How Do I Get My 1 Year Old to Drink Milk???

I suggest you listen to your child. You can ask other moms, you can even ask your doctor, everyone will have their own opinions. I did my own due diligence:

WATCH THIS FIRST:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOvzL5ZBz0I - ALL MOMS SHOULD WATCH THIS

Then read:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/hormones/
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/rbgh_hormo.cfm
http://blogs.babiesonline.com/news/unhappy-cows-the-hormo...
http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/linda_folden_palmer.html

You decide what you will put in your child's body. Please, do your homework, this is the future of your child that you are deciding.

B.
Family Wellness Coach

I had the same problem with my son. What finally worked with him was feeding him cereal (a little cheerios and a lot of milk in the spoon.) He had watched me eating my cereal for months and was fascinated and wanted to try it. Once I had got him used to the taste (a week to 10 days) I was able to get him to drink milk from a sippy. Good luck and keep trying :)

How about if you express some breast milk and offer it to her in her sippy cup first thing in the morning? See if she wants it. If she does, little by little, every morning, mix some milk into the breast milk until she gets used to the flavor. Keep breastfeeding at night. I learned that all changes have to be gradual. Hope this helps.

Hello,
the BEST tasting milk I have ever had is Stemrick's Heritage Milk. My MIL turned me onto it recently. It's like drinking vanilla milk, it is absolutely delicious. I'm not sure where you live, but I've found it at Henry's Market in OC and my MIL shops at conventional grocery stores, so I know it's pretty easy to get. http://www.stremicksheritagefoods.com/

Also, how about trying Trader Joe's organic chocolate syrup?? Just a dash...we do this with our daughter sometimes when we want to increase her milk intake and it works like a charm. Who can turn down chocolate milk -- esp. organic? :) Good luck!

All great ideas. But Also try having tea parties, with fun little cups. They have chocolate and strawberry flavors teach her how to mix it. Try dipping oreo's in it. Make smoothies. Make milk fun she will learn to love it. It's just a different taste, but when you make it fun she might love it. Good luck. J.

For my son it was the cup. To this day he won't drink milk if it's in the sippy he uses for water...has to be a totally different type of cup. I use the nubbys for water and the platex hard spout for milk. He's drinking it perfectly ever since I changed cup types.

Does it have to be cow's milk? My twins have never had cow's milk. When they were 18 months we transitioned to Rice and Almond milk. They are almost ten now and still love rice milk.

They also drank it out of a regular drinking cup. Maybe try sitting with your daughter on your lap and helping her take her milk from a glass

How about giving her chocolate or strawberry milk? Just put a little Nesquick or Ovaltine powder in the milk and she may drink it. Or you can make her smoothies with fresh fruit and milk. Good luck!

Don't be in a hurry to wean from bf. Do some research of your own, I don't agree with your doc. Go to the Le Leche League site to get some ideas for books. I would try soy or coconut milk if you think you need something other than breastmilk and water. Does your child eat cheese, plain yogurt, tofu, beans, broccoli, spinach... MANY other sources of fats and calcium rather than from hormone cow milk. IF you want her to have cow milk, don't 'cave' and add sugars to it, if you start that habbit now, it will get worse. She's healthy, keep her that way.

Hi L., I had the same issue with my daughter (now 2 1/2). I would mix the milk with a yogurt drink - about half and half....and slowly give her more milk. I'd call it her yogurt milk and she was fine with it. One day she she finally said "no yogurt milk mommie, just milk please"......I also use 2% milk and not whole milk. Good luck. As long as she is eating other dairy, relax she will eventually drink it for you. :)

The only thing i remember about our daughter is that when we switched her to cows milk we added a tiny bit of caro syrup. But the reason was so that it wouldn't constipate her. She loved it,. I'm thinking it may have sweetened it a little. But best get advice from ped on this as to how much. To add.

Hi L.,

I finally got my dd to drink milk by warming it and adding stevia powder to it. I figured that it would help, since our breastmilk is quite sweet, and it did.

Hope this helps!

Add Ovaltine (chocolate flvored drink mix). It has vitamins and is healthier than Nestles Quick. I used this with my kids when I needed to wean them and it worked.

try pumping and mixing 1/2 breast milk with 1/2 cows milk. It took my daughter a month to start to like it- and now she LOVES milk! hang in there!

What I did for my daughter was mix about a cup of milk with one (small) banana in the blender. She really liked it and then I slowly diminished the amount of banana until she was drinking cow's milk only. Good, AND healthy! Lots of parents will tell you to add chocolate syrup to it or whatever, but those are full of sugar and (usually) corn syrup too - which is junk. At least bananas are all natural and sweet, and are something your one year old probably already has in her diet anyways.
Hope this helps! Good luck!

In all actually cows milk is for baby cows, not people. Try goat or rice milk. It is more nutritional.

Maybe wait and try again in a few weeks??
One idea might be to mix cow's milk w/ expressed breast milk in your daughters sippy cup. In the beginning use more breast milk to cow's milk and slowly reduce until there's only cow's milk left. Good luck!

