12 Month Old Won't Drink Cold Milk

Fortunately, I had thought about that before I transitioned my first to milk from formula. This suggestion probably won't help you much right now, but will for futur children if you plan on that. I breastfed all my kids for at least 6 weeks. Some more. When I started feeding them formula, I would use warm water to make the bottles with at first, then gradually, I would decrease the temperature to lukewarm, then room temperature. Shortly before I put them on whole milk, I started making the water colder, a little at a time, until it was fridge cold. None of them ever had a problem with cold milk.

For your situation, you could warm the milk at first, and gradually decrease the temperature until it's room temperature, and then just do it less and less until it's fridge cold.

As far as the sippy cup over the bottle, I would suggest just not giving him a bottle. If he has no choice, he'll evenutally drink from the sippy cup when he's thirsty (or hungry) enough. You could also try the soft mouthpieces made by Avent, Gerber or NUK. (I'm sure there are other brands) It would be more like a bottle nipple, but different enough to help transition to a hard topped sippy cup. Hopefully this helps. Good luck.

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The more you force it upon him the less likely he is going to do it. Maybe he is just not ready to make the change. Does he take other cold liquids? Maybe he is temperature sensitive!? I know when we were switching my daughter to milk we didn't do it right away. I slowly introduced it to her because she wouldn't take it at first.... Whatever you do DO NOT give him chocolate milk! My friend made that mistake and it took FOREVER for her daughter to drink regular milk. Oh, I also didn't do whole milk. My doctor recommended 2%.....

Just start warming half of it and half cold so it is luke warm, then gradually work up to it being cold. It is a change for them and he just needs to work his way to drinking it cold as that is the safest. Also with warm milk you need to throw it out if he doesn't finish it right away as it spoils a lot faster.

At 12 months my son gave up his bottle very easily and loved sippy cups but wasn't fond of cold milk either. A trick i used was to put in a little splash of sugar free vanilla like you would use in coffee (he likes the brand DaVinci syrup) and he usually drinks most of it that way. Now at 21 months he is 50/50 on whether he wants his milk, some days he'll drink it all and other days it's more of a struggle so I try to make sure he gets it in other ways like yogurt or pudding or cheese. Good luck, they sure can be stubborn! A.

It's too bad his daycare won't be a little more flexible. Some kids just don't like cold things in their mouths. My daughter at that same age wouldn't drink cold milk, either. I used to warm it for her, but then put it in a cup, and she was fine with that. She would not drink it cold until she was well past 3. She told me she didn't like the feeling of the cold on her teeth. Perhaps his teeth are sensitive to cold? At 12 months, he doesn't yet have the words to tell you this, but that may be his boggle.

I don't see why the daycare seems to see drinking COLD milk from a cup as a developmental step. It's not - drinking from a cup is. I think that cold milk is simply more convenient for them, and I'd be tempted to challenge them on it. Keeping him in a lower level room because he won't drink his milk cold strikes me as ridiculous. Have you asked them why it has to be cold milk?

Another thought - while my daughter loved her sippy cup, my son went almost straight from the breast to a regular cup. Some kids just don't like drinking through a sippy spout. Perfectly developmentally acceptable, but again, a bit inconvenient for the daycare. Have you tried a regular cup (with lots of help at first, of course) or a sippy of the type with a straw instead of a spout?

I'm afraid I cannot quite remember at what age sippy cups became interesting to my daughter. As for my son, they never really were, until he learned that he could bash them hard enough to get the no-spill valve out, then shake out the contents of the cup - another reason why he went straight from the breast to a regular cup. :-)

Hi M.,
I don't have an answer for the cold milk problem but I will say this about a sippy cup. My 13-month-old son has rejected them all along. . . and a bottle too. So, my husband and I and the folks at day care have taught him to drink from a regular cup. Works just fine, althugh it can be messy as he turns the cup upside down when he is done with it! Talk to your day care about just teaching him to use a regular cup.

My kids never like cold milk at first either. It's a bit shocking to go from warm formula or breast milk to ice cold milk. I always warm up the milk to the same temperature as formula or breast milk and gradually over time heat it less and less until it eventually is cold right out of the fridge. As far as bottles go I have always had to hide all of the bottles and pretend that there is no such thing as a bottle. When they want a drink I give them the sippy cup and if they are disgruntled and really want the bottle I act like I don't understand. They get very frustrated for about a day, but within a day or two they are fine with a sippy cup. It's best to try to do this during a time where they wont see any bottles for a few days or maybe a week. However, I didn't wean my kids from a bottle until they were at least 15 months old; some parents do it earlier or later.

