Flavoring Milk

My son hated white milk from day one. We started giving him milk at about 11 mos. So to offset the taste, I would put a little bit of vanilla carnation instant breakfast in his milk (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 packet). This worked well. The mix also has a lot of vitamins and protein, so that was a bonus, too. As he gets more used to milk, you can ease back on the mix until you stop using it all together.

To give my kids a boost or a quick and easy snack, I will blend a banana and, sometimes, a little spinach and honey (we call it a monster shake...interestingly, you can't taste the spinach but green milk looks cool) into their milk. Also, kefir is pretty tasty. I know this doesn't actually address your question, but thought I'd offer these ideas as an aside.

ETA Another tasty bevo that we enjoy is milk tea. We do two parts herbal tea, one part milk (or coconut milk) and sweeten with honey. Very tasty, good for cold days, and depending on the type of tea, settles upset tummies or sooths a sore throat. My Mom's an Aussie and tea is a ritual that I will not give up ;)

I do agree with Bug B. though. As you start weaning your little one will start needing (and will drink) other liquids. I am a huge cheerleader for water. My daughter never really drank very much cow milk. I supplemented her needs (fat, calcium, vit. D for example) in other ways.The kids drink water if their thirsty, but I add comfort and/or nutrition with other liquids (tea, smoothies, fresh juice, green drink, monster shake, spiced hot chocolate - as a special treat).

He doesn't drink much, because he's not thirsty. Breast-milk, is a drink and food. If you take the breast-milk away, he will be thirsty enough to drink something else. I would not suggest flavoring milk. He will always want it that way. Buying already flavored milk is full of sugar. The only thing you need to do to entice him, is to cut back on nursing. He will have a thirst and desire, to drink something else. There is no need, to flavor milk and trick him into it. His body will know, to drink more.

You have started by giving your son the very best. Now it is time to move on to milk. Why would you add an unnecessary ingredient to it? You wouldn't add an unecessary ingredient to your breast milk so don't add SUGAR to this next step. He will drink milk, it may take awhile but he will do it.

You are not doing your son any favor by adding this unnecessary flavoring. Stay on course with the what you have begun...and keep him on a healthy diet.

Good luck.

Like some of the Mom's said, he is not drinking becuase he is not thirsty. Once you stop BF then he will start to drink more.

As far as flavoring the milk, I don't see a problem as long as you make sure that 1) he will drink plain milk and 2) that you don't give him too much.

Every morning when my daughter wakes up she has her Hot Chocolate made with Rich Chocolate Ovaltine (extra vitamins never hurt :) ) - probably since she was around 2 since that was when I stopped BF. She will occaisionly have cold chocolate milk or Strawberry milk during the day, but more often than not she asks for regular milk. And at night that is all she wants.

Good luck!

There are pros and cons to using any flavoring in milk. And you may hear that this will put your child on the path to never drinking regular milk. But, if done right, you can avoid problems for the most part. Of course, kids can be stubborn. When my older kids were little, they did not want to drink plain milk. I bought the sugar free syrup and used it. I did not put in the 2 tbsp as suggested, just enough to give some flavor. For my little one now, I do the same or I buy the Carnation Instant Breakfast mix that I think is sugar free. I buy it when it is on sale and just use a little powder. A packet lasts 3 or 4 cups. She does not like Ovaltine though the older ones will make it disappear pretty quickly. As my little one gets older and learns new tastes, I will decrease the amount of flavors available like I did for my older kids.
I also make smoothies using milk and fruit, adding in a little carnation powder. They love it and they get their milk.

I had the same issue. My DD hated milk and so I flavored it with sugar free chocolate syrup. She's 3 and still only drinks chocolate milk, but it's only 1 cup a day at wake-up time and the rest of the day she drinks juice or water.

Hey Mama,

Using flavored anything to make your child eat/drink it is a bad habit to get into. If your child thinks that milk should have sugar & strawberry flavor, he'll never drink real milk.

Encourage milk and water, but add foods that are full of water too, like apples, soup and melons to his meals. It will help hydrate him.

You could also make milk ice pops and try those too. I know it's cold out, but he may enjoy the treat.

R. Magby

There's nothing wrong w/ flavored milk. I gave both my boys chocolate milk early on and it was the only way my youngest would drink milk as a toddler. He's 10 now and he drinks white milk, so it didn't become a habit. My oldest loves water so the chocolate milk didn't stick w/ him either.

IMO I think you should also introduce juice, you can water it down so it is not so concentrated and sweet. But juice is a good source of vitamins and a energy booster when needed - like the morning.

I have given my almost 3 yr old chocolate milk for a while now... he hated plain milk. I just barely put enough (nesquik powder) to give it a hint of the chocolate flavor instead of the amount the directions it actually tells you. That way it gives it yummy flavor without giving him too much chocolate.

If your going to flavor...at least do it with Ovaltine which is healthier than syrups, and provides some vitamins and minerals which are beneficial...otherwise it is just empty calories.

Please do not flavor his milk.. he will only become dependent on it and come to expect it. He isn't drinking the milk from the cup b/c he knows breast milk is better. Once breast milk isn't an option, he will take the milk from a cup. It just takes a little bit of time to transition. I give my kids a little bit of chocolate milk every few weeks or so as a special treat, but had I done that from the beginning like my friend's kids, they would demand that only and never get used to the taste of regular milk.

My kids never liked sippy cups or bottles, I went straight from nursing, to using little open cups for them to sip from, I just held the cup for them as they drank.

Flavoring milk isn't a good idea, when he is 6 he is still going to expect to have chocolate/strawberry milk. I think if you start him on whole milk by flavoring it he is never going to want it plain. Yes, you can get sugar free...but that doesn't mean it is good for a 14 month old. Think about his teeth too. If you stop nursing he will have no choice but to start drinking from a big boy cup, he will get used to it and do more than sip when he is thirsty enough, he has never had to before since he knows you will nurse him.

Watered down sugar-free juice is what my girls drink; they never took to milk. As for weaning, just start by dropping one feed at a time, say every 4 or 5 days until you're done. As you're giving him less from the breast, give him more in the cup and he'll be just fine.

My daughter loves milk. However, I don't give her chocolate milk. I either use Pediasure or EnfaGrow (it comes in Chocolate or Vanilla). She doesn't eat alot so I give her those to help offset the nuterients shes not getting.

So, my suggestion is to try Pediasure (I use store brand, because its cheaper) or EnfaGrow.