2 Yr Old Won't Drink Milk

I had the same problem with my son. I just kept offering milk at every meal. Juice I watered down so much it wasn't that tastey anymore. I tried all the other milk flavors, choc, etc. I tried all different cute cups etc. Bottom line was as soon as it stopped being an issue and he knew it was the only drink he was going to get he started drinking it. But it had to be his idea. He chose to have the milk instead of the juice. We've been happy ever since. It did take a month or so to transition. Good luck!

Hi J.,
I work for the Wic office and have done so for 13 years now. My first statement is who cares if your child drinks milk? Its not the milk that is important, its calcium.
A child your age needs 3-4 servings of dairy on a daily basis to get the recommended servings. A serving size of milk would be 4 oz., so if your child doens't eat any cheese, yogurt, pudding, or broccoli, this should be minimum servings. So, what can I offer instead.

First thing is my children have two chioces for meal time. They can choose between milk and water. If they do not choose either then they get nothing to drink. I know this sounds harsh but we do want to teach them good eating habits thru thier toddlerhood, to promote good nutrition the rest of thier life.
At this age they should not be drinking soda, koolaid, gateraide or poweraid more than twice a week. Nothing should be considered a forbidden food. Just everything in moderation. I used to limit these types of foods/drinks for the weekends, as my type of treat.

Your child should also drink no more than 12 oz. of 100% juice on a daily basis. If your child is drinking more than that, you can reduce the intake a couple of ways.

First way is to water it down. Now, if your child is not already used to watered down juices, she's old enough to voice her oppinion. Try this instead.... fill her cup with ice, then pour her juice into the cup. They don't realize that ice takes up space but its a nice argument saver. It also doens't water down the taste unless she is taking an hour or more to drink it.

I would offer 3 meals a day and 2-3 healthy snacks daily. sHe is at an age , when she is not growing as fast as she has in the past. So, keep in mind this is the perfect age for picky eating. Also keep in mind that a portion size for her age group would be 2 tablespoons of food.
When I say offer, I mean put it infront of her and give her the oppertunity to choose if she wants it or how much she wants.
If she is filling up on liqids, this greatly increases the picky 2 year old.
Ok, now thta I've mentioned all thta, lets get to your specific concern.... how do I get her to drink milk or take in the amount of calcium she needs every day?

1. Offer cheese every day, if it does not cause constipation. A serving size of cheese is one slice or a block the size of a small box of wooden matches. Melt cheese on his veggies, make a cheese dip and let him dip his veggies in it.
2. offer yogurt every day. Yougurt, especially yougurt with live acidophalus(sp) is really healing on the stomach and helps to keep our yeast in control.
3. Try offering a shake for an evening snack. Take some icecream and blend it with milk and/or yogurt and/or fruit. If you want to get really adventurous. Buy some powdered milk and add it too the shake also.
4. Powdered milk, yeah I know yuk. But we are not going to use it to drink. Use it to suppliment the diet.... Make your own pudding according to the instructions but add a scoop of powdered milk (extra cacuim, also extra calories) Add the powdered milk to her cereal in the morning, mix it with her regular milk then add the cereal. Add poweder milk to almost anything...cookies, pancakes, waffles,shakes, puddings (try freezing pudding into popsicles for a different treat) soups, scrambled eggs, ect. Anything you can add milk to, just use the powdered milk instead or besides regular milk.
5. cottage cheese is another excellent source of calcium. Wont eat it alone, add it to lasagna. Melt extra cheese on her spagetti, then add parmasan cheese to it too.
6. molasses is an excellent source, maybe make some cookies w/ molasses.
7. As for alternantive calcium sources.... not most kids favorites.....Broccoli, clams, cooked collard greens, farina, oysters, salmon, sardines,cooked soybeans,and turnip greens. Not most of my favorutes either.

last but not least.... try not to stress over it. The bigger of a deal you make it, the less she will want to drink milk. If she can get most servings from other suggestions, then who cares if she ever drinks milk again. Offer it as a choice. a cup of milk or a cup of water. This way she isn't getting something better tasting and not have to choose milk.
If this is the only problem you have with the picky 2 year old stage.... I know you worry, but so far its been easy, wait till she won't want anything you offer. Very typical stage for 2 years old. Its a start of thier independence and thier job is to play and have fun, eating really takes a back door to everything else. They also go thru a stage, called food jags.....that is where all they want to eat is one food....macaroni & cheese or pizza or whatever the favorite of the month is. Thats also ok to give into the requests, if they are healthy ones just remember to offer something with it. It can take a child 20 times of looking at a new food before they are even willing to touch it, never mind taste it. So, even though she doesn't like it today, put it on her plate tomorrow. As she gets older and wants it off her plate, allow her to remove it and place it nicely on a napkin. Touching is the first step of tasting, so allowing her to remove it from her plate is leaving her in control but with alterior motives.
Good luck!
H. B.

