14 Month Old Won't Drink Milk

My son has never liked milk and has always spit it out immediately. He does not like dairy products either but will eat melted cheese in cooked dishes. Anyway, we tried soy milk, almond milk and rice milk. The vanilla flavored rice milk stuck. He loves it. It's loaded with vitamins a & d and calcium. He is a healthy two year old boy and is thriving.

Between one and two years of age kids need whole milk for nerological and brain development. If she likes milk shakes you could alway make her a small one or a smoothy. Also will she eat cheese? If so offer her whole mile cheese snacks to make up for the milk she is not getting.

Humans were not ment to drink cows milk. The calf will stop drinking at a certain age. You have a smart daughter. The stuff stinks.

Have you tried soy or rice milks? We rotate those in with organic milk. You can get fortified brands that add the calcium so you aren't missing out on that.

As long as she is getting calcium from other sources, don't panic. No other mammals drink milk past weaning. she will be fine. Good Luck.

Hey there.. I know this will sound crazy and gross maybe but let me tell you it works for most kids. Use whole milk (until 2 yrs old) and mix it with OJ..yes orange juice. I know it sounds gross but it has worked for a couple of little ones I know. Start like 1/2 and 1/2 and slowly decrease the OJ. It is kinda like a dreamsicle or something. LMK if it works!:) Oh, and I asked my friend who did it if she had any troubles with the OJ and milk mixing and she said no.....keep it in the frige during nap or whenever she isn't drinking it...which i do with reg milk anyway. Try it..she might like it!

My 2 year old has refused milk since he was switched from formula. I think it had to do with any time he got near his brothers milk big brother would have a fit. Now he is traumatized. Although, I have always hated milk as well.

Anyway, talked with our doctor and she said not to worry. My boys eats cheese as much as I will let him. During a growth spurt that lasted about 6 months I couldn't get enough food into him. Then I did get him on strawberry milk. He never would go for the chocolate and then later I discovered he has a chocolate allergy. I use the Nesquick because it has the least sugar. I couldn't find good organic choices. Just those milk boxes with 30g or sugar each.

Anyway, no worries. No one really needs milk. Just make sure she has calcium in other stuff and stick with the vitamin for vitamin D.

My daughter never drank milk, either. I made her smoothies instead: mixed some milk in with one container of Yo Baby yogurt and she drank it down. Ge the strawberry yogurt and tell her it's a milkshake! Also, if she can tolerate orange juice, perhaps the calcium-fortified one (cut with water, or course) might do?

My daughter hasn't been a milk drinker either, so I was concerned when I weaned her at 1 year from breatmilk. However, I talked to her ped. and asked the real reasons that milk is pushed (b/c I'm honestly NOT a fan of milk for health reasons) and she said calcium.
Well, we have no concerns. My daughter is on a nutritional supplement shake that gives her the calcium, and every other vitamin/mineral/protein/etc that her body needs in a balanced form (which means that it's absorbed, much better than cows milk). It also has Omega 3's and other brain foods -- this is the same stuff that my brother took in place of aderol (for ADHD) that helped him to bring his grades up, focus better, and have teachers email that he was doing so much better and he was feeling better.

So if you want this stuff instead of the carnation breakfast etc that also has bad sugars in it, etc, then send me a message and I'll help you get it.
Blessings!

My daughter also refused to drink milk. She wouldn't do the syrup in it either. What she would do though, is buying already-made chocolate milk. So, I give her some of that & then get her calcium & vitamin D through other things too so she's not just living on chocolate. LOL! Goo luck!

My daughter wasn't crazy about milk, when I weaned her from breastmilk at this same age. For weight reasons (really later we have found she is just fine, but small) the doctors pushed whole milk, she wouldn't drink it. So they said try Carnation instant breakfast or Pediasure. If you read those packet/bottles they are water and sugar, then some vitamins. I didn't want to give her all the sugar and I don't agree with the flavored syrups either. So I came up with my own solution and it made everyone happy including my daughter. I mixed equal parts whole milk and whole yogurt with banana in the blender. She drank these for about 6 months and now drinks milk or water, whichever I give her. But please drop the syrups and juice, just make her drink what you decide is best for her, she is 14 months, she will drink when she is thirsty.

First - from 12-24 months, make sure you use whole milk. Something about the fat content - they need it.

Second - if she likes strawberry shakes, then I'd try strawberry syrup in the milk.

She's at about the age when both my girls started getting picky.

I'd also try mixing 50% formula and 50% milk too. BUT keep using milk in her oatmeal. I know when our oldest was at daycare, some of the other kids had to do that because they wouldn't drink straight milk for a while.

Good luck!

I am against the flavored syrups. If she ended up drinking it with the syrup, you're adding a lot of unnecessary sugar to her diet considering how much milk she'll be drinking per day. As far as getting her to drink it. Stop offering her anything else. Juice tastes much better in my opinion, and if i had the choice, I would totally go for juice. But, if there were nothing else to drink besides milk, once I got thirsty enough I'd definitely drink it. It may take all day before I developed a thirst for it, but after that I'd drink it. Once she drinks it a few days in a row, trust me, she WILL start to like it. Kids her age need to drink milk as their primary liquid. The only other thing I gave my kids back then was water.

