her milk at all, while I continued to nurse her 3 x and then 2 x a day. It wasn't until I stopped nursing all together at 16 mos, that she began drinking her milk. I really think that since the breast milk is so much sweeter than cow's milk, some kids won't drink as much milk while they are still nursing. My daughter was a little constipated for a while b/c she wasn't drinking as many fluids as she had before. But, about a month after I stopped nursing her, she began requesting more milk. Now, at 2 1/2, it is favorite drink and I have to limit how much she drinks each day! Just keep offering the milk in addition to water and your son will eventually get used to it-but it does take a little while!

S.,
I had the same issue with my son. He actually drank powdered formula from the time he was 6 weeks until he was 1 year old. When I changed him to whole milk, it was thicker than his formula and he refused to drink it. I kept him on formula until 18 months, then I gave him 2% milk and he drank it without a problem.

Hi S.! I had the same problem with my 1st daughter except she was formula fed. So what we did when she was 14 months old (Nov 07) - In each bottle: we started on a Monday gave her 7 oz Formula with 1 oz whole milk ALL week then the next Monday we gave her 6 oz formula with 2 oz whole Milk then the next monday 5 oz formula with 3 oz whole milk then we got to 4 oz formula with 4 oz of whole milk and she WOULD NOT drink it. So we continued with all 8 oz Formula until our second daughter was born which was Jan 29th 2008. So Feb 08 (she was 17 months old) we started the same process over - just like I stated above but this time when we started at 5 oz formula and 3 oz whole milk... then she continued on til she was 1 oz formula and 7 oz whole milk and the next week ALL WHOLE MILK - but it was funny because she kept looking at the bottle like something was wrong but she stuck with it! Maybe that will work for you - give it a try. We just hope that our youngest (now 2 1/2 months old) with have NO problems drinking milk when she is ready! GOOD LUCK!

My son just turned 1 as well and is starting whole milk too. The doctor suggested that we introduce it gradually mixed in with his formula. We started with 2 ounces in the bottle with the formula, then 4 then we'll do the whole thing. I think it will also help with digestion since its different from formula.

I wish you lots of luck!

Have you tried chocolate milk?? Or try a 1% or 2%. If you are worried about not having the correct vitamins...etc. Only the fat content is different. He will make that up in the foods that he eats.
I have 2 boys, 12 and 9. They both are not milk drinkers, but have grown well.
Plus...there is nothing wrong with water. My youngest is a big water drinker.
I hope this has helped!

Both of my daughters did the same thing! They were formula babies from the start(was not able to breastfeed with my medications for severe asthma). With my first we switched to 2% and she loved it(ask your doctor first). With my second we decided to try adding a tiny bit of sugar to the milk instead of automatically switching to 2% and it worked! I think the sugar would have gotten my first daughter to drink whole milk as well. You don't need a lot of sugar. Just like an eigth of a teaspoon workes. After the first few days I started to ween the sugar in the bottle. Before I knew it she was drinking whole milk. So easy! Good luck!

We were in the exact same boat a few weeks ago. We introduced cow's milk at 11 months, and I weaned her from the breast a week after her 1 year birthday (thanks to the moms that gave me advice on that!). The nurse made me feel awful as she said "She must have 16 oz of milk, not water, every day!". With other moms' help, I realized that my daughter was a GREAT eater (cheese, yogurt, etc.), so she wouldn't "starve" in the transition (think back to when you started breastfeeding and how worried you were then!). So we doubled up on Baby Yogurt (for fat), cheese (for calcium), and worked our way from 1/10 milk, 9/10 water (giving in with a sippy cup of water before bed) down to 2/3 milk, 1/3 water. As we approached "no water", we gave up the alternate of water entirely, plus gave her slightly salty foods once a day to get a good drink into her. She is now doing 16 oz. of milk like a champ, I still give her one yogurt a day, and we've allowed water again. It's just patience!!! You can do it!

www.milksucks.com
http://www.pcrm.org/about/index.html

My daughter is 14 mos old and I started her on organic whole milk at 12 mos and she hated it as well! She was drinking formula only once a day in the morning at that point and I mixed it with the whole milk for 2 months, slowly adding more and more whole milk. Maybe you could do that with the breast milk if you pump. As of last week my daughter is finally off the formula. I'm so happy! But I did talk to her doctor at her 12 mo check up about how I was concerned about her not liking the whole milk and he said it doesn't matter if she drinks one drop of milk if she is getting her calcium from other sources like cheese, yogurt, orange juice, etc. I started giving my daughter the yobaby yogurts and she likes those. As well as she eats string cheese sometimes before a meal and she gets a little OJ at breakfast. My daughter LOVES water and drinks that all day long from a sippy cup. I didn't give her juice until recently and she doesn't like it much which I'm happy about because water is so much better for them anyway. Good luck!
~A.

I had the same problem with my son. My pediatrician said that he didn't need milk. He said that humans are the only animal that drinks ANOTHER animal's milk. He told me to give water for fluids and supplement his diet with cheese and yogurt. I didn't feel quite right about this, so I started adding just a tiny bit of chocolate syrup to his milk. I really just wanted him to like milk! It worked like a charm. After a while, I gradually decreased the chocolate until I was no longer adding it. Since it was in a sippy cup, he didn't even notice. He really didn't take much in the beginning, but it increased gradually and now he loves milk. Hope this helps!

How about gradually mixing your breast milk into the whole milk until it's all whole milk?