Hi L., A bunch of people will tell you that your child doesn't need to drink milk for many reasons.
Neither of my kids really drank a glass of milk ever, by their choice. There are all types of dairy that will work for her. Don't worry and don't push it. My son is 17 and a healthy kid. Learn what has calcium and the nutrients she needs and feed her that. good luck.
Deb

i tried and tried to get my daughter to drink cow milk, but I didn't push to hard. She ended up drinking skim milk and loving it. (yes I told her doctor, and it is fine as long as she eats cheese according to doc) Anyway, you might try that.
Good luck
R.

Try putting an ounce of apple juice in it. Breastmilk is sweet, I had the same issue and this resolved it. Good luck.

For my son, I mixed a bottle with 50% breast milk or formula and 50% cow's milk and gradually increased the cow's milk to 100% over a month or so.

Also try warming it until your baby enjoys the taste of 100% cow's milk. Then perhaps she will like it cold, as my son does.

I struggled with this until i finally just gave up. My son hates milk. However, these are the things that i tried:
1. Whole milk cold... warm... room temp
2. Lactose Free Whole milk.. cold... warm.. room temp
3. Mixing it with my breastmilk
4. soy milk
5. mixing soy milk with cow's milk
6. rice milk alone and mixed
7. almond milk alone and mixed
8. flavoring
9. mixing it with water

I hope that one of these works for you!

My daughter is 2 1/2 and to this day still refuses milk of any sort. I tried soy, I tried lactaid, I tried chocolate and strawberry milk, I tried rice milk. She won't drink any of it. She does however love yogurt and cheese. My doctor said not to be concerned as she eats enough yogurt and cheese to make up for the lack of milk. I give her the Fiber One yogurt, as it contains fiber and does not constipate like regular yogurt. My nephew was the same way and did not drink milk until he was 4, yet was perfectly healthy without it. As long as they are getting calcium from other foods, it should be fine. Good luck!

What I did with my daughter is tried a variety of milks to find which one she loved and did not congest her. The cows milk really did give her some rough nights sleep. Her favorited ended up being Almond Milk and made fresh is even better.
Here is the recipe:
Blend 1 cup of raw almonds with 2 cups coconut juice, a little bit of cinnamon and maybe a splash of agave nectar, then strain with a fine mesh strainer or 4 layered cheesecloth.
Its delicious.

Basically, we tried cows milk, Lactaid Milk, Goat Milk, Hemp Milk, Rice Milk, Oat Milk and Almond Milk. Best of luck, it does take time. I used a cup with a straw, my daughter still has a few nursings a day for love and comfort but takes hers in a cup w/ a lid and straw. You can find those at Target. She never really liked the bottle.
All will be well. Just make sure she gets lots of greens and that will fill her calcium needs. We juice every day and I put lots of fresh spinach in it to make sure she gets a handful of fresh calcium, and I add a variety of fruits and veggies too. At first she would only drink an ounce a day, now she drinks 6 ounces. Change takes time, all will be well.
Best of luck.
E.

You could try adding some chocolate ovalteen, i add chocolate almond milk by Blue Diamond ..u can find it easily at Trader Joe's or Wholefoods

To be honest, I personally wouldn't push it too hard. She will drink it in her own time if her body tolerates it well. I have learned with my son, who is now two, not to push certain foods too much. We have discovered that he has allergies to many foods we didn't know he was allergic to, and I think that sometimes kids know when their bodies shouldn't have something yet. The later you introduce cow's milk, the less chance she will develop an allergy to it. :) Also, breastfeeding is so much better for her anyway and has so many benefits. The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding until age two, so you have plenty of time if you want. There is no rush! :)

Obviously, you should continue breast feeding and just give her other foods that contain Vitamin D and calcium. There are a ton out there! (hopefully she will eat them) No big deal, they don't HAVE to drink milk.
You can try to give it to her some time in the future or water it down to a consistancy that's more like your breast milk.
Good luck!

When my daughter turned 1 year old I was excited to start her on cow's milk. I was still nursing as well, but wanted to make sure she was getting enough calcium and vitamins.

I pumped on occasion and noticed that my breastmilk, while very healthy, more resembled skim milk than whole milk. Especially before I got to the hind milk in my pumping.

I tried giving my daughter slightly watered down organic whole cow's milk instead and she drank it right up. After the breastmilk I think the cow's milk was just a bit too thick for her palate. And it was cold unlike breastmilk. My daughter wouldn't even take cow's milk warm, but once I watered it down a bit she drank it fine cold and all.

Over the course of a week I gave it to her with a little less water in it each day. By the end of the week she was drinking cow's milk with no problem. She just needed a little help transitioning.

I hope this helps and remember, your daughter is going to have enough hormones in her body throughout her life without it being in her milk. Organic is definitely best for our little ones!

S.

