Milk revolt

[infomama]

Dd1 now hates to drink white milk. I basically force her to drink a cup a day but I wonder if others have any words of wisdom.

[LMPC]

Is it the taste she's opposed to or the fact that it's white and boring (meaning that she would drink it if it was pink or blue)? Would a cool new cup help at all? Sorry, but I can't recall how old your DD1 is.

[infomama]

She is almost 7. Cup doesn't seem to matter but having, 'milk races' at dinner does help. We have tried making it colder, other brands of milk, soy....only the addition of some midnight moo will change her tune which isn't happening on a regular basis round here.

[LMPC]

LOL -- I had to google "midnight moo" -- TJ's has it all, right?

Does she know about the benefits of milk? When I was little I loved to hear how carrots were good for my eyes, and how milk helped make my bones strong. Maybe it would encourage her to drink it more....

Love the idea of milk races BTW :)

[wellyes]

only the addition of some midnight moo will change her tune which isn't happening on a regular basis round here

Midnight Moo is eeeevil. I did it ONCE for my 2 year old and she still asks for it every day.

[hobie]

Is milk really that necessary? Personally, I don't like milk, but I do like yogurt, and other sources of calcium.

[LMPC]

Midnight Moo is eeeevil. I did it ONCE for my 2 year old and she still asks for it every day.

Thanks for the warning!

[ehf]

I would give her water instead.

Milk is over-processed and not actually that healthy for children. Give her leafy greens and Vitamin D supplements (or a bit of healthy sun), and let the milk go.

[Reyadawnbringer]

I would give her water instead.

Milk is over-processed and not actually that healthy for children. Give her leafy greens and Vitamin D supplements (or a bit of healthy sun), and let the milk go.

:yeahthat: milk generally isn't the best source of calcium anyway. I would just drop the milk and offer other things instead.

[melonpan]

i know it goes against what most ppl say but i agree that you dont have to feed children milk.

like ehf said try to figure out why you want to feed milk (is it the calcium, the vit d or both or something else?) and go find other sources for those nutrients.

[justlearning]

Our kids used to drink a lot of milk, but we have since stopped giving them milk after reading The China Study and other sources that talk about the negative side effects of dairy consumption.

So, we now give our boys almond milk (or sometimes rice milk), and they happily drink that. It has the same amount of calcium as cow's milk too.

[infomama]

Thanks for the feedback. Dd1 loves yogurt (we usually do greek) and all the other usual suspects (cheese, ice cream, etc). I'm going to do some good assessment of her caloric intake and work the calcium in wherever I can. Forcing her to drink it feels so icky.

[Minnifer]

Just a thought, if you decide to keep trying with milk itself, have you tried warming it? In some cultures children (and not just the wee ones) typically drink it warm, not cold. You could also try adding a bit of (raw) honey - it can be a yummy, before bed, wind-down drink (I have it occasionally myself).

[DrSally]

Neither of my kids drink milk. DS had a milk allergy until age 2 and dran soymilk for awhile. I'm not crazy about soy every day for him and the sugar involved, so he just does no milk now (except for cereal). DD has never really liked it. They eat as much cheese as they want, and the ped just recently suggested a calcium supplement.
Have you tried soymilk?

ETA: My kids have always had a vit D supplement and now that DS can have dairy, they just eat *a lot* of cheese. They only drink water. Sometimes DS likes choc milk at McDonalds (auntie gave it to him before knowing that we don't order it), and that's ok as a once and awhile thing. I agree with pp's to just let it go. It's not as essential as the public is lead to believe.

[fauve01]

My DD quit drinking milk early (around 3 IIRC). she went from white milk to chocolate, then quit chocolate. around the same time she also gave up cheese in all forms, and yogurt. she doesn't even really like pudding (she did for a while). her ped recommended a calcium supplement (she did a tums tablet for a while; now gets liquid calcium at bedtime).

HTH,
Anne + dd 10-03

[infomama]

Looks like we will be just fine without that token cup of milk. Broccoli was heavy on dd1's plate tonight and she gladly ate it. Was nice to to not have the fussing.

Thanks for the feedback again...

[twowhat?]

Yeah I was worried when our girls weaned but wouldn't drink cows milk. I asked our ped about it and his reply: "I'm more worried about kids who drink too much milk. As long as they're eating a balanced diet, it's fine." So, we've never pushed milk. They eat lots of cheese and yogurt and dark green veggies. You can also give a calcium and vitamin D supplement if that would make you feel better. They have calcium gummies (not sure if that includes vit D or not...)

[DrSally]

Yeah I was worried when our girls weaned but wouldn't drink cows milk. I asked our ped about it and his reply: "I'm more worried about kids who drink too much milk. As long as they're eating a balanced diet, it's fine." So, we've never pushed milk.

That's interesting. Part of the reason I nursed the kids until 3 & 2 yo was b/c of milk allergy for DS and the lack of interest in cow's milk on both their parts. I have known older children who drink * a lot* of milk and it actually seems to displace real food. I think that can cause anemia?

[twowhat?]

That's interesting. Part of the reason I nursed the kids until 3 & 2 yo was b/c of milk allergy for DS and the lack of interest in cow's milk on both their parts. I have known older children who drink * a lot* of milk and it actually seems to displace real food. I think that can cause anemia?

I should have clarified - I asked our pediatrician this question after the girls weaned at 18 months, so I think his point was that toddlers dont *need* to drink milk to get their protein and calcium because they can get it from other food sources. And yes, too much milk can cause problems - I think you're anemia might be one of them. Obesity is the other (and the reason for the recommendation to switch to skim milk after 2 years of age).

[DrSally]

I should have clarified - I asked our pediatrician this question after the girls weaned at 18 months, so I think his point was that toddlers dont *need* to drink milk to get their protein and calcium because they can get it from other food sources. And yes, too much milk can cause problems - I think you're anemia might be one of them. Obesity is the other (and the reason for the recommendation to switch to skim milk after 2 years of age).

Oh yeah, I knew what you were talking about. I agree. it's still hard to not worry given the belief in this society is that kids really "need" cow's milk (that's why I mentioned that I nursed into toddlerhood to make sure they were getting milk--made me feel better). I also agree that obesity can be an issue with kids drinking too much high fat cow's milk.