Toddler Wants Milk Alll Dayy!!

Toddler does NOT get what Toddler always WANTS.....Toddler WILL NOT DIE... Mama, YOU are in charge.\!

I didn't read the other responses, but you could try replacing the bottle with a small sippy cup. They hold less than bottles, and you could start watering down the milk. You could also try a different kind of milk, like almond or coconut. I'm the first to admit that I LOVE my skim milk, but even I know that 6 bottles of milk, even if it's only 4oz at a time, is WAY too much milk, especially for a 20mo.

start slowly watering down the milk.
khairete
S.

Well, when my son was hitting a growth-spurt, that is how he was too.
I gave him milk.
I KNOW his cues.
And then, he'd grow like a weed.
Our Pediatrician said its fine... because, my son is healthy and he eats healthy. So he wants more milk sometimes than usual. Fine. Then he'd grow a ton, with the blink of an eye.

Then, per eating.... my kids eat when hungry or full. Not per how much *I* think they should eat. My kids know their body's cues and will eat when hungry and stop when full. And a Toddler's serving size, is only in terms of Tablespoons etc. and then it all adds up per daily, intake overall. My kids know, when they are full. So if they are full, I let them stop eating. No biggie.

http://www.gerber.com/AllStages/nutrition_and_feeding/tod...

You really need to get him off the bottle. It is a crutch for him and it's time he was off that crutch. If you put up every single bottle where you cannot easily get to them and tell him no more bottle, yes, he'll pitch fits. But he will eventually accept a cup and eat more food.

I would do it cold turkey and not mess around.

You are letting him call all the shots and you will be very sorry in the upcoming months. The terrible two's are just around the corner and this is just the beginning of them.

Get ready for a rocky ride, say no more bottle, let him cry, and eventually he will adjust. You will have shown him, as Toni says, that he doesn't get everything he wants, and that YOU are the MOM.

I promise you that if you don't start standing up to him, you're going to have a very hard little boy to deal with.

And yes, he's getting too much milk. He doesn't need all this milk and switching to a cup will help. You also need to put water in a cup and put it in his crib so that he can sip on it all by himself. Don't let him out of the crib, and eventually don't get up with him. He will finally stop waking up when you won't give him what he wants, and will sleep through the night again.

Once he's gotten used to the bottles being gone, give him an inch of milk before his meal while he is sitting in his highchair. Then give him food. When he asks for more milk, tell him he can have some more milk after he eats some food. When he has eaten some more, give him another inch. After he finishes eating, give him some more. Like Chitown says, 20 ounces of milk per day is PLENTY. Pour out that amount of milk in a separate container per day so that you know how much he is getting. That way, you don't overdo on the milk.

When he turns 24 months, you need to switch him to 2% milk. He will not need all that fat in 4% milk at that point.

Good luck reminding him that you are his boss, Mom!

Dawn

Take away the bottle. He is too old for it. Instead, give him a cup. And then encourage him to eat "big people" food. And let him eat as much or as little as he wishes. And offer healthy snacks in between meals. My 21 month old daughter drinks milk from a cup mulitple times a day. I don't keep track of how much. She gets food at intervals throughout the day (breakfast, snack, lunch, nap, snack, dinner). But she drinks whenever she is thirsty.

My 17-month old drinks milk all day from a straw cup. He eats (but not too much). He just turned picky and throws everything! It's like there is nothing he wants, but when food was new to him, he wanted it all.

He nurses once a night and has not slept through yet (all the way).
He sips his milk so if I add it all up, I don't think it's too much. I would make sure he is taking iron in droplets or a vitamin. My other kids were prone to low iron, and all that milk blocks absorption. So we religiously do iron each day for my toddler.

