Seeking Advice on Changing Son to Cow's Milk

hi C., i have a friend that has a little girl that is 4 now and she never has liked milk! some kids dont like the taste of it at all.. but some will eventually take it.. have you tried it in carnation good start breakfast. its a shake that comes in like 4 flavors that mixes with milk it is really healthy. but kind of has a lot of sugar but it he will drink atleast one a day that would work just take him off formula..milk isnt a have to.. they dont need it you can get calcium other ways than milk it just seems like a have too doesnt it thats kind of the way i feel about it anyways.. my daughter is 13 months old she was sick a couple weeks ago with that stomach bug and she couldnt have milk for 4 days. i threw away her formula because no reason to give it back.. when i tried to give her real milk she spit it at me then i warmed it up like i did her formula and she drank it just fine.. if you dont offer formula at all they will drink it! atleast she did.. good luck! hope my advice is helpful

I mix cow's milk and Enfamil Formula together and my daughter didn't know a difference. She is now 1 and just drinks milk.

It is actually not necessary for your son to have cow's milk.
Contrary to what you hear/see on tv, it's just not.
Go to www.mercola.com and look up some articles on cow's milk.
I think you may be surprised at what you find.
(And no, it's not going to tell you to drink soy milk! haha Yucky : ( And bad for you!)
Be healthy,
H.
PS: Actually, soy is a source of natural estrogens--which a most people do not need more of--it can also hamper the normal activity of the thyroid gland.

And what a lucky thing for him! Interestingly, most children don't like milk unless it is chilled - so they can't detect what it really tastes like. Now, maybe the taste of it is tipping them off to the fact that they shouldn't be drinking it. Cow's milk is unhealthy. Especially for children (it has been shown to be linked to Type 1 Diabetes. For more information, check out The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, or just google something like "dairy heart disease," "dairy cancer," etc. There are links that say that dairy might help prevent diabetes, but I'd check out Campbell's book before deciding. He's one of the top nutrition scientists around the world, his research is extremely thorough, he draws from other, extensive studies - again, at the top levels of nutrition science - he documents everything copiously and he makes a compelling argument.

Not only is cow's milk bad in and of itself, but they had to increase the legally allowable limit of white blood cells (that's pus) because factory farmed dairy cows generally have mastitis. So lots of pus from the infection gets into the milk (check out John Robbins' Food Revolution for more on this). Also, you have bovine growth hormone to worry about, as well as high levels of pesticides that are bioaccumulated in the animal from years of eating pesticide-laden crops (including genetically engineered ones, like soy and corn, which are genetically engineered just about across the board, unless they're organic). Then there are dioxins. I don't know where those come from, but in my research I have found that butter, milk, meat/fish and eggs rank highest in dioxin concentrations. Best avoided!

It's crazy stuff like this that made me vegetarian. Try other things for him to drink, like rice milk, soy milk, hemp milk, watered-down juice, etc. Most importantly, of course, just plain old clean, filtered water. Since Americans are generally chronically dehydrated, as a rule, getting him into the habit of appreciating just water, in its own right, will be doing him a wonderful favor.

L.

PS and yes, soy is perfectly healthy for anyone, boy or girl, child or adult. It's a bean. It's no magic solution nor evil potion. If you're worried about hormonal effects, get rid of the plastic and chemicals in the house (/garage/etc.)!!

Do you live where you can get fresh goat's milk. The child might respond positive to this milk. My son refused cows milk but drank the fresh goat's milk. Found out my son who is now 31 could not digest the cows milk. yes the formula was derided from cows milk but was different in texture. By fresh I mean someone who raises goats and milks them. I have not tried the store goat's milk. M. W

Hey C...
Not sure this will help... but it worked/is working for us. I switched my little one over to milk by flavoring it... we did it strawberry and then after that was unsucessful we tried pediasure(flavored) with milk.... of course we gained weight quick so we had to decrease the pediasure and then we made bottles mixed 5oz of milk and 4oz of gerber yogurt juice as she outright refused the milk. They sell the yogurt juice at babies r us and walmart in 4 packs only... they are located in the same section as baby jar food and other gerber juices. anyway... we have been slowly decreasing the amount of yogurt juice in each bottle and increasing the milk. eventually we should be to all milk. I think my child just likes a little flavor. Anyway we are weaning quite well... the only warning is that the yogurt juice where you live may be hard to keep in stock as i have been just calling my local walmart and one particular person orders me a few cases and then i pick them up 3-4 days later. it can be a hassel if you do not do this.
best wishes
-mb

maybe it is too soon.I would also try soy. Cows milk is harder on their stomach.

To move my 3 kids to a sippy cup, I started putting the formula in it for one meal a day (usually lunch). I figured if they didn't drink much of it, it was only one meal and they were getting the "solid" part of that meal anyway. Slowly, I started using the cup at breakfast and at dinner, as well. I also used it anytime the child wanted water or juice during the day. Once they've mastered the sippy cup, then start changing out the formula for milk. I agree with one of the other responders - do it a little at a time, mixing more and more milk with the formula until you've got it all switched to milk. All of this takes some time and there will be frustrating days. But, believe me, it is easier now than if you wait. I have friends who had toddlers still using bottles at 2 and moving them to a cup was miserable for everyone! Good luck!

C., I would give him the cows milk in his bottle and after he starts drinking it try the sipper cups with a nipple that is similar to his bottle. I nursed my son for 2 years, a bottle past one is not going to hurt him. I think it is like their security blanket. It goes by much too fast. Enjoy the moment. K.

The way I switched my oldest to cow's milk from formula was to start out by adding 1oz of milk to his 7oz of formula on day 1. The next day we did 2oz milk and 6oz of formula and so on, by the end of 8 days he should be on milk alone. It wored for me.

