Baby Doesn't like Milk

My daughter didn't like the taste of cow's milk (after only having breast milk for 12 months) either so I slowly introduced it by making her a bottle with half breast milk and half cow's milk. She's almost 13 months now and we're down to nursing once a day and she takes a full bottle of cow's milk without any problems.

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My first-born is 16 years old and hasn't willing drunk a drop of cow's milk since he was weaned. He eats all matter of dairy foods and will drink chocolate milk but no plain white milk.

Guess he feels if it's not home-made, it ain't worth drinking.

Keep the rest of his diet healthy and supplement with a vitamin. Maybe your son will grow up to be 6'1" like mine!

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We had the same problem. I had been trying to give my daughter milk for over a month with no success when she turned 1. We even tried a little chocolate syrup in it and also strawberry flavoring. Nothing. She looked at me like I was on drugs. I was ready to wean, but not comfortable doing so until she would take milk. We were at the doctor for something unrelated, and she said that it was fine if she didn't drink the milk, but just to keep offering it to her, that eventually she would. She said as long as she ate other dairy such as yogurt, cottage cheese and other cheeses, she would be getting enough calcium. Plus there is calcium in things like broccoli, which she loves. I slowly started to reduce the number of breastfeeding sessions each day and offered her a cup of milk (I just used cold, although we tried heating it up to see if that would work and it didn't). She was 15 months before she was completely weaned, and was still only taking a sip of milk here and there. By about 16 months she would drink a whole cup of it and by 18 months would frequently ask for it during the day. So he will eventually drink it, you just need to keep offering it, and for me, I had to quit nursing so he would be motivated to try it. The other thing the doctor said was to make sure I was offering plenty of other fluids so she didn't get dehydrated since she wasn't drinking the milk. She is over two now and still loves her milk and drinks it every day, so it will get better. I was totally stressing thinking I was going to have to nurse until she was in preschool, but it just took her lots of exposure to it not to spit it out anymore. The doctor assured me that since the rest of her diet was great, this was definitely not something to worry about. Good luck.

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I don't know how you feel about sugar, but put some Ovaltine or strawberry milk powder in his COLD milk.

My daughter had never had sugar before and it broke my heart but we were both ready to wean and she wouldn't take cows milk in any form. I put the tiniest amount of Ovaltine (chocolate) powder in and she drank it up! I slowly decreased the Ovaltine till she was drinking straight milk (maybe a week). She's almost 3 and LOVES milk.

Make sure you use full fat as your little one needs all the fat he can get till 2nd B-Day.

Good Luck.
H.

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Hi J.,
My daughter did the same thing. What worked for her was slowly introducing the milk. First, I would do 90% breastmilk, 10% whole milk in a cup. Then, a little more milk and less breastmilk. Eventually it was all milk. Also, I kept the milk cold so that she got used to it that way. Hope this is helpful. Best of luck.

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I weaned at a year also and now 20 months still prefers Baby's Only formula to milk. If you want to bypass formula try goats milk, my little one also loves this and it is easy for them to digest. It is more like brastmilk than cows milk . Good luck

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I would recommend trying goat's milk. My daughter prefers it to cows milk.

My daughter is almost 13 months and, like your son, had only breastmilk which I have weaned her from completely at this point. She is still getting used to the whole milk, but I definitely see improvements with her tolerance. I serve it cold, rather than warm, not sure if that might make a difference for you. Also, my pediatrician says that they need 2-3 dairy servings/day which can come from any source, not just milk, so if he's eating cheese, yogurt, etc, I wouldn't worry too much. You could always try soy milk too, to see if he prefers the taste.