Our pediatrician said it was fine.
He was eating plus having the milk.
He said give him some time until he is 2 w/the bottle.
Then we gave it to him in a sippy cup but still sometimes bottle.
It's kind of like mom's that are still supplementing w/breastfeeding & food until they are 2.
Let him have him his milk AND food.
It's a comfort thing.
Some kids suck their thumb, some have binkies, some have blankies & some have their milk.

He knows what he wants for sure! I would not worry. If he is eating anything at all he's okay. Even if he is just grazing and eating a minimal amount. If it continues for too long then you could try working with him taking some milk with a bit of carnation instant milk powder in it or something to get extra vitamins and nutrients but I wouldn't really worry about it too much at all.

I think all kids go through this stage. Then they turn around and start eating better.

My children's pediatrician says no more than 20 oz of milk per day, and in fact says to limit it to 12-18 oz if you notice it interfering with eating food. I agree with the other posters regarding the bottle and would encourage you to switch to a cup asap. It sounds like he is nursing a bottle all day for comfort. As for asking for the bottle at night...I would tell him no and that he can have a drink in the morning. Once you are into potty training you are not going to want him consuming liquids overnight anyway. Good luck!

My son was just like that - it was for comfort. We told him over and over that he was getting too big for bottles and when the time came we were going to deliver all the bottles to a baby who needs them. We really did gather up every single bottle and he and I went to a friend's house (who had a baby) and give them to her. He still could have milk in a sippy cup but there were not bottles after that. I remember he was pretty upset off and on for a about 3 days or so...he'd cry and cry for his bottle. But then he got over it. Not having the bottles naturally caused him to want less milk during the day too. Although he still really really liked his milk. I slowly weaned him off it with time...giving one less sippy cup of milk a day till he was down to about 3. He also wanted milk at night for a very long time. He had and still has great teeth though...so we got lucky there. I can't remember when he stopped drinking a sippy of milk at night - maybe around age 2? Good luck with your little guy. Some toddlers are just more needy than others. My daughter was not this way at all.

Is he drinking whole milk? I kept both my kids on whole until they were 2 and it tasted so good that that's all they wanted! ;) They drank quite a bit and I let it happen most of the time, but not always. If he's eating other foods, I wouldn't worry too much. If he's still on whole, switch to 2% or skim after two. Eventually they will stop drinking as much b/c it isn't as fatty and delicious! ;)

I would however move him to a cup and give up the bottle. That will be step one in weaning him off the milk. It's easier and faster to drink out of a sippy or a bottle, so once he can start using regular cups that will cut down on milk intake as well.

The good thing about this is that he is at the age when kids go through eating phases-- one particular food all the time, then it switches to a new food all the time. The problem is that he is also attached to the bottle. He's old enough to drink his milk from a cup, with or without a lid. For my child who was very attached to his bottle, I transitioned with the Nuby cups that have the soft mouthpiece. Another child did well going straight from bottles to straws.

as long as he's eating a well-balance & adequate daily diet, then the milk is not an issue. As others have posted, I hope it's whole milk....unless the dr has suggested differently. With my sons (9 years apart), both of their drs said "no" to whole milk & wanted them both on 2%. It surprised me, but both drs had valid/good reasons for their viewpoints. A very rare situation!

As for the bottle....please stand firm & just give him a cup! After a few refusals, a few rounds of crying...he'll get the picture & be a big boy. :)

& as for wanting milk at 2 hour intervals, I know I drink more frequently than that! Again, stand firm & get some water or watered-down juice in him! This all boils down to: who's in charge? :) Good Luck!

It sounds to me like the bottle is a comfort object for your son as much as anything, so taking it away from him cold turkey as a way to regulate his milk consumption is probably going to do more harm than good.

Has he always wanted this much milk? Or did something change recently? Kids do go through phases with food preferences, so if it's a fairly new thing, you can most likely be assured that it will pass. If this has been an ongoing thing, try slowly reducing the amount of milk he drinks during the day. if he currently has six bottles a day, try going down to five. If he's thirsty offer him a bottle with water. If he throws a fit, which he probably will, just ride it out, hug him, let him cry, but stand firm. If he's truly thirsty, he'll drink the water. Then a couple of days later, go down to four bottles of milk. Make sure the ones you eliminate are not at the times he is most attached to, otherwise you risk even larger fits.

