Milk and My 1 Year Olds

Try adding a little carnation instant breakfast to the milk. It has a lot of vitamins and protein and 1/2 packet per cup is good. My kids didn't like white milk (I don't like it either), so this worked like a charm. Also you might try a different type of sippy cup. Both of mine had to have the flip top straw type. Hope this helps!

Hi! I remember being really stressed out when my son was around one, even up through when he was about 18 months because I was convinced that he wasn't getting enough nutrition, protein, calcium, calories, you name it! We had some issues with dairy so cows milk was never an option. I am a big fan of soy milk and I think all the hype about it is propaganda paid for the dairy industry! But I am not sure I am understanding your question completely. Is the issue the sippy cup? Or the milk? Because there are different solutions to the issue with not wanting to use the sippy cup which is a fairly common thing, and alot of babies will drink juice or water but not anything they perceive to look like breastmilk (their little rebellion against weaning! :) There are other types of cups that you can use. The ones with a straw were a life saver for me. You didn't state exactly how old she is, but if she is close to one year, I wouldn't trade her having a healthy intake of milk for stopping the bottle. You don't have to be so hard on yourself, or her, about stopping the bottle. She may not be ready. You can slowly wean her off the bottle and when she is a few months older and by then, has become more accustomed to the sippy cup, you can try again.
But if the issue is really about what to drink, there are many people who don't think cows milk is an absolute necessity. Personally I eat alot of dairy but I don't think my son needs it. Like I mentioned, he was allergic when he was a baby and so we had to avoid it, but when he outgrew his allergy, we were all happy with soy milk and so we stuck with that. We did switch from soy yogurt to cow and goat milk yogurt, partly because of the high sugar content in the soy yogurts available to us at the grocery store and partly because the taste is better! And we love cheeeese. But there are plenty of other sources of nutrition for calcium, vitamins and fats if that is what you are worried about.
Wish you the best of luck!
-T.
ps. Don't forget that whatever she is doing now, she'll change soon, then she'll do something else to throw you a curveball just when you have the current issue solved, then change it up again.... haha kids!

EDITED: I love you Gamma G:) but I have to disagree about the syrups and the canned foods... EHHCK! We're on the same page about the slow transition though.

I just wanted to add that I think besides the need for calcium, the fat in regular milk is very important for a young toddlers brain... or so I was told by our doc. And milk was a great way to get those fats in. My daughter didn't like milk until I tried adding a little strawberry flavor in it. She loved it, then at each serving I reduced the strawberry until I no longer added it and she was none the wiser.

My son seemed to transition well from formula to cow's milk, but then, after only a week, he flat out refused to drink it. The ped told me that not all bodies tolerate cow's milk, not to force it on him or I could have caused an allergy (not that I would have forced it on him, no way). Thankfully my son really likes yogurt and cheese and that's where he is getting his calcium from (along with the water we have here, choc-full of calcium).He has since grown very well, he's tall and strong. As long as is there's a good replacement, I would not worry too much.

Search this site for ways to transition her off formula and make sure you did this a good way. She may not be used to the taste yet and if you go back and transition her slowly it may make a difference.

If she did it right and still does not like the flavor then give her some with strawberry syrup or chocolate syrup in her whole milk. When you buy it already made up it is usually low fat and she needs whole vitamin D milk so you might want to make sure you use your whole milk and add the syrup in in the glass.

I think there are many ways to get dairy in the diet. Ice cream, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, pizza has tons of dairy, there are all kinds of options for dairy without using milk alone.

Ravioli, spaghetti O's, Beefaroni, etc...all have hidden nutrients in them. There are a 1/2 cup of veggies in them. I would look at the diet as a whole and see if there is really one particular food group missing. She needs juice/fruits/veggies, dairy, fat, etc...to have the needed nutrients.

I have 2 favorite books when the kids were little, I will post those links here. I say borrow the books from the local library and try them out first to see if they work for your family lifestyle.

http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Toddler-Meals-Dummies-Simmons/...

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Feeding-Toddl...

Your daughter needs the dairy for bones and development. I don't believe in giving up the bottle cold turkey. I would give your daughter one bottle a day so she gets her milk in. Keep trying with the sippy cup and eventually she'll drink milk or juice from it then you can stop the bottle. Does she eat cheese and yogurt or spinach or meat? These are all good sources of calcium. At a year old she should be eating whatever you're eating. You can give her Flintstone vitamins - I think 1/2 at her age and she can chew it. Did you check with her doctor? Good luck!