Stork's Best Friend
www.storksbestfriend.com

I had a hard time too with mine. Your breast milk is sweet and so my ped told me to put just a few drops of vanilla in the milk to sweeten it up a bit and then to just warm it up enough to take the cold off, that way it will remind your little one of your breast milk and she'll be more likely to take it. This worked immediately with my little ones. Good luck

Just keep nursing her! It is about ten million times better for her than cows milk! Babies need calcium and it doesn't need to be in the form of milk. Breast milk is so much better. There is also a formula for the 12-18 mos age, Nestle Good Start or something like that. OR you can do rice milk and just give calcium fortified food. Don't stress about the milk thing. I have three boys ages 6, 4 and 1 and NONE of them drink milk.

Dear L.,

Why?

I am assuming it is pasteurized, organic or not if it's pasteurized it is a harmful disease producing agent. Phosphatase, the enzyme needed to uptake the calcium has been destroyed in the heating process rendering it useless and HARMFUL in the body.

Buy it raw only. See what she thinks. It has a whole host of beneficial nutrients intact and ABSORBABLE calcium because it has not been pasteurized. (Research through the Weston Price Foundation for more info, as well as, www.realmilk.org) Perhaps you can pass this on to your pediatrician to help educate him or her as well.

If you would like help with recipes for simple to make nutritiously superior "milks" to the packaged options, send me an email.

You have a wise little being on your hands.

Good luck!

T.

Just keep trying. The suggestions about adding flavor are good- I think blending w/ banana would be pretty successful. My 19 month-old was the same way. I finally weaned her 3 months ago and she was still refusing the cow's milk but eventually she realized she was not getting the breast any more so she gave in. Now my problem is getting her to eat protein!

Hi L.,
My daughter didn't want to drink milk either. I tried Ovaltine...just a little 1-2 teas. per cup..about 1/2 the recommended amount on label..and it worked!
It has vitamins in it too.

C.

How about trying soy milk? It comes in vanilla flavoring. I never had this problem with my kids but this is an alternative for kids that are lactose intolerent.

I got my daughter to drink it by slowly squeezing it onto my breast from a bottle while she was breastfeeding. After a few times she drank it.

So she is probably drinking by now, but if not here is what worked for me. I had almost the exact situation. My son loves Yo Baby yogurt, so I mixed some vanilla yogurt with his milk and he really liked it. Also try a straw. My son still won't drink it from a sippy but loves a straw. The main thing is consistency. You can just offer it everyday with meals and eventually it becomes part of the routine.

all 3 of my kids took a while to go from breast to cow. try warming the milk just a bit. I think the warm b reast milk vs. cold cow milk is probably a shocker.

Try adding things to the milk, like blending in a banana. Try different milk (my sons like soy).

Also, if you still want to breast feed please continue, even after she's drinking cow's milk. I did until my son was 3. There's no time limit and you can continue as long as you're comfortable. (I had to take my son to the ER at 18 months, and the fact that I was breast feeding was incredibly helpful.)

So much good luck to you!

I had the same problem with my son. I started warming it like I did his bottle. Eventually he started taking it cold and now loves milk.

try mixing a little milk with your expressed breast milk. then she will have a familiar flavor. then you can slowly wean her as you add more milk to the breast milk.

The little darling does'nt like milk. Nor do i. Speak to your pediatrcian. He/she will guide you to another source for the necessary substances she need.

Have you tried chocolate or strawberry milk. She might like that or try to put your breast milk in the sippy cup? see how that works? Have you tried Goats milk my mom was breast fed & she can't drink cow milk she has to drink goat milk. Good Luck!

Take your time with it and mix cow's milk with your breast milk. Start off small, 1/4 cow's milk and 3/4 breast milk,do this for a few days. Then do 1/2 & 1/2 ratio for few days, then do 1/4 breast milk and 3/4 cow's milk for a few days. These are just suggested ratios you can certainly do 1 oz of cow's milk mixed with breast milk at a time - take more days to change it to more ounces of cow's milk. Eventually, you will be giving only cow's milk. There's no rush. Just find what works for your child.

Make her a smoothie. It will make the milk sweeter thus more like moms milk. We did this and gradually reduced the amount of fruit. Also, keep giving it to her. The more it is in front of her, the more likely she will pick it up when she is thirsty.
Good Luck.

She may be really smart and intuitive and knows she doesn't need milk. She might be allergic. There are other ways to get calcium and dairy products can cause allergies and other problems. There are calcium fortified juices that you can mix with water so they are not too sweet.

I wouldn't force it on her, many kids are intolerant and don't digest cow's milk easily. finding an alternative is better than having to clean up the walls ;) you might try goat milk as it is more similar to human milk. Maybe try giving it to her when she is first hungry instead of after she has already eaten.

my daughter was on formula and I was giving her half milk and half formula for about 2 weeks and then I tried giving her straight milk and she wouldn't take it. So I did stop giving her formula altogether and it took about two days before she would take the milk and now she's doing just fine with it. Good Luck!