14 Month Wont Drink Milk of Any Kind

I weaned my son at 12 months due to his multiple allergies and my inability to avoid them all. Since then he drinks rice and hemp milk, but not so much for calcium as for liquid. I'm assuming you've weaned or are working or something as to why you can't give her breastmilk still. In any case, I wouldn't worry about it. Many beans are rich in calcium and in a form that actually absorbs much better than the calcium in dairy or fortified foods. So are other foods. We are vegetarian and my son is allergic to dairy, so he eats beans every day. He's quite a happy, healthy little guy. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about the calcium. If she will eat a variety of foods--and especially if she is still taking breastmilk--then don't worry. She'll be fine.

it has actually been discovered that children dont need to drink milk after infancy. You can always get her a chewable D3 vitamin and calcium. Dont worry..shell be fine.

My little one did the same thing. I started giving her Carnation Instant Breakfast - Chocolate or Strawberry. This hid the taste of the milk enough, and it is more like a shake. My little one loved drinking it from a straw!!

Will she eat other dairy products like yogurt or cheese? It's really not imperative that she drink milk if she gets the same nutrients from other sources. Also, a lot of juices are fortified with calcium. I know it can be worrisome and frustrating! Good luck.

Is there a reason you feel she needs to drink her calcium and fat intake? I am a huge dairy lover, but my daughter wouldn't eat cheese or drink milk when she weaned and even to this day (she's nearly 4) doesn't care to drink milk very often. We instead made her healthy smoothies which she enjoyed, the blueberries covered up the milk taste and texture in case those were her issues. I also made she ate plenty of salmon, nuts, avocados etc to get the healthy fats her brain and body needs (since milk is mostly full of saturated fats we don't need). We also would mix in spinach and other dark greens in her food for her calcium. Her favorite before she was a toddler and decided she didn't like green things wsa spinach lasagna, she would eat a ton of cheese and spinach and I had no worries about fat, calories or calcium with that combo! Basically, I just fed her a rainbow of colors in food and made she received a good combination of fresh raw foods and cooked foods since different nutrients are released from foods or lost or gained depending on how food is prepared. So if she is willing to eat or drink alternatives to milk that are nothing similar to milk, I wouldn't worry. She may just push it away because she wants milk from you and no other source. Later on she will probably pick it up, but even if she doesn't, she won't be unhealthy or lacking by any means! The fats aren't great, the proteins are very difficult to digest and the added vitamins aren't as good and don't help the body as much as food that naturally contain vitamins A & D. Another option you may want to consider is goat's milk as it is easier to digest and closer to human milk which may make it more appealing to her.

One last thing to consider is that she may have a mild intolerance to it and is naturally avoiding it. Just something to watch for.

I tried more "milk" combo's than you. Hot, cold, strawberry, chocolate, goat, silk, ALMOND!!!!
My DD is three...never had a cup of milk in her life.
She eats yogurt and cheese. Thats as close as I get.
I did not drink milk as a child, niether did my husband. We all still dont drink it. We are all OK.
When you really think about it, the WHOLE purpose of cows milk is to, well, feed a calf. Not humans. I dont think its that important.
M:)

Hi L.,

This sounds all to familiar! It's difficult, frustrating and starts to get expensive. We mixed a little yogurt smoothie (the kind all mixed and with the yogurts in the grocery store) with the milk and it worked great. One day we were having pasta and I gave him regular milk and he just took it without any complaints or reference to the previous "dr'd" milk. We haven't looked back. :)

Good luck!
T.

This was my first daughter exactly. I coudln't get her to drink milk at all. We also tried all sorts of thing - flavored milk, smoothies, flavored kefir, on and on. She just didn't like it. I finally gave up on it and stopped the pressure for both myself and her. She was a healthy weight and height. I pushed yogurt and cheese. She did eat a lot of both, so it worked out. And somehwere about the time she turned two, she started liking it. Now, its all she wants and I struggle to get water into her.

Just give her time. Offer it occasionally but don't make it a big deal, and push other things with calcium in them. Don't worry, your child will be fine.

Don't know if anyone else has said this but your little girl really doesn't need any milk products at all. There are other ways of getting calcium by foods or just give one of those yummy calcium chews if it would make you feel better about it. My son is lactose in tolerate and really can't drink milk. It's really not a problem for us. Just give her water or half water and some 100% juice and all is well ")
Best Regards,
C.

I am going through the same thing with my 14 month old daughter. My son weaned himself at 11 months - easy! She is not so interested! I am giving her milk in a bottle, and after 2 months of trying, she will finally drink one bottle a day - but not all 6 oz. at one time...I am about to go cold turkey with the nursing and figure that she will start to take the milk after a few days! At least, I hope she will...I have not tried any variety other than organic whole milk.

My first 2 kiddos were exclusively breastfed about 16 months and both refused cows milk of any kind....and still do. My pedi recommended calcium fortified orange juice, bread, yogurt, smoothies, cheese, as well as a calcium supplement.

I had a similar issue with my daughter when she was that age (now 5). Our doctor gave us a Milk Equivelant chart to follow so that we could rest assure that she was getting the nurtrients needed. Milk is the BEST option for certain nutrients and they encouraged us to keep trying, but its also NOT the only option. We used the chart to ensure that she was gettting enough milk/milk equivelants and she is fine. We used to give her warm polka milk (as she called it), which was warm milk with sugar-free hershey syrup....sounds like maybe you have tried that, but keep trying other ways gradually and use the equivelants to fill out her needs in the meantime.

