My 13 Month Old Won't Drink Whole Milk.

Hi,
Maybe she's aware she's allergic to dairy and you don't know it yet. Contrary to the American Dairy Association, cow's milk is not a good source of anything for a human baby. Do you realize we are the only species that drinks another species' milk? I've only learned this in the last few years so if this sounds strange to you, I understand. The calcium in cow's milk is very difficult if not impossible for our stomach to digest, therefore there is very little benefit and lots of drawbacks.

1 mom found this helpful

Are you giving it to her right out of the fridge? I know when we switched our daughter she would not take it cold. We had to warm it a little in the microwave. Then slowly warmed it less and less.
Just a suggestion....hope it works or you figure it out!

Don't worry too much on this, several of my sisters had children like this and I worked in a day care and we had a couple of toddlers that wouldn't drink whole milk. Try skim, 1% or 2%. A neat little trick is use ovaltine in a glass of milk. Gradually cut back in the use of ovaltine and your child should be ok. (or blend a banana in the glass of milk)

My daughter was the same way. Her doctor said 2% was fine as long as she was getting other high fat dairy elsewhere. She loves cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese so we made sure she had some of that everyday too. We tried adding flavoring to the whole milk, warming it, mixing it with pediasure, but nothing worked. She was breastfed and the dr said that some breastfed babies won't drink whole milk as it is thicker and much richer than what they are used too.

My son took the milk just as fast as he has taken everything else... he drinks alot though. At first he didnt drink it like he does now, so I added some Nesquik (moms favorite, lol) and now he loves it. I dont give him chocolate milk all the time, but it did the trick! Hope that helps.

Hi J.,
My son wouldn't drink whole milk too. So I just gave him 2% right from the start. I asked his Dr. about it and the Dr. said that it won't hurt him. You might check with your Dr. and see what they say. Good luck and hope that what I told you helps.

My daughter wouldn't touch it either what I did was I made a formula cup ( a taste she was used to and slowly added more and more milk to the mixture until it was all milk. It took about a week or two but if i was to hand her a cup she would try it then thorw it it was the only thing I could do.

My daughter didn't like milk at first either. We added a little bit of YoBaby to the sippy cup and she drank it right down. Over time (maybe 6 months) we gradually removed the YoBaby. Good Luck.

My son doesn't like milk either. The only way I can get him to drink it is if I mix 3 oz of a smoothie(Danables)and 3 oz of milk. Seems to do the trick. Good Luck.

Hi J.,
First was you baby breastfed or formula fed? My son was breastfed exclusivly and he too did not want the whole milk even though he was the one who chose to stop breastfeeding. Anyways what I did was mixed a little bit of vanilla pediasure (found in the baby food aisle) with the whole milk. For example if I was giving him a 8 oz bottle then the first day i started this trick i would pour five oz of pediasure and 3 of milk. Then the next day 4 and 4 then 3 and 5 then 2 and 6 and so on until we go to all milk. It worked really well but the sweet taste of pediasure made him want to drink the bottle and really the pediasure provides lots of vitamins too. So try that and if you have any questions feel free to ask. Good luck. Oh and also since he was breastfed and used to a warmer liquid i did warm it up slightly at first and eventually decreased that time of warming until he was used to it cold.

My daughter has spit up dairy products, and when the Dr. heard that I wasn't giving her much milk on account of this, she wasn't thrilled at first, but I asked her if Calcium is the sole reason that milk is pushed so heavily, she said 'yes.'
So when I told the Dr. that my daughter is getting her daily Calcium through her good nutritional supplements which counts for much of her calcium, she said that was fine, as long as she was getting it.

Another lady responded about dairy not being good for human consumption, and I also have been reading up about that -- the facts do line up in that direction. So maybe dont' worry about the milk aspect for your daughter, but just concentrate on the other things that you're feeding her. If you'd like more information on what my daughter takes, just drop me a note.
Best wishes!

my son is four and never has drank whole milk. once he got off his formula which he did not drink well. he had to have neutramagin because he turned bright red on milk as a baby. i have tried repeately to give him milk to the point were i did not give him anything all day. he would not drink it.but he does eat yogurt. so i give him 2 yogurts a day. and he drinks oj with the calcium and i water it down.i tried strawberry chocolate and vanialla and he refuses to drink it.

This sounds pretty typical. I would stick to your guns on the cup thing and take away the bottle (if that's the alternative) and she'll drink when she gets thirsty (usually sooner rather than later if there's no other option). Maybe take her to pick out a favorite character cup (go online if she isn't into Dora or SpongeBob since that's all you can ever find in the stores, I found Backyardigans online). Let her drink through a straw type cup - that helped transition both of my kids. You can try fun additives like Ovaltine and yogurt smoothies, but once she gets the hang of the cup start using less and less or she'll come to expect it.

My son was the same way when he was little. My ped doctor suggested flavored yougurt. He loved it. Eventually he started drinking milk, so keep trying every now and then, without pushing the issue.

Try 2%. The whole milk might be too rich for her liking. You could also try soy milk.

Milk is not that important. Calcium can and is better found in other sources. Fat is available everywhere!! And everyone should be taking a vitamin D supplement because of the lack of sun exposure due to increased use of SPF products. The little calcium in milk is almost impossible for us to break down and the vitamin D is not found in large enough quantities to help it be absorbed. You would do better with a rice milk. Soy milk is also not that good for you. Soy is toxic unless it's fermented and it contains phytoestrogens and is not recommended for girls OR boys. It can actually increase your risk of breast cancer (says a new study out of Japan). You could also try goats milk (its a smaller protein than cows milk and is sometimes easier to break down). Or Almond milk if she doesn't have a problem with nuts (it's got some fat in it too naturally and is darn tasty). Best of luck.