Do you ever pump or do you have a pump? If so I would warm an ounce of whole milk and mix 1 ounce of fresh breast milk and put it in a bottle. My son wont drink milk from a sippy cup either, but every thing else he does. He just turned one and I mix formula and cow milk and now he will drink either, as long as it is warm and in a bottle. You can worry about weaning off the bottle later. One thing at a time.
Good luck.
A. P

my second son was EXACTLY the same!!!

it took till he was 13 months or even 13 and a half months before he drank enough whole milk to meet his needs. he still doesn't devour the stuff the way his older brother does... it took almost as long to fully convince him he didn't need the breast anymore, and he better got his needs met from the cup.

just be consistent in offering, don't stress over it and let him drink his water when he refuses the milk, and give him some time. if all he's had is breast milk (the BEST stuff!), he has to adjust to something not as tasty- it's a big adjustment.

(my first son was on formula for two months because of low milk supply so he LOVED whole milk in comparison!)

also, unlike breast milk, whole milk is recommended for our toddlers mainly for the protein and calcium, and high fat content for developing brains. all of these things can be found in other sources as well (especially milk products like yogurt), and doctors warn not to overfeed our kiddies milk, due to its connection with childhood obesity.

so don't worry- your son will be fine even if he never gets really into milk.

good luck! everything will turn out ok in the end!

Dear J.,
I know your son has been used to warm breastmilk. But have YOU ever tried drinking warm cow's milk from a sippy? YUCK!
He already likes other dairy. Things that are cold. Try just giving him a cup of cold milk.
I had to stop nursing abruptly due to being hospitalized. My husband, fearing that the formula would spoil, put ice cubes in our baby's bottles. After that, he wouldn't have any type of milk any other way. If he couldn't shake it and hear the ice rattling, he wouldn't drink it.
Sounds weird, I know....but whatever works. He just turned 13 and to this day, unless it's hot chocolate, he wants his milk ice cold.
Try a couple of ice cubes in his sippy. He might think it's fun that it rattles. Otherwise, just try giving him cold milk and see what happens.
Best of wishes!

You can try 2% or soymilk which has a little sweet taste.

Cold milk might do the trick as offered below.

Don't worry about it. He gets plenty of dairy else where in his diet.

Slip in some chocolate powder....if you really want him to drink it.

Stephanie

My daughter was the same way I tried, goat's milk, soy milk, and formula. She hated it all. As she got older I discovered she was more willing to try things with cinnimon in it but in the end I gave her Pediasure (a milk suppliment) as that was something she completely loved. Try pumping as long as you can and maybe you can combine your breast milk with the goat's milk and little by little wean out the breast milk from the cup uptil it's all goat's milk.
Some kids are not seriously lactose intollerant but have some trouble with it- they can have more processed forms like cheese or yogurt but straight milk causes problems (I use to gag every time I tried to drink milk straight much to my mother's dismay).
Just keep trying new things and ask your doc for ideas.
*hugs* Good luck!

Cow's Milk doesn't taste sweet like Mama's milk.
my guy was a champion nurser, he said the milk tasted like strawberries...We use Vanilla Soy milk and he loves it, we also played around with different sippy cups to get the right fit, he favored the one with straws and ones with squishy mouth pieces, he liked sports bottles too.
Mine never took a bottle or pacifier, but he child led weaned.

My daughter also hated milk when we switched her. I think she hated the change of habit more than anything. When she realized that was her only option (No formula anymore) then she chugged it down. She absolutely loves it now, but it did take a couple of weeks for her to realize it. I wouldn't warm the milk either. Also, try a different or new type of cup for the milk- My daughter used to like her milk only out of the NUBY sippy cups. Don't give him the same cups you give the water in and see if that helps. I wouldn't give up yet- Whole milk is a very important part of their diet.

Have you tried giving it to him cold? He might like it better cold.

My children were the same--I gave it to them cold,and they have been drinking it happily ever since. It is wonderful to not have to warm it up.

Good Luck

My daughter did the same so I put chocolate syrup in it and she loves milk. Eventually, I'll wean her from the chocolate but it's not alot so I don't worry too much about it. Good Luck.