Your child's body might be telling you both that she doesn't need any milk right now (it is allergy season) and you CAN get enough good calories, fats and calcium from other sources of foods, you just need to be willing to...E-mail me and I can send you some simple, yet great ideas on how I do it for my vegetarian/vegan twins...they are very healthy and are growing just fine...

Try goat, hemp or almond. Goat has similar proteins as breastmilk. Hemp and Almond are both naturally sweet like breastmilk. Put some on your breast and let her taste it while she's nursing. A little tease. If she likes it she may drink it without the breast.

M.

Can I ask why you want to wean her now? Do you need to go back to work? Can you pump? Nursing a toddler was a blessing for me. It helped with sleep, tantrums - you name it. Then at 2 years old I introduced small cups of rice milk. He drank little sips at first, but months later was drinking it by the huge cupfuls. He drinks rice milk and rice milk smoothies all the time now! It takes time. Your baby only knows breast milk and it has a taste she has come to enjoy. She will get enough calories, fat and calcium if you can continue to breast feed. Otherwise she'll get it from her food. Give her foods high in good fats (avocado and coconut oil for cooking) and fish and olive oil. Broccoli is high in calcium and so is yogurt and cheese. Best of luck.

How long have you been trying? I just ask because it took my son about 2-3 weeks before he would actually drink any milk but we just kept offering it (and no longer offering nursing with meals so he realized that it was this or nothing) and after a while he started drinking it. Also will she eat yogurt or cottage cheese? Those are great sources of fat calcium and calories. As your daughter gets older she will be getting more and more of her calories from food anyway. Some kids just love to drink lots of milk and others drink less. When my son was about 14 month he much preferred water to milk now he drinks both but as I said gets the vast majority of calories through food.

Right now he knows he can still get the breast, so he has no need of the other. Once you fully ween he may be more open to drinking the other. Until he starts taking more milk just be sure he is getting cheese, yogurt, and other dairy items to make up the difference in fat and nutrition.

Sounds like y daughter (now almost 27 months). After breastmilk (I nursed her until she was 15 months old) she never transitioned to regular milk of any kind. But since she loves cheese and yogurt I am not at all concerned about her calcium and fat intake.

I am still having that problem with my 16 month old. one thing I try to get calcium besides cheese which he loves, is kids drinkable yogurt. I put a bending straw in the container and he loves it. He would probably drink 2 or more a day if I let him.

My son didn't want to either. We gave him Trader Joe's Greek yogurt, the mango/apricot flavor. It is full fat, and cream, and no sugar. He loved it. You could look at other full fat yogurt options, and I've heard the buffalo milk yogurt is really healthy.

I rememeber my son going through a stage at 15 months where he wouldn't drink ANY milk. Not even chocolate milk. I asked his pediatrician at the time who didn't think it was a big deal at all, he said he will drink it eventually, to keep offering it to him, and to make sure he was getting enough calcium by giving him cheese and yogurt throughout the day. Within a few weeks he was drinking milk again. Good luck!

I second the ideas of Carnation Instant Breakfast and yogurt/fruit smoothies. Also, I kind of tricked my son and started calling milk "moo" and I used to use about 1/4 vanilla flavored milk in it. I would avoid soy.

Your child does NOT need milk. Please don't force it on her. There's a good chance that it could be upsetting her stomach or it could be simply that she doesn't like the taste. (I think milk is gross, I've never drank a glass of milk in my life). Find other healthy foods that she likes that will supply her with the nutrients she needs. Have you tried yogurt or cheese?

First off - do not give your baby/child soy milk or soy formula - it is Extremely bad for anyone's health. I have a few links you should check out....
Try Raw milk - it is the healthiest milk to drink, and most kids LOVE it, my kids will go through more than a gallon a day, and it is extremely inexpensive. Read more about all of this here:

http://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?k=soy%20milk

http://search.mercola.com/Results.aspx?k=raw%20milk

Children do not NEED to drink milk of any kind. They especially do not need, and should not have, cow's milk products in any form! They are not even a good source of calcium (see notmilk.com) and cause many many health problems throughout life. By far the best thing would be for you to continue breastfeeding (the book How Weaning Happens (LLL has it) is excellent, and has suggestions for how to cut down the frequency of nursing without weaning altogether, if that is your reason for wanting to wean). There are many excellent nonanimal sources of calcium (such as greens, seeds, nuts), fats (avocados, olives, seeds, nuts), and of course all foods have calories!

Breastmilk is the best milk. Maybe she's just not ready.

Call LeLeche League. This is what they exist for to help nursing mothers.

My daughter weaned herself at 10 months from the boob. I went back to work part-time and she started biting me when I would try to nurse her. After a few days of that, I was done. She wouldn't drink milk or formula. I also tried multiple kinds and was very worried about her calcium. So, we started making sure that she had yogurt everyday. The doctor told us that between the yogurt and the cheese in her diet, that she was getting plenty of calcium. Every morning to this day she has yogurt and Cheerios or yogurt and Rice Krispies for breakfast, and all is well. At about 18 months old she finally started drinking vanilla soy milk. At 2 she still won't drink cow's milk, but she will drink vanilla soy milk and still eats lots of yogurt. Give your baby time and maybe she'll start drinking something. In the meantime, I recommend yogurt - we get the Mountain High all natural Vanilla yogurt.