19 Month Old Won't Drink Milk

First of all, GREAT name!
Second, there is nothing magic about cow's milk. Your son can get calcium from yogurt, yogurt/milk, yogurt/juice (kifir) all are fine. You may also try vanilla flavored rice milk as long as it is calcium fortified. Don't get hung up on cow's milk.

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Age 1-2 is when you need to push the milk, after that you can give him other stuff so he can get the calcium he needs. You can try nesquik in his milk instead of the syrup, its less sugar and no caffeine. You can try strawberry flavored or vanilla flavored milk.

1 mom found this helpful

He does need the milk until he is at least two. He needs the cholesterol in the milk. Maybe he doesn't like the type of milk. Try switching to a different brand or percentage. And the little boy I took care of didn't like any milk and his doctor said to put a half a pack of carnation instant breakfast in 8 oz. of milk. They make a sugar free one too. They have vanilla and chocolate. It is a healthy alternative to try. Good luck and God Bless.

Good Morning A., have you tried just giving him a reg size child's cup? You have to help him a little I am sure, but he my like that better then sippys for his milk. I think they make lower sugar or sugar free chocolate, strawberry syrups, might check it out. A boy after my own heart loving chocolate milk :)

I love milk so I think you always need it but that's just me. Does he like cheese, yogurts, cottage cheese things?
Our Bones need that calcium in milk products to strengthen and grow. You could always call your Dr. and ask his nurse.

God Bless you A.
K. Nana of 5

have you tried soy milk - my daughter likes both the plain and the vanilla?

We all need milk or at least enough Vitamin D and Calcium for a full days requirement. Your son should be getting at least 20 ounces a day of milk. Chocolate in my opinion is never good for little ones. Have you tired the sippy cups that are soft. My grandson would only use them. He is 4 and too much of a milk drinker. He will drink at least 5 full sippys a day and more if we let him.

My son is 26 months and still never tasted chocolate milk, but he also has always loved milk. If you HAVE to, use a little ovaltine, but try to use as little as possible. The choc syrup is all suger, so don't use that, only use ones with extra vitimens. Do some research on the best ones...I have found ovalaltine was when I was younger.

if he drinks it with the chocolate in it...try gradually decreasing the amount of chocolate you put in it so he gets used to the plain taste more. Hopefully this helps. Good luck!

Try giving him milk from a kiddie sized cup. My own daughter never took a bottle, nursed exclusively...and once we were done, went straight to the cup! She never used a sippy used a cup and straw when she was 13 months old. Yes, you will have to hold the cup to help, but soon he will start holding it on his own. Who doesn't like chocolate milk? ;-) But it may be a bad habit to start at such a young age. You can do the Carnation Instant Breakfast (choc flavored) and at least he'd be getting lots of vitamins and good stuff. Good luck!

If the chocolate works, keep doing it, but slowly take the amount back unitl you are left with plain milk again. He probably won't know the difference if you do it slowly. Milk is essential for growing bones, and health experts actually say the pre-teen/teen years are the most important for milk.

Unfortunately young children truely need the fat from the milk to help their brains develope properly. Make sure that you are feeding him lots of yogurt and cheese. You may also want to try some of those toddler nutrition drinks to help him get the nutrients he is missing from not having milk.

Sippy cups were intended to be a transition to the open cup. Using sippies without a plug with help with this transition. Only allowing your son to have the sippy cup with snacks and meals with water inbetween will help to avoid tooth decay in the future.

Good luck. Who would have known that there would be so many challenges already.

I haven't read all the posts so I apologize if this is a duplicate. Chocolate milk is not the devil. At least they are getting calcium. You might try however to do half chocolate milk & half white & then go for 3/4 white to 1/4 chocolate and so on. You can buy fat free chocolate milk as well & mix it as you see fit.

I think your doctor will tell you that choc. milk is better than no milk, that's what I was told by my doctor and my sister as well. I would use Nestle Quick though, instead of syrup. It is fortified with some vitamins and calcium I believe.

Ovaltine is a good substitute for just plain old sugary choco syrup.There is a Nestle type that also has vitamins. I say it is better for him to get the choco than it is for him NOT to have milk. You could even add your own liquid vitamins if you feel it is necassary. He would not be the wiser.

You can try Ovaltine instead of syrup, its a little better. We put 1/2 teaspoon in our daughter's 7 oz of milk, just enough to change the color, and that does the trick. She's NEVER liked regular cow's milk, doesn't like soy milk either. Then again, I don't like cow's milk either, so I can sympathize with her.

Yes, your son still needs milk. We all need the calcium actually so since you do not care for milk, you also should seek other calcium rich sources. Doctors now have NO problem with children drinking chocolate milk. If you want a healthier alternative, try Ovaltine (rich chocolate flavor). It gives a nice chocolate milk taste with added vitamins too! Good luck!

Hi A.,
Have you tried the Nuby brand sippy cups? They are available at Walmart, Target, etc and are very inexpensive. The part you drink out of is soft plastic that is much more like a bottle than any other sippy cup I found. My daughter refused milk out of a sippy until we found this kind, then she switched with no issues whatsoever. I know it's frustrating but kids NEED milk for a very long time. I don't know that there's a "cut off" but their bones are growing and developing well into their teen years and they need the calcium and Vitamin D that milk provides to be strong and healthy. Vitamins can help but it's just not the same as getting if from food and milk. Your body doesn't absorb it the same way from vitamins.
If worse comes to worse and you just can not get him to drink plain milk, you might try strawberry syrup instead of chocolate. It's a little better I think. My sister's Pediatrician said she didn't recommend it if at all possible but it's better to give them milk with strawberry than no milk at all. Good luck!

At my son's 2 year old visit I believe there was a question from the Dr. about his milk intake, so I do believe they still need it at this age. I was going to suggest giving him chocolate milk as I was reading, so that is my suggestion. Maybe try Ovaltine which has a few vitamins tossed in. My son loves it and hasn't wanted to go back to Nestle Quik or Hershey's Syrup for his chocolate milk, so I guess it tastes good. Don't feel too awful about giving him a few cups of chocolate milk a day, he's benefiting more from the milk part than the chocolate part is doing him harm. I wouldn't "go overboard" with it, maybe if he keeps coming back for more suggest a cup of regular milk and see what happens. Maybe explain, "its the same thing but without the chocolate" maybe that'll work! :o)

My son did the same thing when he transitioned from the formula to regular milk. Turns out he has a slight allergy to milk that makes it taste sour to him. I had to back door the milk by first getting him to drink Yahoo (no milk) then moving to chocolate milk. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with using the flavors in the milk to get them to drink milk. Most schools even offer chocolate and regular milk to the kids. After all, you don't always eat vanilla ice cream do you?? Pretty much same principal.

My son is almost 6 and still refuses to drink white milk but will demolish a whole gallon of chocolate milk given the opportunity. As for a healthier version, Ovaltine is probably the best but I couldn't get my son to drink any of the powdered versions...had to buy the regular chocolate milk at the store and eventually ween him into the Hershey's syrup...but go for whatever works for you.

Another back door you can use is yogurt and cheese. Make the cheese fun by getting the blocks and cutting them into shapes or putting them on Ritz crackers for him. My son LOVES yogurt...any flavor (and especially the colorful ones). Good luck!

BTW- I LOVED the Nuby sippy cups at Walmart too. They most resembled a bottle. There are regular cups and sports cups. The sports ones don't fit in the cup holders in the car but have a top most like a bottle which my kids loved (but they also tended to rip those up faster). At $1 ea it wasn't an expensive loss.