Hi J.,

This is a really common thing to happen - many, many little ones dislike cow's milk initially (or even forever). As some other moms have said, cow's milk is not a necessity, so no worries. Actually, calcium can be gotten from many plant foods, so dairy itself is not a necessity (although you said your son does fine with cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.). Raw dairy food is the only really healthy way to consume it these days - there are way too many harmful hormones in our modern-day processed milk. My daughter hated cow's milk from the get go, and only after a long time did she start to like it a bit (with cereal etc), and only after we changed to raw milk once we learned about how bad regular processed dairy is for human consumption now. Soy is also not a good choice - the only soy foods that are good for human consumption and don't upset the hormonal balance are fermented soy foods (that leaves out tofu and soy milk products).

Your little one is actually quite young to already be thinking of weaning, so perhaps he is resistant for good reason. The AMA recommends nursing for a minimum of the first 2 years if possible - it's so good for kids and really makes a difference in their lifelong health and resistance to disease. In most of the rest of the world the average age of weaning is age 4. Child-led weaning is the least difficult (in my experience) and is not traumatic for the child like forced weaning usually can be. I'm not sure of your situation, but without knowing any more than you have shared, I would respectfully suggest you leave off trying to wean him for now, and let him continue to enjoy the many HUGE benefits of your wonderful human milk - it's really great that you have never given him formula, go mom!! Why take away what has been expressly designed as the most complete and perfect food for a human child, and try to replace it with the milk made as perfect food for a baby cow? It makes sense to me why kids refuse it - they know what's good! :) If he does happen to act less interested in nursing at his age, it's just a "nursing strike" which is a very common and temporary thing - it will pass with time and some persistence and then he will be happier than ever with his wonderful milk.

You had written about a week ago about skin problems your son has been having, I hope that is improving. Such skin reactions are almost universally an allergic reaction to something (or many things) in a child's diet and/or environment. There are several common allergens that are found in the typical American diet - dairy, corn, wheat, to name a few biggies. Chemicals on his skin or even in the air (like pesticides, detergents, etc.) can have an effect if he is sensitive to them. Again, I'd leave off the cow's milk and remove any processed foods he might be eating, try to really give him a clean whole-food diet, and see what happens from there.

Blessings to you and your little one,

S.

My baby has been a great eater since day one and we had a similar problem. She does great with the cow's milk in a bottle, and I serve it about room temp. Not warm, but she doesn't like it cold. She loves water out of her sippy cup, but will spit the milk right back out.
Stick with the whole milk, not reduced fat, as the babies really need the higher fat content right now.
Good luck!

My daughter was the same way. When she finally did swallow some she had diarrhea both times a half hour later. She spit-up after the third try. I decided it was a lactose intolerance because she was ok with cheese. Cheese and yogurt contain much smaller amounts of lactose than regular milk. We tried Rice Dream for awhile until she was drinking that well and reintroduced Lactaid milk. I'll try regular milk again in a few months. She is 17 mths right now. I also tried Soy milk but she has a rash that seemed worse on soy. Try the vanilla Rice Dream first because it is sweeter like formula and breastmilk.

Try blending in some yogurt or a banana. My son was the same way at the beginning.

I had the same issue with my son who also never had an ounce of formula. I asked for advice here too and got wonderful suggestions. One of the suggestions was to try 2% milk and maybe flavor it with a little Ovaltine and this is what worked for us. I simply offered it with breakfast and with snacks and now he drinks mostly milk where before it was mostly water. It took some time, but he really likes it now. By the way, someone also suggested not warming up the milk so that having milk anywhere anytime is easy. I have since weaned my son off of the added Ovaltine. It didn't take long and he drinks milk like crazy now. It is actually a habit now for me to carry him to the fridge before meals to get his sippy cup of milk so he can start drinking it right away. When you offer, just put it near him so he can make the choice and little by little he'll be the one to take it. Since he's getting other forms of calcium, don't sweat it and just be persistent and patient. It will happen before you know it. Hang in the there.

I recommed goats' milk...my sister gave it to her son and he has been taking goats' milk for a while now as a replacement for cows' milk in order to help clear up his eczema, and he likes it better than the cow's milk. She did this with her older daughter and was able to get her on cow's milk as she got older.