As for waking up and wanting the bottle recently, could he be teething? That would explain both the night waking and wanting the bottle, as sucking on something would help relieve some of his discomfort. If you suspect this, give him some tylenol or advil before bedtime and see if that makes a difference.

If you feel he's ready to transition to a sippy cup, take him shopping with you and pick some out. Make it a big deal and have fun with it!

We had a nice opportunity to transition my daughter to a sippy cup - we went to visit my in laws and we just didn't take any bottles with us. We told her "There's no bottles at Grandma's house, just cups." She never asked for a bottle again (I made sure I had put them away so she wouldn't see them when we got back). If you have an opportunity like that, take advantage of it. Good luck!

I would try a farewell party for his bottle, nothing too spectacular, just special enough that he looks forward to it and remembers it fondly. Prepare him a week or so in advance for when it's time for big boys to pass their bottles on to babies who still need to use them. Let him pick out a few sippy cups and even a few big boy cups for at the table. This worked for my son, although there were a few fits to be had later where he asked for the bottle and I had to remind him that we didn't have them anymore because they were being used by babies now and he was a big boy. These times were mostly when he was sleepy and cranky though, otherwise he was more than happy to drink from a big boy sippy cup. I found the graco ones with the double hole in the lid and the rubber stopper to be good for him taking to bed, and I think he drank a lot less than with the bottle and we never once had a leak. Soon, he would ask for a drink then pass it back for me to put away. We started this around 2 and never looked back to bottles. I am due in less than 2 weeks though, and I hear kids can revert back to bottle when they have a sibling using one, but he is 5 now so I don't see that being an issue.

On another note, I have never limited milk unless it is interfering with meals. He is only allowed one cup of milk with dinner until he eats a reasonable amount of food, at which time I will refill a small amount. After dinner and up to 30 minutes before bed, he can have as much milk as he wants. My son just LOVES plain milk and will choose it over any juice, water, even chocolate milk, with the only exception being soda, root beer or sprite, which I only offer when we go out to eat which is super rare (and sometimes with pizza). Even soda he turns down half the time in favor of milk!! I don't think this is a bad thing at all. I love that he loves milk, my boy will have strong bones :)

I would just say that once you make the switch, commit and never look back. Bottles only at bed time might work too, worked for my besties LO.. Good luck!

That is a tough one. Is this constipating him? When my son was on the bottle still up until about 15 months or so, He took 8 ounces at a time, and I watered down the milk so that he wouldn't be getting more than 12 ounces which is the recommended daily amount. He also loves yogurt so I had to be careful not to overdo the dairy. Once we switched completely to sippy cups he ended up getting 2 cups of milk a day and that worked fine. After a couple days he stopped asking for it. It is the bottle your son is attached to, not the milk, so as long as you find a way to kick that you will be set. It will not be easy, but you should throw them all away so that you don't end up giving in. Good luck!

We FINALLY got our 22 month old son to give up the bottle (I say we... But in reality my SIL and BIL did it while they had our son while hubby and I were on our honeymoon). Anyways, before the switch he was like your son... Milk milk milk all day long. Now that he's on a sippy cup he never really has milk (Except his morning cereal). He wants his sippy cup filled with water or juice and at his disposal 24/7, but he will not drink milk from his sippy cup (No idea why). He is eating so much more food now! All day every day, he wants food!

So maybe try the switch? I was terrified to do it, envisioning weeks of sleepless nights with a crying toddler. Nope. BIL and SIL had him for the first two nights of the switch and after the next night at home with us (3 nights total), he was good to go. He asked for his ba a couple of times since then but I just explained that 'ba went bye bye' and that was that.