2 Year Old Refusing to Drink Milk

When I took my son off the bottle at 2, he wouldn't drink milk from a cup. After calling my mom to tell her the problem, she sent him some Sip-Ahh milk-flavoring straws. I haven't seen them anywhere but Walgreens, but the banana and and the strawberry ones are best, I found. But they are straws with little flavor granules inside. My son thought they were the greatest. I took a picture of my big boy drinking milk from a cup to my mom, so she could see that sometimes, mom still knows best!!

1 mom found this helpful

My son did the same thing. Then one day he decided that it was okay to drink milk again. Though it's frustrating (now my son's diet is pretty much PB&J, chicken nuggets, turkey, pretzels, grapes and apples), the refusal of foods/drinks usually comes and goes in phases for us, so my advice is to give him the Tums, quit pushing milk (but keep offering it as an option when he's thirsty), and wait.

Sometimes kids know best. He may have developed an allergy to milk, which is quite common, and has become lactose intolerant. Perhaps drinking it gives him slight discomfort and he just doesn't want to deal with that. That's what my nephew did. He took tums once a day until he was old enough to take a vitamin with calcium.

My daughter went through a time of hating it, but what can you expect after half of their life only having milk to drink? :) Don't worry, do what the dr says and your son will be fine!

S.,

Milk is a convenient source of fat, calories, calcium and protein but it isn't the end-all-be-all of a healthy diet. As long as he's otherwise eating a reasonably healthy diet, I wouldn't worry about it. My child is allergic to dairy (and soy) and it really is possible to have a good diet without it. Some kids selectively limit some types of foods because they have undiagnoses food sensitivities. If he doesn't want it, I wouldn't push it.

T.

have you thought about getting rid of the sippy cup? my own kids went through the stage of not wanting to eat or drink anything that had to do with calcium, finally i started giving them the choice of there milk, turns out one loved chocolate milk the other wanted strawberry milk.

if your child does not want the milk, listen to him. maybe he does not like it or his body is not ok with it. humans are the only animals that continue to drink milk past breastfeeding. it is not nessecary. there are plenty of ways to get calcium besides cow dairy. eat spinach, kale, collard greens, broccoli - all greens contain calcium and magnesium. also consider a green powder supplement like VitaMineralGreens. it contains sooo much goodness and is so easy to add to smoothies, applesause, orange or apple juice, etc. i would steer away from tums and go more natural. you can sneek greens into all kinds of foods with out your kids even noticing. get creative! and be careful with soy products as they are being discovered to cause problems in humans. they are not a good substitution. tofu and soy products are so processed. steer away from processed foods and raise a WHOLE child!

Try researching what foods have calcium. Since he is two I would negotiate with him too. He is old enough to understand and more then likely it is a power struggle now then him not actually liking it. He is old enough to explain how it makes his bones grow and what he needs if he wants to be a big boy. I know right now I just saw on the news how brittle bones in kids are because kids are not drinking their milk or getting outside like they used to. I just serve it with every meal with my kids and it isn't an option for them not to drink it, just like it is part of the meal. Give him a reward system for every glass he drinks, like a sticker chart or something and make it a positive when he does. If he isn't eating cheese or yogurt it is essential he gets the calcium and Tums is not a good supplement to get it. I would get on the internet and think of all the calcium rich foods and try serving him those. Try fortified orange juices that have calcium now even oranges. Good luck and remember you are the mom!! :)

The same thing happened to my nephew, and he's 3, and he will only have soy milk now. My sister just gives him more veggies,etc that are high in calcium to make up for the lack of that he would get in typical dairy. His Doctor said that it's like an instinctive reaction when kids refuse certain things...they may not know how to explain it, or realize what's going on exactly, but they know that it's not comfortable, so they refuse to eat it, like it's an allergy. Very interesting concept :) Hope that helps!