Also, goats' milk is believed to be more beneficial for the human metabolism, which would perhaps make for a smoother transition from mother's milk to commercial milk as far as your son's metabolism is concerned. It is very easy on a child's digestive system

Please bear in mind that I'm not an expert on this, so you should probably double check with your family GP or a public health nurse first. I hope my advice helps though!!! Best of luck!

I had the same problem! I solved it my introducing milk along with other things, i.e. milk on oatmeal and cheerios in milk. That helped him get used to it, I guess.

Try powdered goat's milk. It's most like human's milk. It's good! Better than the refrigerated kind that taste like hay! yuck!

Hi J.,
I would do what Danielle suggested. Start mixing a little cow's milk with breastmilk, decreasing the breastmilk slowly until it is all cow's milk. He needs the calcium and the vitamin D from cow's milk so keep trying.
Sincerely,
L.

Have you tried to give him cold milk instead of warm?

Whole milk is much thicker than breastmilk which is what I assume he's had and that's probably what he doesn't like. I would either try 2% milk or simply water down the whole milk for awhile until he has a chance to get used to it. when I was changing my daughter over, I mixed the milk with the formula, gradually increasing the amount of milk until eventually she was on straight milk but I did water down the whole milk for awhile. Good luck!

He'll be fine if he is consuming whole milk yogurt and cottage cheese and other cheeses. Milk isn't a necessity. You can do a soy milk that has been enhanced with Calcium like Silk... they make a very vanilla for kids. However, the plain is good too! :)

Hi J.,
My boy was exactly the same way! He was fully breastfed for a year, no formula. When I introduced cow's milk he spit it out. Since he liked yogurt and cheese, I decided to get in as much dairy as I could for his calcium needs. I slowly transitioned him to milk by diluting whole milk with water, since he also loved plain water. Slowly I increased the proportion of milk to water and now at almost 14 months of age, he is just now drinking whole milk undiluted! People have recommended goat's milk and soy, but if he is not lactose intolerant I feel whole milk is best for a 1 year old. Good luck!

Two of my children don't drink milk except maybe once a month. It really isn't necessary. A balanced diet is what is necessary. Our pediatrician says she actually sees many more cases of anemia due to excessive milk drinking than a true calcium deficiency from not drinking milk. She is very pleased that my kids drink almost exclusively water. Offer plenty of fruits and vegetables (where do the cows get teh calcium in the first place) and helathy protiens. Offfer soy and dairy and most kids will eat a well balanced diet. Also I just wanted to say you don't have to wean him unless it is something you really want to do. The American Academy of Pediatrics reccomends breastfeedign for the first year and then as long as is desired by both mom and baby and the World Health Organization reccommends breastfeeding for two years. Weaning is a personal decision do it becasue you want to and don't put big timeline pressures on yourself.

I wouldn't push it. If he doesn't like it then he doesn't like it. It's not going to hurt him not to drink it.

Ask your doctor about introducing him to soy milk. Its a lot sweeter!

Hi there,
I just want to reassure you that he will eventally drink milk... if not then you can definately supplement it by giving him cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese. Milk is the easiest way to make sure your son gets enough calcium. My daughter is now 15 months and for 3 months I struggled with the whole milk and making sure she got enough calcium in her diet. I was still nursing her 2x a day by her 1st b-day (she never took formula) and when we started introducing whole milk to her, she would totally refuse it. I tried whole milk, soy and rice milk, goat's milk, drinkable yogurt (since she LOVED yogurt) and mixing the ratio between that and milk. I didn't have any breastmilk so I couldn't mix that with whole milk. If you have any breastmilk, i would definately try to mix it with milk. We went back and forth between bottles and sippy cups. Our pediatrician told us to not to worry about it. But I still worried about it. It took me weaning her down to one nursing a day (when she was 14 months old) before she finally took more than 2oz of milk. 2oz eventually become 4oz then at 15 months she drinks 6-7oz in the the morning and maybe 4 oz in the afternoon. We are actually giving her 2% milk instead of whole milk. Our pediatrician actually suggested it to us and it worked for us... I don't know if it makes any difference.. but I had my partner give our daughter the sippy cup of milk. B/c when I tried to give her the milk she just wanted me... Hope this helps!