I started all three of my boys on sippy cups around 6 months old - when I introduced solids to them. I would just take out the valve so that it would flow freely, and they got the idea pretty quickly. As for the milk, maybe don't warm it up as much as usual. Start with it warm, and then each day after that, warm it a little less, until he's gradually taking it cold. If you do it in more of a transition like this, he might accept it more quickly.

Also, request that the people at daycare do the same. If they're a good daycare, and they should help you out with this. Despite him being premature, I think he could be ready for a sippy, and that it can be time to wean him from the bottle. Good luck!

R.

My son was the same. We didn't force it and he drank it when he was ready.
Can you change day cares? It seems like a trivial thing for them to spend so much energy on... How about canned milk? or instant (you can find the kind that has fat in it at health food stores).
Also my 24 month old has decided that he would rather have 2% than whole.

I had the same problem with my son when we switched him over to milk. It was like it was a shock to him to have something that cold after having only warm for a year. We started by warming up 3/4 of his bottle and adding cold to the rest. We did that for a week and then increased the ratio to 1/2 & 1/2. And so on until he started getting used to the lower temperatures. As far as the sippy cup, I have had more of a problem with that. He is now 2 years old and is finally using a sippy cup. However, he still insists on his bottle from time to time. Good luck!

HI THERE, I AM A MOM OF FOUR AND WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IS THAT US MOMS ARE MORE AFRAID OF GETTING RID OF THE BOTTLES COMPLETELY THAN THE CHILDREN. until you overcome this fear YOUR CHILD WILL FOLLOW YOU. START ON A FRIDAY NIGHT SINCE YOU DO NOT WANT THIS TO START DURING DAYCARE. START BY SAYING THAT THERE ARE OTHER BABIES THAT NEED THE BOTTLES AND THAT HE IS A BIG BOY NOW. SO HE NEEDS TO DRINK BIG BOY MILK SO HE CAN GROW LIKE A BIG BOY LIKE DADDY. SIMPLY AND CALMLY TELL HIM THAT THERE IS NO MORE BOTTLES BUT HE HAS BIG BOY CUPS. (SIPPIES ARE GREAT AND THE RUBBER SPOUT ONES ONLY MAKE IT A HARDER TRANSITION). HE IS SIMPLY REFUSING THE COLD MILK BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT YOU WILL BREAK DOWN AND GIVE HIM THE WARM MILK.THIS IS A COMMON MISTAKE THAT WE ALL MAKE. STAY CONSISTANT AND FOLLOW YOUR OWN WORDS. HE WILL NOT HAVE ANY NEGATIVE AFFECT IF HE DOES NOT DRINK MILK FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. THERE ARE ALSO OTHER IDEAS,STRAW CUPS AND SPORTS BOTTLES ARE REALLY GOOD. GATORADE BOTTLES ARE VERY HANDY. ANOTHER SNEAKY WAY TO GET HIM TO DRINK COLD MILK IS TO PUT SMALL AMOUNTS OF STRAWBERRY OR CHOCOLATE SYRUP IN IT. I PERSONALLY PUT ICE IN THEIR MILK AND ALSO I MAKE MILK AND BANANA SMOOTHIE WITH CRUSHED ICE. THEY LOVE IT. BE BRAVE IT SHOULD NOT TAKE ANY LONGER THAN THE WEEK-END TO GET THIS STEP IN YOUR LIFE ACCOMPLISHED. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN RID OF ALL BOTTLES. DO NOT SAVE THEM JUST IN CASE. YOU WILL BE SETTING THE WRONG EXAMPLE . ONE THAT YOUR CHILDREN WILL ALWAYS KNOW THAT THEY CAN PERSUADE YOU OUT OF DOING WHAT THEY ARE TOLD. REMEMBER THAT WITH EACH PASSING DAY IT WILL GET EASIER. AND HE WILL ADJUST. MAKE SURE DAD AND BROTHER KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN THIS WAY THEY CAN HELP YOU BY ENCOURAGING YOU THROUGH THIS TIME.

Have you tried different styles of sippies? My 26month old neice never has taken to sippies and will only drink from the kind with a straw.

My daughter didn't mind the temperature of the milk, but she didn't like the taste. My doctor, believe it or not, recommended that we flavor it with Strawberry Quik. It worked. Gradually, I started putting in less and less Quik, until she was drinking it plain. Maybe your son would like flavored milk from a sippy? You might try it. If he doesn't associate it with the flavor of milk he expects to be warmed, maybe the temperature won't bother him.

Also, if the sippy cup is a problem, try the Leak-proof Nuby straw cups--they have a flexible straw that you can close up inside the cup to keep clean when not in use. My son couldn't figure out sippies for the longest time, but the straw cups worked great for him until then.

