14 Month Old Will Not Drink Cows Milk

I had great luck warming it with both my kids. Warm it a little at first, then gradually decrease the time you warm it until he's pretty much drinking it cold. We just graduated my almost 13 month old son to milk straight from the fridge yesterday! :-)

My kids can't drink cow's milk and they dislike soy milk. We use Almond milk, the kids reeally like it.

Have you tried Kefir or yogurt smoothies? You can get them full fat, and they have fruit in them which makes them tasty to the little ones. Neither of my kids liked cow's milk, so I gave them rice milk but for added calcium and fat I gave them yogurt smoothies or Kefir.

Try enriched rice milk. My 16 month old cannot handle cows milk. I mixed half formula, 1/2 enriched rice milk for a few weeks and gradually increased the rice milk until she drank all rice milk. You have to get the fat and other calcium from other foods. I also have her on liquid vitamins that are sold in CVS.

Have you checked with your DR? My daughter put her bottle down at 12 months and never picked it up again. She would only drink milk in her bottle, water in her cup and refused any juice. If we put milk in her cup or water in her bottle she refused to drink it. After several days without milk I called her DR who told us not to worry about it. Maddie eats plenty of veggies and fruits and all of blood work and exams show she was right on target. She suggested yogurt, cheese, and occasional milkshakes. Maddie is now almost three, she's in perfect health. I hope this helps, good luck.

My sons didn't care for cows milk either. I asked my pediatrician about it and he told me that milk is for calcium after age 1, so as long as they were eating other dairy products, they were fine. My kids love yogurt and will eat cheese, etc. Once he's totally weaned and is over the emotional attachment of breast milk, he may begin to drink the cows milk. Good luck to you.

My 17th month old was not at all interested in Cows Milk when we weaned her from formula at 12 months. She drank alot of water and we tried to make up for her lack of milk by making sure she was eating yogurt and cheese everyday. At the same time we continued to offer her milk everyday via a sippy cup. We were so desparate that we gave her milk in a bottle (only a few times) and she started drinking it a little bit. All of the sudden (after several weeks of dumping alot of milk down the drain) she started drinking milk. Now she drinks milk with breakfast and always has a cup at bedtime. Hang in there. Being consistent and patient is the key.

A simple thing but have you tried warming the milk in a bottle warmer before giving to him. It's possible the temperature and not the taste are turning him off since he is used to breast milk, which is body temperature when he is nursing. I know the idea of warm milk is strange to us but that is all he is used to.

I run an in home daycare and watch infants on up. Transition time doesn't have to be hard - I have done this with all of my infants and it worked out fine. When you start from BM to cow's milk - make 95 % of the bottle BM, gradually increase the cow's milk until it is all cow's milk. This may take 2 - 3 weeks to get the transition completed. Many people just stop cold turkey from formula, bm etc... and switch. You wouldn't like having butter switched to cream cheese on you waffles all of a sudden right? I know maybe a bad analogy but you get my point? LOL! Good Luck!

T.,
Don't stress over your child not drinking the milk. I have 3 kids - 2 who LOVE milk & 1 who will not touch it (cows, soy, rice, chocolate, strawberry or plain). She is now 5 1/2, has never drank milk and is perfectly healthy. She LOVES yogurt & cheese and I give her calcium fortified juices. You can also look for other ways to include milk that are not obvious - my daughter loves tomato soup which I make with milk instead of water.

Each child is different and you just need to find what works for your little one. As long as you provide a diet rich in calcium, you don't need to worry about the milk.

Good-Luck!
~ B.

You can try goats milk, soymilk, almond milk, rice milk. There are many types of milk to choose from and many are calcium fortified. Goat's milk is an excellent milk and actually is more widely used around the world than cows milk. You can also try flavoring the milk with something natural like banana (of course only if she likes bananas). Try to avoid using any syrups since that's training her palate to like artificial ingredients. I hope that this helps

There is also goats milk, rice milk which are fortified. Also there is formula. Are you trying whole milk? If so it may be too "thick", try a lower percent fat (while you are still breast feeding) and slowly increase it to whole milk while decreasing breastfeeding. Also are you giving it to him in a bottle or cup...that can make a difference. My son would not take milk either so our pediatrician said it was fine to keep him on formula. Now I think they even have one for toddlers. Good luck.

Have you tried the flavored Soy's? The Vanilla Soy might work. You might find more option's at a health foood store, such as, rice milk. My son was brought up on soy and at five, still chooses it over cow's milk. He used to get supremely constipated at whatever he drank, so we used to put a small dose of clear karo syrup in his milk to prevent that- it DOES make the milk taste better. That might work for you since the change over might constipate your child anyway.