Dear S.,

We had this same problem with our daughter. She finally drank more and more until she really liked milk. I think eventually you have to just stop nursing because they are always going to prefer your milk to cows. We started replacing one nursing a day with cows milk for a few days and then replaced another until we were solely on milk. Hope this helps; I know it can be frustrating.

M.

Hi S.,
I have 6 children and have had this issue in the past because I worried that my kids weren't getting MILK! When I told my Pediatrician about my concern, he told me not to worry. If it were straight from the cow, it would be different but the amount of preservatives and other things they put into our milk now adays really won't help our children much anyway and it surely won't hurt them by not drinking it. I have never forced any milk on my kids. I just make sure they eat lots of vegetables and fruit and we stay away from junk foods and fast foods!
W.

My first 2 were also exclusively breastfed and refused milk when offered. With my first, we tried everything because she was really tiny - 5% for weight. She nursed until 13 months and then was ready to quit. We offered every kind of milk we could find (soy, rice, goat, chocolate) as the ped wanted her to get the calories and fat being so tiny. She refused all of it along with any juice. She drank plenty of water though. She also loved cheese and yogurt. So eventually we just said she's tiny, but healthy and clearly doesn't like milk so why push it. She can get it through yogurt (another perfectly healthy dairy source). Neither my husband or I like to drink milk either so it wasn't a big surprise I guess. When my second gagged and spit the milk back at me when I offered him milk, I just gave up and didn't go any farther. Both of them eventually took to soymilk. My son drinks nearly 2 gallons a week. My daughter comes and goes with it. They are both healthy and get plenty of calcium with other dairy sources.

I had the same problem with both of my children. I switched to skim milk. After a few weeks I went to 2% and then whole. I also mixed some Carnation Instant Breakfast into the milk. It has vitamins and nutrients and not just the empty calories of sugar or syrup.
It worked with my daughter. My son still does not like whole milk and at 18.5 months he is on 2% with the pediatrician's OK.

I am going through the same thing with my son. He would much rather nurse than drink milk. Some suggestions that I got from my friend who is a lactation consultant is to start having another caregiver give the whole milk and call it something else...like "Dad Milk". The other suggestion is to give yo baby. this is made with whole milk and according to my pediatrician, is a great source of liquids. my son is now a little older and can communicate a little. one thing i realized is that when he asks to nurse, he is actually expressing thrist. if i give him some water, this seems to satisfy him most times. also, your child may go through separation anxiety soon...this will set off a need for lots of nursing. increased nursing also happens before major milestones, being sick and teething. hope this helps.

my kids never liked whole milk, they like 2% I breastfed my 2 youngest ones and when I was finished they only liked carnation can milk prepared half water, half milk

If you doc has no objections, I would try soy milk. It comes in Vanilla, Very Vanilla & Cholocate.

Soy milk is thinner than cows milk - and I was pleasantly surprised how good it is!

My son also refused whole milk and he was an exclusively breast feed baby too. His ped. said to try 2% or 1 1/2 %. I tried that and he loves milk. It worked for me. Hope all is well with your little man!

Try mixing half milk, half brest milk for a week. Then 1/4 breast milk 3/4 milk for another week. Then just milk. You also might want to try 2% milk instead of whole. Yogurt is also a great sourse of calcium.

This might be a really simple answer you have already thought of, but are you giving it to him cold? Most people heat up formula, but give milk cold. He might not like the temperature.

My daughter resisted the milk for a while too. she had been great taking my milk from a cup or bottle in her first year since i worked part time and needed others to feed her, but as soon as i mixed some whole milk in there, she rejected everything from a cup, including my milk alone! i think it may have been the change of milk combined with the weaning change at the same time, so i backed off and did it more slowly. i had to backtrack and nurse until she took the cup again, then weaned down all but one 'snack' while keeping her on my milk in a cup, then started re-introducing whole milk. i think at that point i gave her whole milk in a cup while we read books and then let her nurse when she was done (which was not long since she had already taken in some from the cup)- so it naturally reduced my milk supply. since she didn't feel i was taking away the 'breast' altogether, she seemed more okay with it. that process took me to 15 mos but in the end it wasnt too bad. she loves her cow's milk now! good luck with your little one! i know the process is frustrating if they wont drink but i realized the extra few months were nice for me too, in the end. i loved that close time with her and miss it sometimes - though not all of it! : )

dont feel you must stop nursing because your child has become a year old. Nature planned it so that children should nurse ideally through the better part of their toddler hood... (2-3 years sometimes longer if needed... the child should wean not be forced off ... IDEALLY SPEAKING THAT IS)
Cows milk is for baby cows... and is not necessarily the nutritional powerhouse for human babies that those in the milk industry will have you believe...
If you child is not interested in milk... try lower fat milk... (my son drank skim... and you know what... he gained all the proper weight regardless of everyone saying Oh no he needs milk fat...he got milk fat from his mama's milk and from the food he ate.)
if you child loves water as does mine (who's now five) then just count your blessings and give him water...
its best for him
give him his nutrition in the food he eats and if you are still willing to allow him at the breast.
Blessings
and Good Luck.

When I started my oldest son on whole milk he didn't care for it either. The trick that worked for me was to heat the milk up. I think he didn't like it because it was so cold. Once I did that he would drink it all. I did that with my youngest, who is now 18 months old, and I had no problem transferring him from formula to milk. Hope that helps.

I've nursed two kids and the only way I could make the switch was to cut the whole milk with my breast milk, in the very beginning I sometimes added hershey's syrup to entice them. Oh, and it could never be super cold, that was a dead giveaway :) Hope this helps.