How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

My DD is 13 months and finally weaned but she will not drink the 16 oz of whole milk that the doctor said is essential. And she gets so constipated because of it!

DH and I have tried everything.... positive encouragement, different bottles and cups, cuddling her, with different meals, modeling, mixing it, warming it, etc. etc. etc...

and nothing is working.

She barely gets 4-5 oz a day. And that is with 2 oz being mixed in her oatmeal. It takes her over 12 hours to drink 2-3 oz!

What can I do? I'm losing my mind with this and I hate that I'm starting to lose my patience with her. She needs to drink!

Re: How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

I have to be honest- once we stopped the bottles her milk consumption plummeted.
It wasn't the taste either- because when we transitioned from formula to milk she drank it fine- from a bottle.
It's the cup that caused the issues.

However, she got calcium through other sources- yogurt and cheese- and the Dr was fine with it. I couldn't force it down her throat, kwim?

Also- dairy is sooo constipating! I am tryiing now to get DD off dairy completley- because she is having major constipation issues.

How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

DS was the same way at 13 months and it lasted about a month. I really started to get worried. I tried so many different sippy cups, thinking that was the problem. But I think it just took him some time to get used to it. I offered it all day long, not just at meals. You have to keep at it and eventually she will drink more. In the meantime, does she like yogurt and cheese? Increase her other dairy intake. DS was constipated too so I had to offer him a small amount of prune juice with water to keep him regular. Will she drink water from a cup?

Re: How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

I didn't. She wouldn't. Never did.

I gave her 2% milk and full fat yogurt and cheese. Ped had no problem with it whatsoever.

Re: How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

It took a few weeks for DD to get on board. At first I could only get an ounce in her, then 2-3, and now she'll do 5oz on a bad day and 15 on a good day. She gets calcium from yogurt , cheese, waffles in addition to the milk she drinks so I don't worry.

In the morning, I put on sesame street with her on my lap and she drinks a few ounces. In the evening we give it to her while reading books before bed. I offer it during meals too but she doesn't take much then. Throughout the day we offer water but she doesn't often drink much of that.

How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

OUr dr says as long as they are getting dairy with cheese, yogurt etc... they will be fine.

Re: How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

just keep at it! Eventually they give in and - drink a little more! WE still offereed in the bottle - but when we switched - she wanted nothing to do with it!! but eventually from being persistant and offering her the usual three 6 oz bottles and after about 2-3 weeks it went from a sip here and there - to drinking the whole bottle in a sitting! Hopefully this will be the same for you!

How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

Dd gave up all milk from 16 mos when we dropped bottles. She drank 0 milk for like 5 mos. then one day before she was 2, she asked for milk. She still doesn't love it, and only has maybe 2-4 oz of skim milk before bed some nights. She eats other dairy and yogurt.

Re: How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

Does your child eat yogurt, cheese, any other dairy? If so, I wouldn't worry myself over it.

Re: How do you get your child to drink whole milk??

To be honest, once DD made the switch to milk I really didn't worry about how much she drank. Between table food (and lots of yogurt and cheese) it just wasn't something I tracked. I wouldn't really sweat it too much. Just keep offering it.