Daughter Refuses to Take Milk from a Cup

Updated on October 10, 2008
J.E. asks from Kenosha, WI
19 answers

Is there anyone out there who can give me some tips on how to get my 1 y/o to drink her milk from a cup? She admantly refuses it when offered, getting very upset. She has no problem drinking water. I still offer milk with every meal although it just gets wasted. I will appreciate your advice. Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thank you everyone for your great advice. I have remained steadfast and she is not getting the bottle. Finally, she is starting to drink some milk as long as she has the same cup as her big sister. She is also drinking the same milk, not whole. I did try straws, but she was too distracted and only would play with it. Thanks again!

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S.G.

answers from Chicago on

Try chocolate milk. Not the healthiest option, I know. But you can reduce the chocolate each time to weane her off that part.

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D.C.

answers from Chicago on

Hi there~
I had the same issue until I took my daughter to the store with me and let her choose her "new special milk cup". I explained that this cup would only be used for milk and she could pick anyone she wanted.
HTH.
D.

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D.R.

answers from Chicago on

I had the same issue with my daughter. After breastfeeding, I guess regular milk tased way different. I started mixing a small amount of Ovaltine into the milk - just enough to give the flavor to the milk, but not a full serving. I compared a bunch of different flavorings and Ovaltine seemed to be the "best" to use. Obviously I didn't want to have to add sugar or flavor, but it got her to drink it. Then I slowly started adding less and less - now she LOVES her milk...plain! Hope this helps!

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M.N.

answers from Chicago on

Hi. I have the same problem. He drank milk all the time, barely no water and when I pulled the sippy cup, the milk stopped. He'll only drink water out of a cup or the nubby. I recently bought Nestle - the pink powder and want to try it since he likes pink. He doesn't like anything chocolate. Maybe give the flavoring a try. Otherwise, I've been doing alot of cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Try scrambled eggs, mac and cheese. Hope this helps.

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C.P.

answers from Chicago on

I'm having the same issue too except my son doesn't mind drinking from the cup but he likes to play and spit everything out. He's about to be 1 and I'm weaning from the breast and he has not had any problems with that. But, now I'm afraid he's not getting enough liquids because he likes to blow bubbles into the cup and everything that goes into his mouth comes right back out. At what age can they drink with a straw? I'm afraid it will go down too fast. He has that problem with some of the sippy cups. If the flow is too fast he ends up gagging.

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D.R.

answers from Chicago on

I start my daughter off with a large glass of milk every morning. I tell her once she finishes that she can have something else to dring (water, juice etc). I just keep putting it in and out of the fridge throughout the day until it's gone. Eventually she realized she's not getting out of it and now drinks it fine. Also, once she got older, I didn't mind putting a little chocolate or strawberry flavoring in sometimes to help her drink it. I also supplement calcium in lots of other ways since I don't think 9 oz of milk gives enough calcium per day. Good luck.

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J.R.

answers from Chicago on

Hi J.,
I had the same issue with my 14 month old granddaughter. She would drink water and juice out of her cup but if I put milk in it she would not really drink it. I think it was because we would still give her a bottle at nap & bed time.
Just this past week she was not feeling well and we were having some sleep issues.
We started a new sleep regimine and we no longer give her anything to drink before bed. She has to drink what is offered and this morning I gave her milk and she drank 1/2 of it so far. We will be cutting out her bottle now all together.
I hope this will help, they like the security the bottle brings.
Have a great weekend!
Judy

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N.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

I had the same problem with my daughter. I was just persistant. Only offered milk in the cup with meals. She eventually just gave in and now she loves it. She'll drink like a cup and a half of milk with meals (well, I give it 2 out of the 3 meals now). Don't give in to the bottle just because you're afraid of her not drinking enough... that's what I almost found myself doing! When she's thirsty enough, she'll drink. As long as she's having wet diapers she'll be fine. Good luck!

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E.F.

answers from Chicago on

Okay so your doctor and dentist probably wouldn't like this but I put strawberry quick in their milk. I don't put the suggested serving. I only put enough to give it a little bit of sweet taste. They drink it like champs. Or you can try chocolate milk for them. I look it as at least they are getting their milk.

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter, 13 mo., also will drink from a straw. The Nuby sippy cup with the silicon spout worked well for her to start on, too. Now she will drink from most anything if she is thirsty enough...Good luck!

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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

A straw was the only way my son would drink milk. He would drink anything else from a sippy cup, but not milk.
Good luck.

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G.H.

answers from Chicago on

Did you try a little milk"shake"? Just add ice in the blender and a little flavoring..i.e. vanilla. Just make sure it's o.k. with her dr.

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A.B.

answers from Chicago on

Hi! I will be trying this in the next couple of weeks because my daughter is turning one next week. EXCITING!! I have a friend that went thru the same thing as you. She ended up making her kids milk with a little chocolate. I don't know if I would do that but that's what worked for her.

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D.W.

answers from Chicago on

Try a straw. For some reason, I have seen that work, a big girl cup and a big girl straw. You may have to help a little, but better than sippy cups.

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S.B.

answers from Chicago on

Try Pedisure or other things that have calcium in it like orange juice with calcium. My son does the same thing. Wendys have the little Nesquick chocalate milk and regular. I tricked my kid and gave him the milk instead of chocalate milk. I rinse out the container and put his milk in there. Some kids don't like just plain glasses or cups try the cups with funnies on them then put the milk in them she should do just fine.

xoxo Lady Sarah

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J.W.

answers from Chicago on

My son refused to drink milk from a cup until I offered him a straw. He loved it. Maybe your daughter will too. Good luck!

R.S.

answers from Chicago on

She may have a milk allergy and doesn't like it. I give my son soy milk and rice milk. I prefer the taste of rice milk to other milks actually.

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C.G.

answers from Chicago on

have you tied different cups the nuby and the avent magic sipy cups are great starter cups.

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P.P.

answers from Chicago on

I had the same problem with my 15 month old. She wouldn't touch the stuff from a cup. So, I started putting it on her cereal in the morning so she could get used to the taste of it. We did that for about a week. Then, since I ate breakfast with her, I would pick up my bowl after I ate my cereal and slurp out the extra milk, making very funny slurping noises. After a few days, she wanted to try it too, so she started drinking the extra milk from her bowl. Soon, since that was so much fun, she asked for more milk in her bowl. From there, it was an easy transition to putting it in a cup when she asked for more. The whole process took about two weeks. They say that it takes up to 20 tries to get a kid acclimated to a new food. Stick with it, and make it fun for your child!

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