Cow milk is not necessarily the best food for babies, so your baby may be instinctively trying to tell you what he needs. Really, cow milk is designed for baby cows. Here are links to a couple of good articles on the subject:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/building_bones.html
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/what_about_milk.html

How about rice milk?

Keep offering it and don't warm the milk. It does not need to be warm and then also you are not stuck always having to warm it. Serving it cold is easier and he make asjust to it better.

hi

Sounds like you have a smart boy there as he is saying NO to cow's milk... which is a good thing as it's not really meant for human consumption (unless of course you have noticed hoofs and fur beginning to develop)

If you are concerned about "calcium" and think that the only way to get calcium is via cow's milk, that is a bit of a myth... In fact,you can get it from many non-dairy sources such as papaya, spinach and other leafy greens.

Truly there are other options out there apart from dairy.
What a blessing that your child is saying NO to cow's milk as it has now caused you to perhaps question its point and purpose in our diets.

If you go on the net and type in alternative calcium options to dairy, it will bring up a huge list of things.

Good luck!

J.
I love milk, but ice cold. I actually put ice in the milk so the thought of warm milk makes me want to vomit. Try giving him cold milk. See if that makes a difference. I would also try with nonfat as it is almost like water. Then slowly add 1%, then 2% and then switch to whole milk. Give each a few days for him to get used to it. Toddlers need the fat in whole milk until age 3. It is good for brain development. But I think for a week or so nonfat and the others should be fine. At least he'll be drinking the milk.
Also when my twins were 1yo they didn't like plain milk, so I bought Strawberry Quik plus Calcium and they drank it all up. They are 9yo now and weigh only 48lbs. and now love milk. They are competitive gymnasts and are full of muscle. So the Quik mix didn't make them over weight or anything. It just gave them the calcium for strong bones. We parents will try just about anything to get our kids to eat and drink what we give them. Try these and hope they help.
Good luck
Trish

Hi...my grandaughters can't drink milk...the DR said not to worry just give them calcium fortified orange juice...I can't remember the MG's of calcium needed...but lots of other foods have calcium...just call your Dr's office for suggestions...

Good Luck Julie...

T.

Hi J. - Just a thought, but have you tried Blue Diamond Almond Breeze (the unsweetened type)? It's delicious and high in protein and if my kids were not all grown up already, I would have used it instead of cow's milk. I think it's much healthier. Maybe you could give that a try. It tastes similar to milk, but lighter and nuttier flavor. Good Luck!

my 12 month old did not like the whole milk I have been offering him for a few weeks now, until yesterday when he drank 1/2 of a sippy cup, so I would keep trying and he may come around
good luck

I know that similac makes a formula for older babies, so you could try that. But I recently read that if a baby/toddler doesn't like milk, not to worry as long as they are eating plenty of other dairly products, which your son is doing. I also read something about limiting water intake for babies under the age of one because too much water flushes needed sodium from their systems or something like that. I think I read that on Baby Center, so you may want to look it up. I think past the age of one water consumption is ok and doesn't really need to be monitored.

Hope that helps. :)

Maybe try the milk cold so it is like another drink not a replacement, my baby seems to like it cold, but she also likes it in different cups than the water.

Maybe he doesn't like the taste of it warm...you could try cold. My kids always preferred cold milk over warm.
Good Luck

Perhaps you could try formula or organic formula as a transition. When my supply started to drop off, I started supplementing with organic formula and my daughter really liked it. Then I gradually transitioned from organic formula to cows milk by slowly changing the ratio, perhaps over the course of a couple of months. If you baby likes formula, that could be one solution. I used to demonize formula a bit, but I think that in its place it's helpful. I used the kind that had DHA, so that made me feel good, too. Although we drink a lot of milk now, I sometimes think that milk consumption is a bit overrated. Good luck!

