Bottle/milk Advice

My oldest son was the same way - would only drink chocolate - so we tried a couple different things.

1. Mix white in with the chocolate. Start with about 50/ 50 and gradually work to less.
2. Tell her she has to drink a glass of white before she has chocolate - start with a small amount of white and gradually increase the amount of white she has to drink. (Still give mixed chocolate rather than straight chocolate.)

It wasn't a quick transition with my son, but he did eventually work his way to drinking white only...Good luck!

I think you've gotten a lot of good advice already, but I just wanted to add that every pediatrician I have ever talked to (now this is about older kids, though, and getting enough calcium) has said that chocolate milk is just fine. I think the idea of gradually "watering" down the chocolate milk with white milk is a good idea. But as others have said, if she gets calcium from other sources, I wouldn't worry about it.

why not if she likes it its 1 percent give her chocolate milk. Give her half and half.

If your baby is getting other sources of dairy, 4 sevings a day, I would go ahead and take the bottle away. After a few days she may surprise you and start drinking the milk from a cup. I had a difficult time getting my daughter to accept any milk, had to start with Vanilla Rice milk and eventually she went to whole milk and now usually drinks it from a cup twice a day.

Hi Shauna, when my son was your daughters age, he did the same thing. No milk if it wasn't in a bottle. I tried the coolest sippy cups, straws, you name it. I thought he was not going to get enough calcium & vitamins. I gave up fighting a losing battle and started giving him more yogart, go-garts, cheese, anything with calcium. He is doing great. He is still not a milk drinker and is going on 4. I figure, I don't like to drink a glass of milk, why push it on him. He is healthy and happy and I am choosing my battles. Good luck. L.J.

shauna; if you are giving juice they say 4 oz of juice a day even for an adult is plenty, if you give her juice after juice she will get full and wont want to eat other things, i had this happen to my nephew his mom always just gave him juice it was not good for him he would not drink anything else, but nothing else was offered, one juice a day, then offer the milk , and if she gets milk in other things like yogurt or something she should be fine, either way sounds like you are doing a good job keep the good work ,D. s

I would keep giving her bottles of milk until she starts drinking milk from a cup.

I know the drs. pressure you to get kids off of the bottle but really it is not a big deal and she will give up the bottle some day.

at her age she shoudl drink 16 oz ofmilk per day.

She doesn't NEED milk. There are other ways to ensure she is getting what she would get from the milk. As already mentioned ... for the calcium: yogurt and cheese and such. For the fat content (which is important for good brain development): avocado, and cod liver oil are just a couple of things. Nordic Naturals makes a cod liver oil that comes in flavors. I started giving it to my daughter around this same age, she gets 1tsp every day and LOVES it.

Milk is not necessary.

Hi Shauna,
Just keep offering it to her but until she starts drinking it give her other things with calcium, yogurt, cheese, ect. Both of my kids don't drink milk right now. I don't worry about it I just make sure they get it other ways.
Chris

H Shauna---I really wouldn't worry about it. Cows milk is really not the health food everyone would have us believe. In fact, it is a poor source of calcium as it is not readily absorbed. Same goes for cheese and yogurt. I am a former BIG milk drinker, and my family has given up drinking cows milk based on information I've learned in a Wellness class, offered by a Naturopath who has her PhD in Nutrition. In fact, milk is strongly indicated as causing allergies in humans, one of which is type 1 diabetes. To make your own best decision, please go to www.strongbones.org and www.pcrm.org to learn more. And don't always rely on what a doctor might tell you. Even though they know alot about medicine and fixing things, they don't know everything, and really not very much about nutrition at all.

Offer her different kinds of enriched plant milks; soy, rice or almond. Be sure that the soy is organic. It is usually a genetically modified plant. Actually, filtered water is best. Your family will get lots more calcium from leafy greens, such as spinach, kale and bok choy. If you would like, I have more info to share with you on the subject. Please feel free to contact me at any time and I can share other great food sources of calcium. I can also recommend a whole food supplement that contains 17 different fruits and veggies. It is available in gummie form and is a great source of calcium.

I hope I haven't caused alot of confusion, but I feel that it is important to know that there is another side to the 'milk is the perfect food' story.

In health, D. ###-###-####

I would took the bottle away at 1 year. My daughter the stong willed child, would not drink milk either. I gave her one cup a milk in the morning and until she was done with it, she didn't get milk or water. It was a meeting of the wills. She went quite a while without drinking, however, she did learn to drink the milk. Don't fill you daughter up with juice. One day of not drinking for a while won't hurt her, but she needs to know who sets the rules. Be the parent. I didn't add flavor to the milk as I didn't think my kids needed the extra sugar.

No worries! There are other ways to get calcium. My kids were not milk drinkers probably because I am not. They even put juice on their cereal. As long as she is healthy, growing and eating a balanced diet all will be well. Toddlers are picky eaters anyway. Milk is a good source for calcium, but if she doesn't want to drink it give her yogurt, cheese and lots of finger-food green veggies. As for the bottle...she will give it up eventually. I don't see the rush to give that up. She is still a baby!