Hi T.! Unless you're not offering any other foods or drinks besides the breast, you've already started weaning. And here's the wonderful thing about your milk; it is still designed specifically for your child! Here is a break down from kellymom.com about the nutrients in your milk:

" * In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
o 29% of energy requirements
o 43% of protein requirements
o 36% of calcium requirements
o 75% of vitamin A requirements
o 76% of folate requirements
o 94% of vitamin B12 requirements
o 60% of vitamin C requirements
-- Dewey 2001 "
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html Has a huge list of facts and resources about nursing in the second year of life and beyond. Cow's milk is for baby cows. There are plenty of other foods that are good sources of calcium such as broccoli, fortified cereal, and beans. Fats are easier than you think. Use a little full fat ranch dressing on that broccoli, or some cheese sauce on those beans. Put a pat of butter on some cornbread and get a two for one as cornbread has calcium too. And as to serving sizes, they only need 1/4 of an adult serving to count! For what it's worth, my 17 month old isn't a cup milk fan either, but I'm satisfied that she gets what she needs to fill in the gaps of table food from me. None of my kids were cup milk fans until at least 2 1/2 and then it had to be chocolate milk as a treat. I guess the one thing I would ask is why you feel the need to wean when your son is sending you all the signs that he's not ready. If you're looking for support or information on what is normal for toddler nursing, there are two groups I recommend. There is the extended_nursing yahoo group and Mothering.com/discussions breastfeeding forums. Both have moms just like you who are nursing past a year or more who have a lot of good advise on life with a nursing toddler. You also might try to see if any of the local LLL groups have a toddler meeting. I wish you the best of luck no matter what you ultimately decide.

Don't stress over the milk. Calcium is in many foods other than milk. My daughter doesn't like milk. I did all the same things you are doing when I was weaning her off breastmilk and onto milk. She's 19mo now and still doesn't like milk.

We don't need to rely on milk to get Calcium (or fat for babies). Here's my recommendation - stop putting your engery into getting your son to drink milk and start looking at adding high Calicum foods to his diet. Your son will need 3 portions of Calicum rich food throughout the day.

My daughter loves the yogurt so I get YoBaby yogurt b/c it's high in fat (all the adult yogurt is low fat). A slice of cheese or a cheese stick, cottage cheese, etc, will all work great (and cheese has plenty of fat in it).

Since my daughter isn't drinking milk, I give her water and watered-down juice throughout the day. She actually likes V-8 juice, which is weird to me, but I give that to her some too. She loves OJ too. My daughter is just now getting a little more interested in stuff like chocolate milk, but still won't drink plain milk from a sippy cup. She might come around some day, but I didn't want to fight her on the issue when there are so many other options out there. I've heard that some kids instinctively avoid foods that they are allergic to and I didn't want to risk that being the case.

Here's a list of Calicum rich foods:
Yogurt (1 cup has more calicum and fat than milk)
Cheese (Cottage Cheese, Mozzarella, Swiss, Parmesan, etc)
Broccoli, Peas, Spinach, Greens (Kale, Collard, etc)
Salmon
Beans (White, Baked, Black, Navy, etc)
Plus, there's a ton of Calcium-fortified foods out there(some breakfast cereal, orange juice, bread)

Good luck!

It might be harder to find, but some kids (pardon the pun) like goat milk. You might be able to find powdered or canned evaporated goats milk in the baking isle of the super market. MEYENBERG is a brand that seems to be nationally available. Health food stores might be a good place to look, too.

Hello, I like you had trouble getting my daughter to drink any type of milk but breast milk, but while shopping at the grocery store I saw individual sips of horizon organic milk. The come in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. To my suprise she loved it! After trying all kinds of milks this is the kind she enjoys the most. I would suggest trying the individual sips first to see what kind your child enjoys. You can get them at giant or shoppers for a dollar and change and if your child likes them you can get them in a value pack of 18 or 24 at either sams or giant. Good luck! After many tries my daughter can't stop drinking them. Last thing if you do decide to buy you can go on horizons website and the offer coupons.

I agree with the warming trick, it can be as simple as a temp preference and this worked for my daughter. Then we gradually worked on making it less warm until she was drinking it cold from the fridge. Also, you can get fat and calcium other ways but what can be really hard to find (ESP in other foods) is the vitamin D. If you can't get the milk to go down, make sure you have your child on a good vitamin D supplement! Rickets is on the upswing due to vitamin D deficiencies. Most milk products (like cheese and yogurt) are made with NON-vitamin D fortified milk so those help with calcium intake but not always vitamin D!

have you tried ovultine? kids dont need milk as long as they get dairy elsewhere lik from yogurt and cheese.

Once you quit breast feeding and he doesnt have that option he will eventually drink the milk when he is thirsty. Just dont offer anything else except water. It might take a few days, but he will be fine.
My kids wouldnt drink milk from a cup once I took their bottles away so I just make sure they get yogurt and cheese and the dr. says thats fine. I still push the milk tho and put extra in their cereal because they will drink that with a straw after they eat their cereal.

Have you tried Rice milk? I have a good friend with four kids who did all the research and came to the conclusion that rice milk was the best for her kids. Hope that helps!

Hi

Until you have weaned him could you not let him get his calcium from yogurt & cheese? Does he eat cereal with cow's milk on? If so that's another way to get some into him.

Good luck

You don't have to give them cow's milk for them to get everything they need. It's just the most convenient way. My 19mo son also wants nothing to do with it, so I make sure that he has a good calcium rich food at every meal. For breakfast he has bananas, cherrios and cottage cheese. For lunch he has whatever we're eating plus a string cheese or yogurt. And for dinner, I make sure to throw in one of those three. I also work in other things that are fortified with calcium like certain orange juices and so on during his snacks throughout the day. They are all great sources of calcium and the cheeses have the added benefits of good fats and tons of protein.

Aside from that, have you tried to just make her some chocolate milk? Kids will just about always drink chocolate milk and the mixes (nesquik, ovaltine) that you can use for it also are fortified with a lot of other nutrients these days.