No, no milk!!!

[Ayda Casciano]

My baby is 20 months old and suddenly he said no bottle and no milk. The no bottle ... ok! it's good, but he doesn't want milk either. Is this normal?
I'm trying to cover his calcium with yogurt and cheese. What else can I do?

[ra11en]

My DD went through the same phase. She wasn't on a bottle at that point, but she didn't want it in a sippy either. We also supplemented with other dairy products (sandwhich cheese was and still is one of her favorites, little mouse!).

Our ped gave us a few suggestions that actually helped although she still doesn't drink as much as she used to. First, we started giving her a little bit in a real cup. She was fascinated with drinking out of a big girl cup and we had to refill it multiple times throughout the meal every time we gave it to her. Of course, easy spills, and we were always prepared for those. And we only put about an inch of milk in the little plastic cup so spills were minimal.

Also, we put a dollop of hershey syrup in her milk. Yes, I know, sugar, EEEEK! But, a little bit doesn't hurt, and she had a ball shaking her cocoa milk. For some reason, just a small bit would change the taste enough and she would guzzle it!! We never buy premade chocolate milk because it is just way too sugary, but a little dribble doesn't hurt. And we don't put it in every single cup either, just one in the morning at breakfast.

Keep offering it!! Don't let up just because he doesn't seem to want it. When she seemed not to want as much, I cut down the juice at snacks and gave milk at those as well. My DD is about 2.5 yrs old and seems to actually be turning back in favor of plain milk here of late. Her intake is back on the increase instead of the decrease.

[dcroberts]

We used Ovaltine rather than Hershey Syrup because it does have some added vitamins. It really does just take a little bit, but I have had to use it on two out of four children thus far in order to get them to drink milk after a year of breastfeeding. We went straight to a sippy cup rather than introduce a bottle. We weren't able to totally give up the added Ovaltine for one child until he was about three. He still doesn't love milk, but at least now we have the verbal skills (he's 11) to explain the importance of calcium!

[tobecontinued]

Our dd went through this but hers was after we switched off formula @ 12 months. We mixed half whole milk half formula and she drank it but once we started leaning a little more toward whole milk vs. formula she didn’t want it. She drank water from 13months until just recently at 18months and started to drink milk again! Whenever she would ask for a drink we would give her a sippy with milk and one with water. She would try the milk make an awful face and always go for the water after that. Don’t get me wrong I was so worried, I called our ped doctor and she said she is total fine, she eats a ton of yogurt and cheese. Honestly it was one random day she asked for milk and drank a full sippy cup empty and wanted more.

[Nanny19]

The twins I babysit just got off of infant formula..they are 18 months old. They just were too attached to infant formula (supposedly it tastes sweet), so they had no interest in cow's milk, everytime it was given to them they would refuse to drink it. Now their parents and I put a little bit of chocolate syrup in the cow's milk, but we use the Hershey's Syrup that has reduced sugar in it and we only put a little bit in it and shake it up and they will drink it that way. It's the only way they'll drink cow's milk but at least they are drinking it and pediatricians say if putting chocolate in the milk is the only way to get them to drink up, it's okay as long as its not too much sugar! Hopefully in a few months or so they'll give up the chocolate and just drink plain milk.

[melsworld105]

I took my daughter off the bottle and formula aroung 10 months because my ped and I had concerns about her teeth, and we went straight to a sippy cup half whole milk and half gerber yogurt juice. The yogurt juice is sweet so she really liked it and I was glad she was drinking her milk. Over a couple weeks/months i would put less and less yogurt juice in her milk until finally she started drinking it plain. It was a very easy transition for us. Hope that helps!

[EVsMom]

May sound disgusting but she loves orange juice so since Evie won't drink milk unless it's out of a bottle, we were left with disguising by mixing it in a sippy cup. She doesn't seem to mind. At 19 months, she's down to one actual bottle of milk with second serving of milk in the middle of the day by sippy cup. Don't know how daycare person does it. But Evie won't drink milk at home with us. I've tried flavoring milk with sweetened chocolate (already had some Ghirardelli cocoa powder). She wouldn't have it. We too were getting worried she'd cut back too much and a few times have given in to give her milk in a bottle. Yogurt isn't always an option since she's become so independent to eat with her hands but isn't coordinated enough to spoon it herself, I have to do it which she hates. Cheese and tofu have been an easier choice. Other option is to buy OJ that is fortified with calcium now. One thing that has worked too is giving her Mini-wheats cereal. They soak up a lot of milk and once they soften in the milk for a little bit, she puts them in her mouth and sucks on them for a minute before chewing. Hey, at least she's getting fiber too. And if you're worried about being deficient in Vitamin D, people, don't forget a couple minutes of sun would do more good than harm.