It may be that he just doesn't like the taste of cow's milk, or it may be that it upsets his stomach. The fat particles in cow's milk are much larger than the fat particles in human milk, and some children cannot digest it. Goat's milk is a good alternative - the fat particles in goat's milk are much smaller than those in cow's milk and easier to digest.
You could also try giving him yogurt instead of milk. Since yogurt is made with low-fat milk, and the fermentation process partially breaks down what fat is there, it's much easier to digest. Just make sure you read the labels - most brands of yogurt are made with high fructose corn syrup - you don't want that. And please don't buy sugar-free yogurt. Nutrasweet (aspartame) is not safe for children.

My daughter was breastfed so she was used to really warm milk so I had to warm her cows milk up for her to start drinking it then she did just fine. I slowly decreased the amount of time I was warming it and now I just "nuke" it to take the chill off. I would try warming it first and if that doesn't work then maybe mixing it with formula like another mom suggested. Hope this helps and good luck!

try soy milk. vanilla flavored. it doesn't have any more sugar in it than regular milk and it contains just as much calcium as well.

We had to do this with my daughter as she wouldn't drink regular milk.

With all 3 of my boys I made a 4 week process... The first week it was 1/3 cow's milk 3/4 formula.. The second was 1/2 and 1/2 and the third was 3/4 milk to 1/4 formula and by the 4 th week it was all milk... I didn't have much of a problem this way... As for the bottle that would be a little more difficult.. I would start putting the milk and formula in the cup. Hope this helps... Good luck.

I know it sounds harsh and believe me, it will make for a couple of miserable days. but, when i decided to take my kids off the bottle, i threw them all away, that way i wouldnt be tempted when they started throwing a fit. It will take a few days, but it will work if you show them you are not going to give in and give them a bottle. As far as the milk, have you tried watering it down a bit or switching to 2% for a while? Sometimes when you first switch them over from formula, it takes a little while before their digestive systems can handle whole milk. Hope this was helpful. Good luck!

Check with your MD, but as long as he's getting enough calcium from other sources, it may not be necessary to worry about milk.
Try yogurt and low fat cheese as well as some green vegetables. Lot's of oranges juices and other juices are fortified with calcium as well. He may have a lactose intolerence or just not like the taste. Pedisure may be another option!

Best Wishes!
M.

Work on one thing at a time when you are transitioning. Work on getting rid of the bottle, then getting him to drink milk. My daughter took her time learning to drink milk too. We have a child's iced tea set from tupperware and she would only drink white milk out of the little iced tea cups, chocolate milk out of a regular cup but it has to have a straw, she will also drink it out of a sippee cup if we are out somewhere or if we are at a resturant she will drink it from the resturant cup. It just takes some time, she's 22 months and she sometimes will drink it out of a regular cup at the table, but usually she asks for 'chocate' and 'staw.'
As for the bottle, I can't help you there-mine went from the breast to the sippee! God bless!

Hi, when I switched both of my kids over from formula to cow's milk I did a couple of ounces at a time. So if they were on 8 oz a bottle I did 6 oz formula and 2 oz milk and did that for about a week or a week and a half then I did 4 oz of formula and 4 of milk and stayed with that for the same amount of time then I did 2 oz of formula and 6 oz of milk. It took about a month total. I wouldn't try switching to milk and taking him off of the bottle at the same time. I would start with the switching to milk first, let him get used to it then take him off the bottle. I would start with taking the bottle away and giving him a sippy cup during one meal time at a time. Don't give in. My son didn't want milk either, he eventually gave in and drank it. My daughter never wanted the sippy cup either but you just have to leave it in front of them , they will drink out of it. Good luck.

Actually your son is smart and knows what he needs and does not need! There is no reason for children to drink cows milk, however there are many reasons NOT to five it to them. It is full of chemicals, it is acidic and predisposes your child to allergies, and a host of infectious diseases as it is very mucous forming. Of course cow's milk is meant as the nutrient for baby cow's just like breast milk (which is alkaline not acidic and not mucous forming and prevents disease) is made for humans. He can get his calcium from many sources other than cow's milk such as broccoli, almond milk figs, greens, etc. You may want to do a little research on google regarding the harmful effects of cows milk and alternate forms of dairy.
Sincerely,
B. S. RN CCM

I tried this with my granddaughter and it worked great. Try mixing the formula with cow's milk. After each bottle, mix more cow's milk than formula. It took us one week to get her off formula using the method.

Try mixing the milk with what he is currently drinking. Add just a tiny bit and slowly increase the amount of milk and decrease the other. If he is very sensitive to the taste, I would only add about 1 tablespoon of cows milk and slowly, over several weeks, increase. One of my children drank goats milk for a while and loved it - that may be an option if the other doesn't work. There is so much change going on. I would worry about the bottle thing once you get the milk thing worked out. Good luck!

Throw the bottles away, and put his formulae in a sippy cup.

Once you get him drinking out of the sippy cup, then start adding milk to his formulae. Start with 75% formulae and 25% milk then over time add more milk and less formulae. This will allow him to get used to the taste of the milk but at a gradual pace that he doesn't know you have switched.

Hope this helps.

My son was totally breastfed and wouldn't even use a bottle after he was 3 months old. And when he turned 1 he wouldn't drink cow's milk at first either. I know you said flavoring didn't work, but that's partly what worked for us. We had to get him drinking out of a sippy cup first. And at first he would only drink juice out of a sippy cup. So once he got used to it, then when started the cow's milk again with chocolate syrup, gradually reducing the chocolate syrup every day. Now, he's almost 2 and he still doesn't just love cow's milk, but he knows he has to drink enough milk before I'll let him have juice.

make sure the cow's milk is the same temperature as the formula typically is. if it is straight out of the fridge and he is used to room temp formula, that may be part of the problem :-)