There are some sippy cups that have a top more like a bottle. Then once they are used to the new cup you can switch the top to a more sippy cup kind. (the cup comes with both tops) I believe they have them a wal-mart??... Have you tried giving him cold milk in a bottle?? Maybe start with that and once he has the cold milk down go on to a cup. It may just be all to new. Most of all KEEP TRYING.

He'll drink it eventually. When heating it up don't heat it as much and do that consistently till you don't need to anymore. Good luck

I would just keep warming it, but gradually make it less warm. Eventually you'll get down to it not being warmed at all.

M.,
My daughter is 18mo old this month and still won't take milk cold, nor out of a sippy cup. She will take a sippy cup with just about anything in it except for milk! I've even tried giving her warm milk in the cup...no go. But yet she'll drink ice water from her sippy!?! So I understand your frustration! I'm still trying to wean her off the bottle (down to two a day) but I'm scared she won't drink milk any other way! A friend of mine had this problem too and she would just keep trying eventually her little one just got used to it.
Good Luck!!
If you figure out a soulution let me know and maybe I can try it with my little one...Thanks!!

Skip the sippy cup. My first could never figure out how to suck the liquid out - and have you tried? You've got to suck really, really hard with most brands. We just took all the valves out and left the lid and by 15 months we didn't need the lid either. In my opinion, sippy cups are a bad habit that doesn't need to be started. I've always had the rule that you need to be on your bottom in the kitchen to eat and drink - so who cared if they made a mess? My kids didn't like milk cold - it is an acquired taste. We just went from really warm to the next month lukewarm, etc. I still heat up fruit for my kids in the microwave even though they're 4 and 6! And as for the daycare - you need to have a talk w/ the director. They are there to serve you and your kids - not to have silly rules that make their lives super easy.

I have 5 kids and none of them took cold milk at 12 months. I eventually got them to take it warm from sippy, and then to a cup cold. It just takes time to adjust. It's also a comfort for them to have it warm. Just take it slow. I think it is odd that they won't move your child to another room until he can drink it out of a cup cold. I was a preschool teacher, and that just seems like an odd expectation for a 1 year old.

I know this doesn't help your situation now but it might help with your next child. When each of my kids hit about the six month mark I start using colder water in their formula bottle. They might not drink it at first but eventually they won't mind it at all. It just takes persistence and patience on your part. They will not let themselves starve so no worries. It took my first boy who is three now one week to get used to the idea and the other is six 1/2 months now and I started him 2 weeks ago. He now has no problem with it at all. I even give him a bottle of regular milk once a day to get him used to the taste. Sorry I am no help with your situation at the moment.

That's so dumb that your daycare won't let him move forward unless he is drinking milk from a sippy cup. What does it matter to them? Or is it a bottle issue? Neither of my kids would drink cold milk either, but I just kept offering it to them and eventually they learned to like it. My daughter will be two in May and she is just now getting to where she will easily drink it. If you are trying to get your son to drink out of a sippy cup I would go back to formula for a few days and only offer it to him in a sippy cup. Kids can really hold out so it might be a struggle for a few days, be prepared. Also, make sure there is always water in a sippy cup available to him. When he gets thirsty he will begin to realize that is always available to him and it might help with the adjustment. Good Luck! Never had a preemie, I'm sure that adds in an extra piece!

I had the same problem with my now 22 month old. What worked for me was to change one thing at a time. First i changed from a bottle to a sippy cup with warm milk. (Nuby sippies work great they are alot like a bottle) After she got used to the sippy cup i started making her milk cooler and cooler until she drank it cold. Good luck!

Maybe you can try slowly backing off of the temperature. A few degrees cooler one day ... a few more a few days later, etc. ? We've done some changes in this sort of way and it seems to work for us.

Also, you might think about not heating #2's formula to avoid this problem with him/her later. I read before my daughter was born that it doesn't need to be heated, so we tried it and have never heated hers (she's 12 mos now).

Good luck!!

My daughter is the same way... and she just turned 6 years old! She's never liked to drink cold milk. We always have to warm it for her.
Sorry I don't have any advice, just sympathy!
Take care,
P. :)

My pediatrician actually recommended stirring in a little Nestle Quik in chocolate or strawberry (it has less sugar) to make sure my son got milk in him because he's not a big protein eater. If he takes it, then you gradually cut back or just mix in a cup of plain milk until that's what he is accustomed to drinking. It worked great for me and I just really made sure that he wasn't getting any extra sugar anywhere else in his diet.

Hi M.. When I introduced sippy cups to my girls I used the ones with the soft spout. (They are twins and were 6 weeks premature.) They seemed to take the change pretty well because it was so much like the bottle. They also had a problem with cold milk at first so i would just warm it a little so it was a little cooler than room temperature. I noticed though that the more cold juice I gave them the easier it was to start giving them colder milk. ( I was told to give them room temp. juice). I hope this helps.
D.