Try not to make it a power struggle. The more you try to force it, the more he is likely to rebel. Remember that "No" is a 2 year old's favorite word, because it gives him some power over his own life. Give the milk a break. You can try introducing it again after a few months. He can get enough calcium from eating dark green vegetables like spinach and broccoli. I recommend a whole food supplement called Juice Plus. It comes in a gummie and chewable form for children and capsules for adults. It contains 17 dehydrated fruits(7), vegetables (8, including spinach and broccoli) and grains (2). Most children like the taste and are willing to eat them. Juice Plus is proven to be bioavailable and to raise the antioxidant levels in the blood as well as protect the DNA and balance the immune system. A healthy child will not need to take Tums or any other vitamin pill or supplement if he is eating Juice Plus. Information about Juice Plus and the research behind it is available on www.madjuicer.com Check it out.

If your concern is in regards to calcium, fortified orange juice should work as well. Does he like that?
My daughter is not a great milk drinker either and her doctor does not seem to be concerned. Like the other mother mentioned, I did not push it to not make it into an issue, but kept offering it along with water during main meals, sometimes she takes a sip, sometimes she drains the cup and asks for a refill, sometimes the whole thing goes down the drain : )
Now that it is colder, she likes hot chocolate. I make it with hot water as the package calls for, but only with half of what is needed, then I top it off with milk. This way I can "slip" her some milk and the drink is no longer so hot that she could get hurt.
Hope this helps.

Hello ~

I pulled my son off of milk (because of health issues) and switched him to soy. Its fortified with calcium, omega 3, dha/ara. You can buy it plain, vanilla or chocolate. Odwalla also makes chai and a few other flavors too.

There are tons of calcium fortified juices these days.... no problem!

S.,
Milk is not the only source of Calcium. I have two Lactose intolerant children. Have you tried Soy or Rice milk? Tufo is a great alternative in a smoothie. I just add fruit and sweetener of some kind and they are great as well as healthy. You might also try Vitamin Cottage they have free nutritionists on staff to help make sure of a balanced diet.
C. B

HI. As u know my name is R.. Well my son used to be the same way when he was growing up. Know he is 5yrs. old and loves milk to death. This is what i would do. He would ask me for something to drink beside milk so what i did was put milk in a sippy cup and add some chocolate syrup to it when he's not looking. Just give it to him and see what he does. Ever since i did that all he askes for is chocolate milk :) in a sippy cup. Try it and let me know how is goes. And good luck. Oh, ya and he also don't like cheese either but he'll eat it in pizza rolls, pizza, hot pockets and other foods with light cheese on it :)

I personally wouldn't worry about it. My son nursed until he was 11 months old and then was on formula for a month and that was all the "milk" he ever drank. He has never had cows milk (he tried it once and spit it out). My Dr. is not the least concerned. He made a good point saying that we as humans are the ONLY species that drinks milk after being weined and drinks another species milk. My son does eat yogurt every morning for breakfast and I give him a vitamin, but he refuses to eat cheese. I have never heard of the tums thing. He is 2 1/2 and very heathly and I am not concerned at all. I personally would not push it and maybe he will decide he likes it one day.

My daughter did the same thing except she started it a few months before she was two. She is now 28 months and drinks only a little bit of milk each night and sometimes in cereal. I ended up buying three different vitamins and made sure they had Vit D and she finally accepted one of them. Hang in there!

i dont drink milk and havent since my mom weaned me from the breast and have had no health issues as a result . i do eat yogurt, ice cream, cheese but not cottage cheese. my kids and the rest of my family drink a lot o milk. try making smoothies with icecream and whole milk and fruit. and maybe yogurt. try frozen yogurt. oj has a lot of calcium and i have always drank a lot of it. i usually go through 2 gallons a week.

The fact is that the human body was never designed to drink cows milk which is why so many people are lactose intolerant. If the doctor is content with him making up the calcium in a tums, I'd probably settle for that. Pushing the issue (especially if he's onto you) will only make him fight you more just because he can (hence the terrible 2s). My suggestion is to give him the tums for a while and in several months try to reintroduce milk in subtler ways.