Wont Drink Anything but Milk

Updated on January 14, 2008
K.C. asks from Ruther Glen, VA
10 answers

I know its not bad, but... my son won't drink anything but milk. He is 11 1/2 months old and will only drink his milk. We have tried water and juice, diluted mixtures, even diluted milk (which only got us so far)and he wont take anything but the real deal. This was especially a problem when he had some digestive problems that juice couldv'e easiliy solved. Any suggestions on how to get him to try other drinks that he really should have no problem with ?? He is drinking from a sippy.. .I did try giving juice in the sippy first but he still wouldnt take it.

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all the advice, I have tried juice couple times recently from his sippy and he drinks it, takes it out of his mouth and looks at it, then drinks it again. He doesnt drink as long as he does with milk but he is still at least trying. I have also started giving him water... hes still not fond of it, but i will keep trying.I Plan on doing what you guys suggested and only give him milk during or right around meals and water the rest of the time (he usually wont drink anything during meals). We'll see how it goes :) ! Thanks!

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J.C.

answers from Washington DC on

My DD only drinks water and milk. I've never given her anything else. I would not worry about no juice - its really not that good for them anyhow. Too much milk can make them constipated though as you allude to. I can't remember the max amount at 1, but I think its no more than 2-3 cups per day. I say offer milk, but once he's drank his fill, only offer him water (my DD really like the Nuby sippy cups with the soft tops). Some kids like it with just a touch or juice in it. But a lot just take time to adjust to anything other than milk since that;s basically all they have been drinking their lives!

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L.M.

answers from Washington DC on

The first thing that comes to mind is that he likes the texture of milk, which is thicker than water or juice. I suggest trying to give him a frozen juice bar--the dole, not the fake stuff or if he likes a particular fruit that has a lot of water content I would incorporate those in his day, especially grapes, watermelon, oranges, and melons. Good luck!!!

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H.L.

answers from Washington DC on

Have you tried offering him fruit smoothies? You can mix any variety of fruit/juices/yogurt with ice in a blender, and you can even try sneaking in a veggie (such as using some carrot juice). There are so many great smoothie recipes out there, and they are fast and easy to make. It is such a great way to add some extra servings of fruit &/or veggies, and a good way to get some extra moisture in their bodies if water or juice isn't being received well. Will your son drink from a straw? Maybe using a fun straw with a goofy cup, and having it come across as more of a special "treat" will make it more exciting for your son, so that he might be more receptive to drinking it. (One of my sons wouldn't take a bottle, sippy cup, or any other kind of cup as a baby or toddler, but he began using a straw around 6 months old, which was a huge help toward giving me a break from nursing- so if you haven't introduced a straw, he may love it!) If he has any texture issues, be sure to blend until very smooth- one of my sons won't drink the smoothie unless the whole thing is very smooth- no big deal, just an extra minute or two in the blender. Hope this helps.

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K.S.

answers from Washington DC on

Try having Dad go to a favorite take-out place (McDonald's worked for my boys and my nephew) and buy a drink. Keep the cup, fill it with a diluted drink of choice. As bad as it sounds my boys loved flat diet coke soda with all the ice melted. I would sometimes fill the cup with diluted juice or even diluted, flat ginger ale. And then share it with your son. You can even have Mom ask Dad for a drink and pretend that it is something special. The novelty of a grownup take out drink was even to entice my boys to try something different. I wish you the best of luck.

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J.S.

answers from Colorado Springs on

My son went through that phase too. He'll get over it. Not to worry. At least it's milk and not something like soda or juice which can rot their teeth.

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C.F.

answers from Washington DC on

I'm with Jennifer C on this one - we offered only milk and water to my DD. As she got older, we made it milk at meals and water the rest of the time. If she had a fever we'd add a little juice to it and she'd drink it right up, so we didn't have issues with dehydration. It was nice to know that if she left her sippy cup laying around for hours, it was just water. Same if she spilled it when we started transitioning to a regular cup. She's 4 now and still chooses water to drink - often when juice or milk are her other options.
Same concept of trying to get kids to eat their food and not just cookies - if he gets thirsty he will drink it. = )
In this case, you have to be strong and do like Jennifer suggests - give him X amount of milk and when he's drunk that, just give him water. He may cry a bit at first, but just like anything, he'll adapt (and be healthier with better teeth in the long run.)
Good luck!

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G.R.

answers from Washington DC on

Try water with a little sugar in it if not allergic to honey put a little honey to sweeting it with. I did this with my three kids it worked for me. Sometimes the taste buds works for sweet or salty stuff. Let me know if it works.

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S.V.

answers from Washington DC on

hey keri i had the same problem with my son who is about to turn 18 months. try to give him juice out of a juice box my son loves it. you may have to help him at first to get the idea of how to get the juice out of the straw but once he gets it it works great. my son also had alot of digestive problems until we discovered the juice box trick. also with the water issue our son loves to drink water from a water bottle of course we have to help him but it works for us. hope the ideas help.

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L.N.

answers from Washington DC on

does he eat solids? is he eating now 'adult' foods also? i think it's ok. one of my kids barely drinks water, let alone juice or anything else. but she gets plenty of food and fruit. the lack of drinking water for us translates into constipation. she's 3 and has always been like this. try but don't make a battle out of it.

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T.B.

answers from Norfolk on

I guess my first thought is, is he drinking out of a cup or his bottle. The reason I ask is that a lot of children that I have worked with were the same way when it came to the bottle. They would except nothing but milk from the bottle. If your baby has not started with a cup yet, I would give him some juice in a sippy cup or even in a small plastic or paper cup and see how that goes over with him.

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