My Daughter Wont Drink Milk - Saint Petersburg,FL

I had the same problem with my son. He drank milk from a bottle, but as soon as I took the bottle away, he wouldn't drink milk (not even ice cream). I was concerned as well, then I found that calcium is in many things. I researched and found what the calcium was in and either hid it in his food, or it was something he would eat. He is now 9 years old, and still won't drink milk, but will drink chocolate milk and even ovaltine. He now loves cheese as well. He is extremely healthy and no bone problems. Don't worry, do the best you can, and when their taste buds start to change around 6 or 7, then jump right in there and start to introduce it again. Good Luck.

Don't worry about it and don't force it. Like your dr said, there are other ways. My daughter did the same thing, but she ate cheese for a few years, then went off of cheese and would eat yogurt. Refused cheese for about 2 yrs! She would drink the milk in her cereal bowl by the time she was 5 and now at 6 she asks for milk in a glass! Especially when you teach her it's the best thing to go with homemade cookies! Kids go through lots of food phases, so accept them and roll with it! If you force it, they will dig their heals in and may never like them. My daughter loves tomatoes and wouldn't eat a hamburger until age 5 either!

If she'll drink it out of the bottle, why not use it? It wont make her teeth crooked or give her ear infections. She needs milk more than the convenience of a sippy cup. Besides, she is only 2. Either she keeps the habit of drinking milk now or she will stop drinking it the rest of her life.

My daughter has never had cow's milk and she is very strong and healthy. We give her Almond Milk instead.

My daughter did the exact same thing when I took the bottle from her. I was reading your responses and am glad you posed the question. Thanks moms!

Hi R.,

I went through the same dilema with my son who is now 3yrs old. I thought nothing worked until I placed him in school part-time. During lunch many kids are offered either milk or juice. Due to the fact most kids in his classroom drink milk, he wanted to imitate the other kids by also drinking milk. Believe it or not, that's how he started drinking milk. I mean, its not much he drinks but its a lot more than what he was drinking- which was nothing. Note: Products that contain dairy also help enormously. Mac & cheese, grilled cheese, cheese sticks, yogurt and so on. Good luck and hope something works.

My son is 3 and will not drink any kind of milk, regular, soy, etc... He has 2 pedia-sure's a day. He has done this since he was 18 months. He is also not a big eater, he is very picky and just a nibbler. He is fine.

as your pediatrician said, she's fine as long as she gets her calcium elsewhere. It's not a big deal so don't worry.

Thank goodness- it is so difficult for a human body to digest cows milk, and then when it is homogenized, and pasturized it make mucus and is so difficult on the body- try her on goats milk,raw if you are where you can get it, make milk of barley- barley perals slow cooked in water, or forget it, and don't believe the dairy promo- they spend alot to convince you. And check out WestonPrice Foundation
regards,k

Hi, R.. Don't worry about your daughter not drinking milk. What she needs most from milk are calcium and protein, and these nutrients can come from other sources.

Don't tell her that cheese comes from milk, and she will probably eat it, especially if it's in a grilled cheese sandwich. Cheese is full of protein and calcium because it's made from milk. Don't tell her that yogurt comes from milk either, and she will probably love it! You can get all kinds of good fruits into her, too, by mixing them into yogurt. Blueberries, bananas, cherries, strawberries, all go wonderfully with yogurt. I would use the vanilla-flavored stuff and mix in some fruit. She will never know she is eating a solid form of milk.

Many vegetables and other foods have plenty of calcium. There are also a couple of brands of orange juice that have added calcium and Vitamin D.

As long as she eats a little meat, cheese, or peanut butter every day, she should get enough protein.

So don't worry about milk. And don't fight over it. Keep the table free from conflicts, especially over food.

Peace,
Syl

Milk isn't a requirement for good health. It's nice and easy for us moms when the kids will drink it, but still not a necessity. My 2 year old son won't touch milk at all. However, he eats cheese, yogurt, ice cream, pudding, etc...all made with milk. He gets plenty of calcium.

We also focus on lots of dark green veggies which have TONS of calcium in them. Broccoli, spinach, kale, etc. My son learns to eat great veggies while getting the calcium he needs.

I know some people have suggested soy milk...I would avoid that due to the dangerous hormones in it.

She doesn't need to drink dairy. Soy milk, Almond milk and Rice milk are all enriched and have all of if not more of the nutrients found in cow milk. You can also do yogurt instead! As long as she's drinking something she'll be fine. If you want you can even give her calcium chews (vitamins) her teeth and their subsequent development hinged on genetics and your diet while pregnant.

Our two younger sons unfortunately inherited my poor genetics when it comes to teeth. Our 2yo is going to have is 4 front, top teeth extracted just like his older brother. Genetics play a huge part in how our bones and teeth develop. Don't let the docs scare you into thinking she'll suffer major consequences!

There are ways outside of the traditional milk to get calcium, and fatty acids. Broccoli and Kale have more calcium than milk. Message me if you want a whole list of recipes and other tips.

You're doing a great job by looking into every source of information!

My son did the same thing- try getting a small single serving container like the ones you get with a happy meal and offering it with a straw. No clue why, but that finally got my son back to drinking milk! We just saved the bottles and re-used them until he got back on regular cups again.

Listen to your daughter's body. Despite mainstream media and the American Dairy Association's marketing, cow milk is not designed for the human digestive tract. In fact if you do research of the top 10 calcium rich foods, dairy is way down at #7. Your daughter's body is probably naturally signalling to you an allergy or lactose intolerace even though she can't verbalize to you the 'why.' Get a quality children's chewable calcium supplement and get her rice milk or almond milk. Cow milk is not important for the human body, but the appropriate nutrients are.

