My son is going to be 28 months old and refuses to drink milk out of anything but a bottle. By age two he was drinking everything except milk from a sippy cup or a regular cup with a straw. At two we stopped the bottle and he has not had more than a sip of milk out of ANYTHING in four months. My husband wants to give him a bottle once a day so he can get in his milk, but I am unwilling to take a step backwards. Any suggestions on how to get him to drink milk out of a cup? We have tried giving him nothing but milk in a cup for days to try and convince him that he needs to drink it, but he will just not drink. My son is also small for his age (Waaaaaaaay below growth chart) so not giving him anything for days isn't really an option for us. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Hi, have you tried taking him to the store and have him choose a 'special' cup for him to drink just milk from? I had my son do this and he choose a plastic 'go diego do' cup ...not a sippy cup, but a regular small glass... it was messy at first, but he felt like a big boy. Now he actually uses sippy cups for milk in the morning and then during his meals he is able to use a regular glass. I hope this help, good luck
I pretended that my daughters doctor called- and with her listening in, made it seem that the doctor said that milk in a bottle will hurt her teeth but in a cup is OK. It actually worked. I did let her have water in a bottle if that was what she needed. I suppose you could put some chocolate in the milk- I think they sell stuff thats pretty healthy for them- just to get the calories in maybe one glass of chocolate milk would work as a desert??
If he is getting calcium from other sources such as cheese, yogurt, and milk in dishes you prepare, I would not worry to much. If he gets thirsty enough for milk and there are no bottles he might give in to drinking it from a cup. As far as his size, you can substitute in some other healthy snack that would replace the calories in that glass of cowsmilk.
As long is he is happy and healthy, I think you are doing great.
My daughter is allergic to cowmilk, so she has not had any milk since we stopped breastfeeding, and is doing great. Hope things work out for you.
T.
The BEST answer is to get rid of all the bottles in the house TODAY so they are not a temptation or fall back for you or your husband in tough moments. Your son can clearly drink from a sippy cup (so it's not a physical issue) since you said he drinks other liquids from the sippy cups. You may want to try adding a touch of chocolate or strawberry milk - or if he is underweight, try making him protein smoothies with whey or soy protein mix (and add fruits he likes) this is what we did with my son who was also underweight and didn't like meat. Maybe he's ready for a big boy cup?
You could also let him pick out a new sippy cup and call it his "milk cup" - let him decorate it with stickers, etc. But....toss the bottles girl ;) With a new baby on the way - who may also be using bottles, your son will only cling to the notion MORE. So, having him completely weaned off of them before the new one arrives, will save your sanity!
-C.
have you tried a water bottle? he cold still suck it like a bottle, but you wouldn't be giving him a bottle. Or if he likes a special character I know grocery stores sell those 'tummy tickler' juice bottles and you could just put milk in that and it'd be fun and new and maybe he'd drink it out of that. The only other idea I have for you is to flavor the milk and call it something besides milk, use strawberry nesquick or chocolate ovaltine. The ovaltine has 4 more grams of sugar than the choc. nesquick but it has lots more vitamins, so that's what we give our two kiddos.
congratulations on your baby girl, I'm due Dec. 4th with my 3rd, a girl!
P. I would try something else like rice milk, soy milk, or goats milk. There are a ton of alternatives that would give him the calories he needs and because it was not MILK maybe call it something else he might drink it. My kids and I are lactose intolerant and drink the above milks as well as almond milk and it works great...sometimes tricking them just works. Good luck.
J.