My son is 15 mos and still has a similar problem. We give him a warm bottle in the AM and one at night and during the day we mix his milk with a banana yo baby smoothie. He loves the smoothie and one will last hime the whole day at school in a sippy if we mix it so it doesn't cost to much. I think that this is also helping him get used to drinking things cold. By next month we plan to take away the bottle completely but I will probably still warm his milk for him in a sippy before bed

My daughter wouldn't drink it cold either, until we put stawberry or chocolate syrup in it. Then she loved it. The doctor said that was fine, because she needed the mil, and anything we could do to get her to drink it was great.

Hi there, I do not think him being a preemie has anything to do with it,my daughter was a preemie and was drinking from a sippy cup at 8-months, my best friends daughter was a preemie and is now 7 months and drinking from a sippy cup. She did have trouble because her daughter did not like the sippy cup and she got the Nuby sippy cups that you get at Target and Wal-Mart, the spout is softer like a bottle, and babys do not have to suck as hard, allot of kids do not like that.
He might also just be going through a phase, where he wants to be in control, and it sounds like he is getting the upper hand. You have to take back control, and just refuse to heat up his milk, eventially he will drink it, he will get thirsty enough.Every time he throws a fit and his milk gets heated up he wins and he will do it over and over.
Good luck

When making a change in a young childs life, it is usually met with a bit of a struggle. The most important thing I feel is to not give in to your child's demands because it only leads to a bigger fight and more problems with other things down the road. I am a daycare provider and have been for over 6 years. I have seen so many parents give in to their children because they don't want to make them upset, but then it continues to lead to more problems. I have not problem getting other children in my care to do things that their parents can never get them to do. That is because I am consistent and the kids know that I am not going to give in to crying. It may sound mean, but you are the parent. You are here to help your child prepare for the world.

Some small adjustments you can try is to only give your child warmed milk in a sippy cup. Get him used to drinking from a sippy cup first and then gradually change from warmed milk to cold milk. Be consistent.

Most good daycare providers will work with you in this endeavor and if they don't then you may have a bigger problem on your hands. Hopefully they will work with you though and be consistent on giving warmed milk only in a sippy cup. Your child will not starve himself. When he is thirsty, he will drink. It just may take a little convincing.

Hope this helped and that it was not too long winded.

M.,
I don't follow timelines either. Being a teacher & mom of three I know that each child grows and changes at different ages & stages. I had two kids who weren't off their bottles until they were two, the other at one year, ( but he had a binky until almost two). Keep offering the sippy, sometimes with milk, but also juice, water, etc. I would bet the cold milk hurts his throat, especially if he drinks it quickly. Something like a brain freeze. I would warm the milk for the both the bottle and sippy a little less, just enough to get by, he'll let you know what temp that is best. That day care rule is the kicker. I don't have much advice for that, other than hopefully they can be flexible and help out as much as possible until the transition is made. Good luck! And congrats on your new one this summer, you'll be busy!

Hi M.,

If I had it to do over, I would not have given my kids cow's milk. It causes inflamation in your intestines and is difficult to digest. I wonder if your son is allergic to it. Goat's milk is much easier to digest and is closer in chemical make up to mother's milk.

K. Loidolt
Author, Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living

Our daugthter didn't like cold milk til she was almost 2 years old. We never forced the issue. I think being able to drink cold milk in a sippy cup in order to move up a class is rather crazy. Drinking cold milk has nothing to do with a childs maturity or intellectual ability. Our daughter is pretty advanced for her age. She was an early talker and now, just over 2 years old, holds complete conversations (much more than other children her age), appreciates different forms of music and dance, is extremely coordinated walking on the balance beam doing flips on rings,etc. Again, drinking cold milk has NOTHING to do with a childs maturity or intellectual ability. My mom never drank cold milk! I guess if you want your child to go to the next class at your day care, I guess I'd force the issue. However, I think it is ridiculous and I'd be looking for another daycare. To put it bluntly.

About me: I'm married to a wonderful husband and have a great daughter who is just a joy to be around. I am pregnant expecting a second daughter in May.

I too have a preemie, about three months early. I have found they take longer to adjust to change. As for the cold milk, haven't had that experience. My off handed advice in terms of preemies, is start slow. First get rid of the bottle or start with room temp. milk. I think doing both at once, is pretty overwhelming with these little ones. I started my preemie on sippy cups at about 16-17 months so about 20 months to 1 1/2 years old "preemie time." With my preemie, changes are a much bigger obstacle and take longer to take hold. The usual advice "try it for 2 weeks," I have found is more like a month with preemies, then try something new. Best of luck!