21 Mos Old Only Wants Milk

Let her drink milk it is good for her. The fat in milk is good for their brain development. my son did not say much when he was 18 months old but once he started going to the babysitter he started speaking much better. Now he speaks in full sentences. he is 2 years and seven months old. I think this is due to him being around other kids his age 3-5 days a week. Have her watch educational shows like super why,sesame street. Do flash cards with her with words on them and numbers. I would also recommend a computer for kids. One that goes over letters and numbers. My son can count well to twenty,knows the entire alphabet,and can associate letters with words like A is for apple. Sometimes they do through a phase of drinking milk or not drinking milk or eating only certain things. try different things and see what she likes. I know my son likes apples,bananas and grapes. He also likes carrotts,green beans,avacados,pasta.
work with her and have her around other kids her age. good luck

My 2yo still calls a lot of drinks "Milk". Be patient and test her out. Give smaller amounts of milk but offer other drinks too. I get my son to eat two to three descent bites of food before letting him have 4oz of milk. Try to sneak juice, that's when you'll know if she really meant milk or not. Be strong! 2 yo's are every persistant but don't let her rule you over!

When my 22 month old asks for milk, I want him to know that he's allowed milk (healthy drink) but if it's before a meal, I give him just 2 oz. or so. He got his milk. If he wants more "You have to eat your lunch first." He gets it. Good luck.

Milk won't hurt her, but it is high in sugar and calories. It seems she's learned that you will give in. I'd recommend offering milk only a few times a day (for us it is Am, mid-day and after dinner). My kids are the same way - love it. They didn't like it at first, but when their only other option was to eat or have water, they eventually learned to eat/drink water... it's tough, but I think worth doing because it's not a phase, but a contol issue.... good luck.

Hi J., I've just gone through this with my daughter who is now 26 months old. The reason for her: teething! Unfortunately, it lasted for about 5 months too (she is a very slow teether).
The only thing I can suggest is offering soft foods that don't require her to use the back teeth. Chicken noodle soup, tomato, squash and potato soup were among the winners in our house and so was yogert. Sometimes bananas or softer fruit like applesauce and manderine oranges for roughage. It helped to keep her from getting constipated from all the milk she was drinking. I never gave her more than 3 cups of milk a day though.
Also if it is teething, have you tried the Highlands Teething Tablets? They worked wonders in soothing her pain and they are all natural and don't cause stomach upset like some of the topical gels can (at least in my kids they did). Recently the dentist told me to make sure that I use Motrin more than tylenol for the pain, because Motrin is an anti-inflammatory and the swollen gums is what is causing most of the pain, tylenol will still reduce the pain though.
One more thought, when she tells you what she wants, try to force her to use her words. If you still can't understand her ask her to show you what she wants. If she points pick her up and let her be more specific, then try and teach her to say it, that way she is building on her vocab and will be less frustrated in the future!
Don't you wish each kid came with a manual!

Hi, J.:
Call your ped and talked to the nurse.
Good luck. D.

It's probably just a phase. My son (2 1/2) does that sometimes where he'll only ask for milk. I leave out water or juice for him, but when he does that I only give him like half a cup of milk at a time. My son is small, so he is still on whole milk.
And be careful with too much milk. I'm a nurse and have seen a kid come in severely anemic because of too much milk (because that's all she would drink). I don't know what kind of milk she was drinking, but she'd only drink that (like 32oz a day I think). That's where I learned to watch my sons milk intake.
Check with the doc to see how much she should be drinking. I think at that age 3 cups is ok, but double check. One of our nutrionists at work told me that my son is ok to have 20-24oz/day, but like I said, double check with your pediatrician.
And remember, it is a phase, she will get over it. But I'd recommend leaving another drink (water, etc) out where she can get it when she's thirsty. Good luck!

I agree with the previous posters, but also am wondering whether she's teething--when my son had teething pain, sometimes he went all liquid for a few days because it hurt to chew. Try some Orajel/Tylenol?

Our daughter would drink nothing but milk - and we let her because it is a healthier option than juice, Kool-aid, etc.

We talked to the pediatrician and moved her last week from Vitamin D to 1% milk (she is 23 months). We monitor how much milk she drinks/day and after what's recommended, we water it down 75% water/25% milk so she gets the flavor without the calories.

We've been doing this for several months with the blessing of our pediatrician as she's always been at the top of the charts for height and weight. Actually, her weight was one of the reasons we asked to switch to 1% a month early - she was just getting too much fat, lactose and calories being on Vitamin D milk at this point.

Yes give in. keep offering her choices of food, but don't worry about it too much. it will all average out eventually. Check out T Barry Brazelton's "toddler minimal diet" here:
http://www.childhoodhealth.com/health-information/nutriti...