Don't worry about it. I had a similar issue with my daughter, now 21months old. As long as he's getting 2-3 servings of dairy a day, they don't need milk. My pediatrician warned against pushing the cow's milk and encouraged plain water.
By the way, my daughter now likes cow's milk and drinks about 8 oz a day with her meals.

You might try ice cold milk. My little one does not like milk when it is warm but when it is ice cold or refridgerator cold he will drink it fine.

Try cold milk. If he's never had formula it may not seem natural for milk to be warm, especially since he appears to tolerate room temp/cold water from the cup. Just keep trying - eventually it will take.

If your child won't drink milk, it's ok. Some of us just don't like it. All the nutrients in milk can be found in other foods. It is, after all, the baby food of another species and as such, is not in any way a necessary part of the human diet.

My son is now 14 months and we had a similar problem. I was weaning him and I wanted him to drink the milk from the cup. Warm milk he would push away from me. Then I stopped warming it and gave it to him cold. He then would take sips. I was concerned that once he was weaned, he would not get enough milk with just the sips. I asked his doctor about it and she said not to worry. He would start drinking more as he got less from me. Also she said with one glass of milk and a cheese stick, he has all the milk needs for the day. So, she was right. He now drinks milk from the cup. Long story short, try giving him cold milk.

If you're not too keen on trying soy milk, or just think that dairy is the way to go, this might help. The reason many babies take to vanilla soy milk is that breast milk can have a similar flavour to vanilla. You might want to consult with your ped, but my husband and I have had very good luck giving our son warm milk with just a tiny amount of vanilla extract or even a half teaspoon of vanilla sugar syrup. If you use a little less over time, you might even be able to eventually stop putting the vanilla in at all. Our son has been completely weaned for a year, now, and he still loves to have warm vanilla milk as a special treat. Good luck!

I would try to feed him fresh goat's milk. Meyer's makes fresh goat milk. If your store doesn't carry it, request to the mananger that they do. Goat's milk is closest to human milk. Soy milk has had a lot of bad press, and for a good reason... It simulates estrogren. You don't need hormones, especially that one, to work against your son's delicate hormonal balance.

Cow's milk has 4 x the protein of human milk. When cow's milk is pasurized, it kills the enzyme that aids the didgestion of all that protien. We have a hard time didgesting it and that's why it causes so many problems. Baby calfs that are fed their mom's own PASTURIZED milk die within 6 months. Pasturizing makes it an enmpty food.

My baby girl had nothing, but breast milk until she was 15-months old. When she turned 1 year I tried and tired to give her cow’s milk, soy milk, almond mil, but she did not like any of it. She does however love cottage cheese, and has since was about 8-months old. She loves eating yogurt as well and has at least one or two containers of yogurt a day, which supplies calcium and is good for her tummy since she suffered from acid reflux as an infant. She is now 18-months old and about a month ago I started giving her a little bit of chocolate milk, which the dr. said was fine. She has also recently started drinking whole cow’s milk, but she is still only up to about 8 ounces of milk or chocolate milk a week. Her dr said just make sure she is taking vitamins every day that have vitamin D.

My pediatrician told me to hold off on cow's milk until about 15 months or so and go with breast milk until then. Another option is goat's milk, which my sister tried with her son as he was having a reaction to cow's milk. Also, if you can go ORGANIC Goat's Milk or Cow's Milk. My baby will be 1 on Sept. 7th... I'm still trying to pump/nurse until that 15th month + if I can!

Hi J.,

Children are smart. There is a reason why he does not like it. Do not force him to drink it if he does not like it. Try giving him hemp milk or rice milk.

Do not give him pasturised milk. It will leach calcium from his bones.

I share other options for parents to give babies barley grass, and immunity for their immune system.
Go to www.nikken.com/ninamarie and read about me for more information.

Wishing you and your family the best of health.

N. Marie