hello, I had the same problem with my son. First I tried making milk like u did choc.strawberry anything I could. i went out and found colored hot choc. which i let him add to his cup. i just add it to cold milk and he thinks its the best idea in the world to make orange..red milk. i also which was hard becuase he loves juice too i just wouldn't give it to him. i just would put out one cup of milk and if he through a tantrum i let him which was hard but eventually he got thirsty enough and he stared to drink it! so maybe you can try tht. Hope it helps

Just stop the juice. it's not gonna hurt you. and you'll save on diapers and wipes for a little while. tell her she only get water or milk because it's better than juice for them and she nees it to be healthy. Just don't buy anymore juice and don't give in. she might cry alot but at least she will start drinking milk.

maybe soy milk it the key?

My daughter is 2 1/2 and won't drink milk either. I only let her have juice in her high chair for snacks (and very watered down)

But, I just found out that she LOVES cereal. I bought one of those bowls that has a straw attached to it, and she drinks the milk as she eats! It's great! Maybe that something you could try with your daughter.. (?)...they're all so different.

I just keep offering her milk with dinner. If she doesn't want it, I try to get her to take at least a sip before she has juice or water (which she's not thrilled about either).

Hopefully it's just a phase...

She may have a low tollerance for dairy. She can get the calcium she needs through other foods. Yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese and even certain juices have come out with added calcium. I really don't feel that just milk is that important as long as they get dairy from something else. Hope this helps.

try diffrent milks, soy,lactose free,skim,ect...plain or with strawberry,ch. mix them up.warm it up with sugar

I don't like my son to drink much juice either. I get around the intake by watering it down a LOT. He knows it still has flavor, but doesn't know how strong it's supposed to be. If you do this gradually it might help cut down on juice. As far as milk, if she doesn't want it, why push it? Maybe wait a few months to see if her tastes change, or you could try soy or rice milk instead.
Good luck!

Hi there J.. My name is S. and I had the same problem. My daughter stopped nursing/bottle feeding at about 7 months. I found a couple of things. First, she would see everyone drinking out of cups and wanted to do the same, so I would give her a cup but put milk in it and she would drink it. Second, I found other ways for her to get the much needed calcium, which I found so much better because milk is very fattening. Now the juice thing, I give my daughter a sugar free orange flavored juice that has vitamins A, B, & C, not too mention electrolytes and to top it off, it is clear. So when it spills, there is no stain and no stickyness because it is sugar free and good for her. My daughter can drink as much juice as she wants, get her vitamins, and her teeth don't rot from other fruit juices that contain some form of sugar. If you ever want to chat, e-mail me at ____@____.com. I hope everything works out for you and take care!

aloha,
S.

You can always try soy or rice milk, my best freinds daughter hates milk too, but loves the vanilla soy!!
As far as juice goes, my kids refused to drink anything but juice when they knew I had it, so we axed it all together... They really don't need the empty calories and sugar anyway. Now it's a treat they get a grandma's and that's it. It was really hard the first few days, but now my kids love water, there is no whinning and no room for negotiations when there is only one choice.

H.

http://wisemommy.fourpointwellness.com

I know this might be a little late.. but we always just put water in our kid's sippy cups from the start. they only get juice with lunch. Otherwise our kids ask for water. My son cannot tolerate Milk. My daughter drinks milk once in a while but we aren't really a Milk drinking family. try to get her to get her dairy in other ways through cheese, yogurt, etc. If she doesn't like milk don't push it. You'll probably have to go through a lot of fights against the juice.. but don't give in she'll get thirsty and drink the water. My daughter loves her water. My son sticks his nose up at it. but If I don't give him juice all day he'll bring me his "Water cup" Other idea.. go have her pick out her own "water Bottle" with her favorite character so she's excited to drink the water from it. We just make it a habit to bring water with us everywhere.
Oh and I only buy juice in juice boxes so we aren't temped to pur it into a sippy. they only get a juice box for lunch. I know I just gave you a ton of info!! :) sorry... it's a lot.