Dear Victoria,

Good for your daughter! Bovine dairy really is not healthy for the human body, and can contribute to all kinds of issues throughout life.

I began seeing a wonderful Integrative M.D. about a year and a half ago. She treats her patients primarily with diet, supplements, and exercise before turning to chemical medication (in most cases). The first thing she does is recommend avoiding all dairy (except yogurt with active cultures) and all grains (except oats). I use Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk in place of dairy on my oatmeal or granola, and it is delicious.

And please don't add sugary flavors to your daughter's food! It's the worst thing we can do for them. Diabetes is at an all time high in this country, and we need to stop eating so much sugar! I use honey or pure maple syrup in place of sugar. Both taste excellent and they're much better than refined sugars.

If your daughter is eating a balanced diet, she will get enough calcium from other sources, like leafy greens, nuts, etc.

My grandson is allergic to dairy, and he hasn't eaten it since he was diagnosed with his allergy at about 3 months of age. He gets along fine without it, and is the healthiest child I've ever seen. He's rarely had so much as a cold, and he's 6 1/2 now.

If your daughter is not interested in dairy, please do not sneak it into her food. You could be doing her a big disservice. If you're interested in the "Diet for Life" plan that my doctor recommends, I can send you an outline of it.

My older daughter was eased into drinking milk, which she didn't like at first. Having read that breastmilk, which was all she had been drinking until that point, is sweeter than cow's milk, we put white grape juice in it. Then we gradually decreased the juice content until she was drinking plain whole milk. Whatever you give her make sure it has enough fat- not sure about soy or rice milk in this regard.

Hello Victoria. I don't think her not drinking milk is all that big of a deal at her age because she probably gets enough Dairy daily. My 2 yo loves "pink milk" like Charlie and Lola! Also, vanillia ice cream, yogart, and string cheese are other great ways to get you daily amount of Dairy that my 2yo loves. Hope that helps

I work at a pediatric office and the Rn's and myself all agree that you should have not started out with 2% milk in the first place. Brain development needs the fat. You always start out with Whole Milk, and you should not be giving her any added sweeteners in the milk also. It is also empty calories, and not good for their teeth either.
You do not need to be mixing water and juice also. It is fine to just give all juice at this age, but to try and solve the problem, you are the parent. Stop giving her juice, and wait til she gets thirsty. She will eventually. She will not starve. Don't just keep giving her juice when she is thirsty, you have to keep introducing milk to her and also offering other calcium fortified foods. Yogurt, cheese, etc.
Oh, and I forgot to say that offering them the flavors of chocolate and strawberry items also can pose risk to allergies still at this age...there's always a possibility.
Good Luck, but don't give in so easily.
As for the message below. Milk has alot of benefits. Adults need Milk also, it is healthier to have milk, but I would never keep them from it, because you don't like it. It is good for bone health.
Water would be better off than juice. Juice is just sugar anyway, and empty calories.

My daughter if 4 and only occasionally drinks milk (and it has to be chocolate!) My dr. wasn't concerned, she said just look for other dairy products for children to have. My daughter will eat cereal in the morning with milk, plus she loves ice cream(that counts!) and yogurt, string cheese, cottage cheese. I was worried, too, by now I don't push it.

There's a huge push in the US to drink milk, but this is not the case in other countries. There are multiple sources of food and drink to obtain the necessary components of health for protein and calcium. My children are 4 and 5, and they still are not that fond of milk. However, they love diary products such as string cheese, block cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and yogurt smoothies. Meat, nuts, beans each have protein. Calcium is found in broccoli, carrots, cabbage, celery, parsnips, cale, red kidney beans, soy beans, watercress, dried fruit. Vitamin D is found in salmon, mackeral, tuna fish, cereal, juice and sunlight.

There are other milks out there. I had to test try all of them for my daughter. There is rice, soy, almond, goat and hemp milk. Try on of those. Also realize your daughter's body night be telling you something. One of my doctor says if your body does not find something appealing it may be telling you that it can't tolerate it. SO try something else and try to look for other avenues for her to get her calcium and vitamin d. There is a great book you can get at the library, the Sneaky CHef. This tells you how to sneak healthy foods into our kids (and husbands too).

Just make sure you use whole milk whatever you come up with. Kids need the extra fat for in their second year of life to help with the nerve myelinization in their brain. It will not make her fat. With yogurt, don't go with the diet kind. I agree with limiting her juice intake. It is really just empty calories for kids.
R.

I know a lot of kids who don't drink milk, but they eat other dairy products, such as yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, etc. I even had a friend whose daughter ate sour cream instead of milk! If she has other dairy in her diet, I am sure she will be fine!

I agree with trying milk alternatives. If you prefer to stick with Whole Milk though, you can use Carnation Instant Breakfast packets, they are much better for her than the syrups and come in Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate and Dark Chocolate.

Just a thought have you entertained the idea of soy milk? I know they have flavored options and might be sweeter thand regular milk but still give her the calcium she needs.