How to Get One-year-old to Drink Milk?

Have you tried a strawed cup. My daughter isn't to keen on the sippy either. But she likes straws. She's been drinking from one since about 9 mos. She can use a sippy she just doesn't care for them. I don't worry about how much milk my kids drink. My daughter still takes a bottle in the morning and before bed so she gets somewhere between 16-24 oz a day (because of the bottles, which I hate giving to her...she's 16 mos). If she had a sippy she wouldn't drink hardly anything. Try a straw cup. They come spill proof too.

Hi J.,
My kids are now 8 (girl) and 6 (boy) and I remember going thru this. Here is my advice: drop the bottle. He doesn't like it and he is old enough to give it up anyway. Sounds like you won't have to fight that battle, which can be a nightmare of a different sort! Rest assured he will most likely NOT get dehydrated. His quantities will probably gradually go up. In the meantime, sneak milk and healthy fluids into his diet. Fresh fruit is great - has lots of water. Add milk to other things - tomato sauce, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, etc. Give him milk with cereal in a small bowl with an appropriate size spoon - will challenge his hand-eye coordination and get some milk in that way (may be messy at first!). Introduce milk based soups such as tomato or pumpkin. On hot summer days give him popsicles - you can make healthy ones yourself if you're not comfortable with store bought. Also think about the nutrients milk provides and make sure he has other foods or drinks with those nutrients. And lastly, his appetite is going to drop in a few months when he becomes a true toddler so don't be surprised about that! Good Luck!

try the Nuby brand sippy cups, sold at Walmart. They have to bite/chew/suck to get anything out. Several friends and myself really like this brand for teething babies, still our favorite cup and pacifier.
As far as cow's milk, my daughter prefered organic, I think it's a little sweeter. You could also add a drop of vanilla extract to flavor. My sister inlaw warms her sons milk just a little.
If he is getting enough calcium through yogurt, cheese, fruit and veggies try one sippy of water a day in addition to what milk you can get him to drink.
How often is he offered a cup? My daughter likes hers first thing in the morning and she has it for about an hour, then I put it away until about 10 (snack time) then it comes out again at lunch time, she drinks while I prepare food. same thing the rest of the day.

Your son sounds healthy and spirited. (And very independent!) Not easy for mama, but a good sign in terms of him thriving! If he wants the regular cup, then let him use the regular cup. Not every baby takes the bottle or sippy cup well, especially when they're old enough to see us drinking out of regular cups. And some kids just don't like milk that much, but it's easy to get enough calcium if you're creative.

Keep offering milk in the cup, and add in a cup of flavored kefir or drinkable yogurt once a day Yummy, full of calcium, probiotics (healthy bacteria)...it's such a healthy drink!

Also, give him cottage cheese, yogurt, and other cheeses. Your son sounds challenging and wonderful...is he related to mine?? :)

if your son isn't the biggest fan of sippy cups or bottles, then good for you! the sooner you can teach him how to work a regular cup, the better (and it sounds like he's already excited about using a "grown-up" cup).
we had the same problem; my pediatrician said that as long as he's getting calcium from other sources (like yogurt or cheese) then it's not a big deal if he doesn't love milk. so we made sure he had those other sources, and kept putting out milk - every dinner, he had a cup with a little bit of whole milk in it. needless to say our dog loved those early months because my son would hardly have any (and dog got the leftovers). then i started drinking milk again, which i haven't done really since middle school (whole for him, 1% for me), so he would see someone else drinking milk. between always offering it to him and seeing mommy drink it, he eventually started drinking sips here and there, and now will finish a whole (child's) cup. that being said, he also drinks a fair amount of water and juice, so I don't limit him to just milk (knowing his initial aversion to it).
a friend had an ingenious solution - her daughter drank water but no milk. so she diluted the milk with water and slowly got her onto milk full strength over teh span of several weeks. that didn't work with my son, but you may want to try that. i know some people also use hersheys syrup (honey, etc), but i wouldn't advise that because it's unnecessary sugar. our children have a lifetime to eat as much sugar as they want, no need to start them on it now!
good luck

Dear J.,

I agree with Amy. I had a little girl at my daycare that would not take the bottle for her mom. Her mom would come in tears on Monday because she hardly drank on weekends for her. We would have to do the same thing pretty much force her to drink. When she went to cups and regular milk she would just put a tiny bit of strawberry flavoring and she would drink it no problem. Have you tried milk in his morning cereal? I know its not a lot but every little bit helps. I know your concerned but as long as he is gaining and hydrated this just might be all he needs. Does he eat yogurt and cheese? This way he is getting his calcium though other sources. I wouldn't worry it sounds like he is a healthy little boy. Have a happy holiday!

try a different sippy cup--let him pick it out or flavor it up with nesquick (strawberry or chocolate, although most toddlers prefer strawberry). it is not that sugary if you add less then the directions say and you can cut down when he starts drinking more. have you tried a milk substitute? soy, rice? maybe he doesn't like the taste.

Did u try putting chocolate syurp or strawberry syurp (nestle)in his milk?
If not try it.

What kind of sippy cups are you using? We use the Nuby cups with the soft silicone spout, and they're not totally spill proof like the Playtex cups and others with valves, but I think Nuby is easier to drink from, especially if sucking is a problem. You could also try a regular cup or a straw cup.

To get your son to drink milk, you could try mixing different flavors into the milk like strawberry, chocolate, Ovaltine, or even yogurt smoothies. Once he gets used to drinking that, you can gradually decrease the amount of flavor so he's just drinking pure milk. You could also try soy milk, rice milk, or goat's milk. Only problem with soy and rice milks is that they have less fat than cow's milk so you'll have to give him other sources of good fat in his diet like olive oil or avocadoes.

My daughter went through the same thing at age 1, where she refused to drink cow's milk so we eventually got her to drink vanilla Silk soy milk out of a cup, then started mixing that with whole milk. We gradually decreased the amount of soy milk so now she drinks the recommended amount of milk everyday. You just have to keep trying because it takes little ones many tries until they get used to something and decide they like it.

Like the previous mom said, yogurt is great, not just for the calcium but for the good bacteria and it also contains water. To help keep him hydrated, you could also mix extra milk or water into his food.

Hi J.,

I am not a doctor, but I can tell you that OUR son never took to cow's milk either. I tried and tried (warmed it, served it when he was starving, put it in a bottle, put chocolate syrup in it...), but he never took more than a few sips. He even eats his cereal DRY...no milk.

So, after his first birthday (he's turning four in two weeks) I just started giving him yogurt and/or cheese daily. He also eats lots of calcium-rich veggies and drinks OJ with breakfast. He is an extremely healthy little boy and his doctor has never seemed concerned about his non milk drinking.

As long as he is growing and is healthy, I would give yourself a break and just accept the fact that your child doesn't drink milk. Good luck!