My 1 Year Old Not Drinking Milk

Wow! Judging from all the people who have kids who don't like milk, I guess I've been lucky. Both my boys love milk! Yes, it took some getting used to. I tried goat's milk, rice milk and soy milk, but, eventually, they liked whole milk. I agree that you can give your kids other dairy products to get the calcium and other foods to get the fat. I have to say that I was so happy when my younger son turned 2 and could drink the lowfat milk my older son drinks. As for chocolate being high in caffeine, that isn't true. It has 1/8 of the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee. I found that out when I was pregnant with my first son and didn't want to give it up. :) Good luck!

I wouldn't force her to drink it. She doesn't need it. Try rice milk (fortified) or hemp milk if you want her to get more fat and protein. Cow's milk can cause allergies anyway. And chocolate is high in caffeine. I wouldn't give it to a 1 year old! Good luck and don't worry. She's still nursing and getting the best nutrition from it!

My son didn't like cows milk at first either (now, at 3 he loves it). What a relief when his pediatrician told me he didn't need to DRINK the milk. A stick of string cheese (or other cheese), full fat yogurt, cottage cheese and even ice cream are reasonable alternatives and each are the same as a serving of milk!

So, let her drink what she likes (water hopefully) and feed her other dairy products throughout the day. Keep trying with the chocolate milk once a day or so, but don't drive her crazy (if she thinks its a battle she'll get interested in winning).

Hope this helps,
T.

Hi Ximena.

I am not sure how important it is that she get whole milk in addition to your breast milk, but there are other ways for her to get dairy products. What does she think of whole milk yogurt? Trader Joe's makes great whole milk yogurt that come in banana and strawberry and blueberry and vanilla. They also are packed with a really great amount of calories. What about some cheese? Trader Joe's also has excellent whole milk cheeses.

With regard to the milk, are you warming it a bit before you give it to her? Since she is used to breast feeding, maybe you need to try and warm the milk to room temp?

try giving her other dairy products like yogurt or go-gurts. try soy milk, they have flavered varieties. Milk is gross, I wouldnt force it on her.
Good luck

There are a few things that you can try. Try adding a tiny bit of Orange Juice. This makes a Yummy smoothy and gives her vitamin C, also, strawberries (but a little seedy) or blueberries.
Also, if she still does not like try Silk Brand or Organics Brand Vanilla Soy Milk. It is yummy and healthy and my son still prefers this over regular milk to this day.

HI Ximena,

My 14 month son is allergic to milk so we will be trying soy. Currnetly he's still on hypoallergnic formula. I was concerned about him not drinking milk but I have found that lots of kids don't for either allergies, parental reasons or general dislike. I have heard of people using soy, rice, almond or hemp milk soy and hemp have the most protien. For extra fat we introduced avacado which he loves! He can't get enough of it.

Hope this helps,
K.

what works for me and my now 14month old is fresh strawberries (1-2) 1 cup of whole milk and some honey. Blend it in a blender and there you have a milk smoothie for your little one. My daughter just loves, loves it.
Good Luck

Hi Ximena! My daughter is 19 months and she will not drink whole or low fat milk that is plain or flavored with chocolate. My docotor told me to give her one tums a day for calcium. I break it up and she just chews it. You will probably have to mix it in her food. As far a food goes I give my daughter yogurt, pudding, ice cream, calcium fortified orange juice, and broccoli. Good luck! She may grow out of this and start to drink it when she is older.

Since she likes half and half, I'd ask her doctor if there is any harm in giving her that. It probably will depend on whether your daughter will have a tendency to gain too much weight with that much fat in the milk, but I would think you might be able to simply give her less volume of the half and half during the day.
My grown son, (nearly fifty years old and skinny as a rail) will only drink half and half milk.
As others have mentioned, though, it isn't as important for her to have the milk as it is to get the fats through some means, and other milk and dairy products will do that just as well.

To add to all the posts you have already. I mix cottage cheese with full fat yogurt for my one year old's breakfast most mornings and he loves it. He will only drink milk from a bottle and refuses to drink it from a cup so far. I will replace his bottles with other dairy products until I he's ready to drink the milk.
Good luck!

I would not worry about it at all. I'm sure it's just a difference in taste. For instance my triplets are just 24 months old. They are drinking from sippy cups but I am still warming up their milk. I tried many times to just give them cold milk and they won't drink it.

Also, I agree....don't give soy milk. I read this whole thing about allergies to soy and also unusually high hormone levels..in a book call "The Mood Cure"...all about allergic reactions to food.