Our youngest daughter could not tolerate milk at one year. She eats cheese and yogurt like they're going out of style. Between that and breast milk she's still getting (now 18 months) our doc's not concerned. We don't give any artificial supplements.

Are you saying that she won't drink the goat's milk that she's used to when it's in her sippy? I would continue give her the goat's milk. If you were warming the bottle, warm her sippy cup. I suggest that with time she'll get used to having the milk in her sippy.

I agree with trying a different kind of cup. Straws are different and some babies will drink from a straw but not a sippy. A straw is different than what she's used to with the water.

a child needs calcium, especially little girls who typically get about half the calcium that they need. if you want to see the looong term effects of not enough calcium in a little girls diet, go into ANY nursing home and take a good look at all the OLDER WOMEN..bowed backs, broken bones, and thats just the damage you can see !our daughter gets all the dairy products that she wants, we dont give half a hoot whether some "EXPERT" claims "its dangerous", our daughter is a head taller then average, and rarely sick. why would we want to change that ?
K. h.

Hi A.,

There are a lot of good answers here already. Basically, your daughter needs a reliable source of calcium, B vitamins, protein, some carbohydrates, and healthy fats for good growth and development (among a host of other nutrients and minerals). Everything she needs can be supplied by a healthy diet, with or without dairy, and with or without animal products. It is a LOT more difficult for a toddler to gets the fat and correct protein complement she needs through a purely vegetarian diet, however.

While green leafy vegetables are a great source of calcium, an easier source (in terms of volume that needs to be eaten to ingest the necessary amount) is dairy products, which can include cheeses, yogurt, kefir, etc. Calcium can also be derived from eating small-boned fish (bones and all), such as sardines, but I'd be a little concerned about these presenting a choking hazard in a 1-year old. But, the greens are still good if that's all she'll eat! What I DON'T think is a good idea is adding any kind of sweetener to her milk (like instant breakfast, strawberry or chocolate syrup, etc.) to get her to drink it. Childhood obesity is a real problem in this country and a significant health risk. Why potentially start your child down that road by getting her used to things having to be sweet in order to be palatable?

As far as protein is concerned, dairy is also an excellent source, as are beans, lentils, tofu, and most whole grains (and fish if she'll eat it). It's important to eat a wide variety of these to get the full amino-acid complement the body needs to build it's own proteins, as some are lacking in beans while others are lacking in grains. An excellent grain with a high protein content is quinoa, which can be made as easily as rice and seasoned just about any way you want to for lots of variation.

You also raised a question about raw vs. pasteurized milk. While there's a certain faction in this country that seem to think pasteurized milk products destroy important nutrients, this has never been scientifically proven (in fact, the opposite is true). On the other hand, eating raw dairy products puts your daughter at risk of contracting listeriosis, which is a serious and sometimes fatal bacterial infection. Yogurts and kefirs offer good compromises in this department, as the process of making them and the types of bacterial cultures used are actually a form of "controlled spoilage", and generally safe. I'd still not risk using unpasteurized forms for a toddler, however, and pregnant women should NEVER eat raw dairy foods as these can cause fetal death and neonatal sepsis.

She does need calcium and milk is the easiest way for babies to get it. You will have to research other ways to get calcium into her, but it is hard for babies eat enough calcium rich foods to meet their needs. I would probably just give her the bottle for now because that is her preferred way to get it.

All 4 of my kids have never had cow's milk or any other animal milk. We are the only species that drinks milk from another species. Where do you think cows and goats get their nutrients? Leafy greens.

Our middle kids (almost 4 and almost 6) are JUST starting to take a multi. Most of them are full of junk and chemicals (Splenda AKA sucralose or aspartame, etc). They take a chewable from Bio-Spec called Bio-Multi Chew and we love their Raspberry Chewable C. Most of the other multis on the market, I'd rather not waste my money buying, as they are full of synthetic vitamins, not chelated properly and have artificial sweeteners in them.

Be grateful she won't do anything but water. We go to restaurants and see these kids with these cups full of soda because they come with the kid's meal. Our children are offered soda, milk or juice and our kids always reply, "Water, please."

So without all the junk in their diets, we are now going on almost 3 years without so much as a runny nose with ANY of them. We don't even do vitamin D, which is the popular fad right now. We make sure they get out in the sun everyday (in moderation) without sunscreen (which is a chemical) and their bodies make vitamin D FOR FREE...and as much as they need.

Breathe. She'll be fine.