Try Rice Milk, Almond milk or Soy milk. It's better for her and more nutritious anyway. :)

Hi R.,
My son is the same way. He's almost 3 and is just now starting to drink a little more milk. He's at the age where if we show excitement about it, he wants it to. So my husband and I put on a little show about how good milk is an then its ours sons "idea" to have some too. He also eats a lot of cheese and he alternates between Dora or Diego smoothies and yogurt. Best wishes and good luck.

Don't worry about it! Just make sure she gets her vitamins, and enough calcium.....does she like cheese? A lot of kids will eat milk-based products....how about pudding made with milk? You might have to get creative....but I would just continue to offer her a variety of healthy choices, and sooner or later she might come to like milk in some form. If not, don't fret.....she will live without it! Kids find a way to get what they need. Some children are born with an intolerance to milk and can never have it....and they do ok. I have a son who refuses to eat anything vegetable....and he's made it to 15, so he must be doing something right.....

google what contains calcium...(broccoli, lentils, etc)
give lots of other dairy products, too. make sure to read lables for highest calcium (example: you're going to buy cheese raviolis- buy the brand w/ the highest % of calcium...)
she'll be fine!

Calcium is important, but she can get it in many places - it doesn't have to be milk. Any dairy, string cheese, cottage cheese, cheese in her sandwich, grilled cheese, yogurt, Go-gurt, ice cream, milkshakes, cheese sauce with broccoli or cauliflower. Tropicana (& probably many other brands) add calcium to their OJ. While both of my sons like white milk okay, one prefers chocolate milk - we give him Carnation Instant Breakfast (loaded with vitamins); the other drinks lots of OJ (with calcium). She won't get sick from not drinking milk, it's okay. Many people don't consume any dairy.

I had the same issue with one of my daughters. You can give her natural cheese, yogurt (sweeten it with Stevia, not artificial sweeteners or sugar) or kefir (pronounced kuh feer') and she will do fine.

I agree that milk and dairy products are not necessary for healthy growth. There are plenty of other places to get calcium. You can get fortified OJ if she likes it, or you could even get some Kids Tums or another calcium supplement for her. Your daughter may be adverse to drinking milk because her body doesn't tolerate it well, so I definitely wouldn't stress yourself out trying to get milk or even other dairy products into her. Just make sure that what she IS eating has enough fats and proteins in it and she'll be fine. My daughter has never been able to tolerate dairy. Good luck!!

Don't stress....milk is not necessary at all! Unfortunately, Americans have been brainwashed into believing that 'milk does a body good' from all of the hype and marketing done by the companies that sell the stuff. Most people think it's necessary and healthy, and neither are really true. Actually, there are many many ways to get the calcium into her diet instead of turning to cows milk. She is making a good choice to stay away from it....there is more and more research available showing negative health effects of drinking cows milk. Water is the best thing for her to be drinking along with a good, quality food diet. If you want to try something for cereal, etc try almond milk. It's now available right in most local supermarkets (Publix) in the organic milk and soymilk section. Just make sure she gets her calcium in her diet...they make calcium chews and such too if you are having trouble getting it in and feel the need to supplement. Best wishes.

It's all hype- milk isn't necessary as long as she gets her calcium elsewhere. Humans are the only animals that find it necessary to drink beyond weaning from the mother, and who drink another animal's milk

Try rice milk. It has the same or more calcium and vitamins and it isn't nearly as thick a texture. The vanilla is pretty sweet and tastes much better than the regular. My son drank this because he was alergic to milk protiens, but when he grew out of that alergy he wouldn't drink regular. He said it tasted bad to him. Rice milk can be found in the organic refrigerator section at publix.

I have a very healthy four year old who eats very little dairy. We go easy on dairy because it makes her mucousy. You can get calcium (if that is what you are worried about) from brocoli, dark leafy greens like kale and collards, almonds, sesame seeds, almond butter, sesame butter (tahini) and more. Vegetable sources od calcium are easier to absorb than the dairy form of it. Don't worry. Your daughter will be fine.

Will she drink a milkshake? Even though its caloric, if she will drink one, make it with low carb ice cream. My 2 year old loves homemade peanut butter shakes: 1 cup low carb ice cream, 2tbs peanut butter, 1/2 cup milk blend. This shake is high in protein and is actually very good for them.
Also, at this young of an age you can try to add milk to meals, for example oatmeal, add 1/2 cup to oatmeal, tomato soup, split pea soup, and any other foods that require water.

Does she like bananas? Sometimes I make a little smoothie with a banana and milk. My son devours them!

Actually cows milk causes alot of allergies and is very hard for children to digest. I would recommend trying almond milk or goats milk if you are worried about her calcium levels. She may also like them better. I would not push the dairy if you dont have to put instead try to add foods (especially vegetables) that are full of calcium and easier to digest too. Also many kids vitamins have enough calcium in them so that dairy is not a necessary food item in the diet. I really like Manna Bears or Nutri stars personally.

believe it or not the milk recommendation is for northern children. florida children get their calcium from the water and vitamin d from the sun. up north they don't have the sunlight we do here nor the calcium rich natural water we have. does her ped have her on vitamins? they are also loaded with the minerals she needs. just keep trying will she drink like a shake or smoothie? u can make up for the milk in other areas of her diet. make sure she gets plenty of sunshine every day and add the rest thru other areas of her diet. she will start liking milk again especially when she starts school and she sees all the other kids drinking it. my oldest was the same way thats how i found out about the recommendation thing. her ped was cheif of staff of pediatrics at the hospital where we lived. actually she had a milk intolerance for quite a while and wic wouldn't pay for lactose free milk. as she got older the intolerance doesn't bother her that bad and she started liking milk when she started school. also she loved chocolate milk so thats how we started her back on milk.