Lastly, if its any consulation....I know you probably are tired of breastfeeding but it's really the best thing for your baby eventhough she's now 1 year old.

My daugther hated cows milk also. Have you tried Soy milk? We tried all different kinds and we found that she LOVES the very vanilla soy milk. She likes the sweet taste. It took a while of trying different kinds and sadly lots of spoiled milk that we threw away because she wouldn't drink it. But, soon enough, we found one she likes.

Try putting some banana baby food into it. This is going to sound gross but when I was breast feeding my daughter (20 yrs ago) I tried some of my own breast milk and it tasted like bananas to me. Maybe a little sweetness would help your daughter get used to the taste of regular milk. If you still can't get her to do it, try soy or almond milk and just give her a supplement vitamin (Tri Vi Sol is a good one). Good luck

T.

Children do need need cow's milk. The reason dictor's encourage it's consumption is because it's high in protein, calcium, and fat. It's an easy form factor especially when a child had been bottle fed formula. Breastfed babies don't often dig milk that way. My kids will drink it with cookies or the occasional class of chocolate milk, but it's not an important part of the diet. If you want the fat and protien from a milk source--cheese, whole fat yogurt, and cottage cheese are reasonable substitutes. Half and half contains little protein or calcium. For the important brain fats use olive snd canola oil for cooking or dipping bread. Offer water as a primary beverage because it's actually needed by the body.

When I had to switch formulas and then switch to whole milk, my girls rejected it at first too. The trick for us was to do it in stages so if you can pump some breast milk try the following:

week 1: 3/4 breast milk, 1/4 whole milk
week 2: 1/2 breast milk, 1/2 whole milk
week 3: 1/4 breast milk, 3/4 whole milk
week 4: all whole milk

You may need to move through the stages at a slower pace but this was a very effective strategy for us because it allowed the girls to get used to the taste gradually.

I also don't believe children NEED cow's milk - it's just recommended as an EASY source of calcium and vitamins A&D. Other dairy products work just as well. Cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese...

And, since you're still breastfeeding, it's also not as important.

IF you want more ideas than already provided, google for lists of sources of good fats, calcium and vitamins A&D. My pediatrician gave me a whole list! There's plenty to choose from besides cow's milk.

Good luck!
Cassie

you could try soy milk, it's a little sweeter. My son drank of ton of it at that age, and he eventually came around to milk. You could also try using more chocolate, or the strawberry flavoring. Most doctors would say it's OK to start with that, then decrease the amount of flavor over time as they get used to it.

If your daughter is not really heavy I think 1/2 and 1/2 is fine. You could start with that and then slowly dilute it more and more with whole milk. My daughter (who has been underweight) has been using 1/2 and 1/2 along with a high calorie formula instead of milk. That said, my oldest two children were never milk drinkers and they got plenty of fat from continued breastfeeding, olive oil, avocado, ground nuts, coconut, meats, whole fat yogurt and cottage cheese. I think we put too much emphasis on milk and stress way too much when our kids won't drink it. There are lots of ways to get fat without drinking milk and if you want specific ideas send me a message. We have to add fat to all my daughters food so we have gotten really good at alternative fats.

My daughter wasn't much of a milk drinker either. She is now 21 months and drinks milk. We started by trying most of the different sippy cups, ended up with the straw cup. Then we added a little strawberry powder nesquick, she didn't drink much in the beginning because it was different or new but then drank more and more each time. Then little by little started to remove the nesquick. I just made sure she was having plenty of cheese, yogurt, and puddings in the meantime.
Good Luck :0)
T.

I know you have a lot of responses already.... I just thought I'd toss another one your way =)

My son actually gagged on whole milk when we first started offering it to him. We tried vanilla soy milk from Silk (there's one that's calcium fortified for kids) and he loves it. We've stuck to that ever since. I hope that helps! Good luck!

My doctor told me not to worry about my son's desire to SPIT OUT his milk (he HATED it!!!). He said that as long as you are giving daily vitamins and feeding milk products, things will be fine. Try, sesame seeds mixed with rice, cooked ediname, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. I make smoothies, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, macaroni and cheese all with milk. So... even if she won't drink it yet, don't force her, just provide enough healthy food as a substiute. Avacado is an EXCELLENT source of healthy fat. I give my son about 2-3 a week. My son is now 3, still won't drink milk but is very healthy!!
Good Luck!!