So here's mine:
Chickster just turned a year old, and we have begun the process of weaning. He's never been a fan of the bottle, so we just went straight to the cup. He loves drinking out of a cup. The boy will guzzle water like no child I have ever seen.
I love that he is happy to drink water. I don't think I willingly drank a sip of plain-jane water (that wasn't from the garden hose or accidentally swallowed in the pool) until I was, well, a lot older than he is now.
A few weeks ago, I started with one feeding (lunchtime). I gradually decreased his nursing time and introduced a cup of milk, after which he eats his solid foods. He's not been nursing at lunchtime for almost two weeks now. And he doesn't seem to miss the nursing. But the cup of milk, well, he's just not interested.
He mostly plays with it. Seeing how far he can flick drops of milk from the straw seems to have become a sport.
I've tried sitting with him on my lap and letting him drink it, putting him in his high chair, and letting him sit by himself in the floor. I've tried it icy cold, room temperature, and warm. I've also tried offering it to him while he's eating lunch. Still no dice.
Some days he drinks some, others he doesn't even taste it. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when he'll drink it and when he won't. And when he does drink some, it's not very much - maybe 1 ounce.
If I remove the cup of milk and give him a cup of water, he'll drink it dry.
We don't go to his 1-year check-up for a couple of weeks, so here's my question to you: Any ideas on getting him interested, and is it really that big of a deal?
I know he "should" be drinking milk. But we "should" do lots of things we don't. I don't like to drink milk, and never have. And I guess I turned out ok. I just don't want to get down the road 10 years and think, "Well, I really should've tried harder to get him to drink his milk. Maybe he wouldn't be so messed up."
In other words, I'd like to psychologically damage him with other, more fun things.
Check out www.rocksinmydryer.net for the Backwards Edition of Works-For-Me-Wednesday. (Sorry, my html isn't working properly.)
*UPDATE*
Today, Monday, September 8, my son drank a HALF SIPPY CUP of milk. I am in shock.
I used one of the tricks many so kindly suggested. I thought I had some chocolate syrup, but we were out. So I put just a splash of V8 Strawberry Banana Smoothie in his milk. Yeah, I thought it'd be gross, but apparently he liked it.
He hasn't been eating well the last few days, so it did this Momma's heart good to see him drink some milk.
Thanks, ya'll!
I wouldn't worry about it. You mentioned that you don't like milk either so you could be mildly lactose intolerant, which can be passed down to your kids in either mild or extreme forms. Just make sure he gets his calcium elsewhere (yogurt and cheeses) if he doesn't drink his milk. If you are really worried you can talk to your doctor about soy based milks like Silk. Who knows, you might like it too.
ReplyDeleteIf you're giving him whole milk, try 2% or skim. My youngest didn't really like it at first but would accept 1%. Then, we moved back to whole milk.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mamamay, especially if he is an okay weight. My daughter was always underweight, so I did worry about her drinking her milk, but if your son does not have weight-gain problems, he may not need to drink milk.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting the Green Baby Guide! Maybe you'll join us for our Thrifty Green Thursday blog carnival, which begins tonight!
Don't stress. While I didn't do breast milk, all my boys had the same thing. One thing I did was mix it for a little bit. I did 75% formula and 25% regular milk. I just kept decreasing the formula and increasing the milk. Within a couple weeks they were all about milk. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI also agree w/ MammaMay.
ReplyDeleteI gave my son a splash a juice in his milk to sweeten it.
At our 9 month check up, the doc told me that my son should be gradually replacing his normal formula routine with eating more solid foods. I don't know if I'm doing it right, but I don't really give him anything to drink with his meals. We're down to 3-4 sippy cups of formula a day instead of 5-6 bottles. Maybe your son likes the water because he's thirsty, not hungry
ReplyDeleteWe had a hard time switching from the bottle to the cup for milk... a good friend of mine suggested ONLY offering milk in the cup (no other drinks - water, juice) for a couple of days. After just one day, she was drinking her milk like a champ!
ReplyDeleteThanks. The only reason I mentioned it is because more than half of my immediate family is medium-highly lactose intolerant. I love milk and so does my dad, but my sisters and mother couldn't handle milk. My mom knew when we were first given cows milk who was intolerant and who wasn't by the way we reacted. I would ask for milk by name and my sisters would throw it on the floor and ask for something to drink. Turns out that kids know what is good for them sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWow, it sounds like your problem is similar to mine- my boy will drink some water out of a sippy, but refuses formula & breastmilk! I don't know how to help, or I would love to!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment on my post about getting my son to take a bottle/sippy, though- I really appreciate the help!
My suggestion is to buy some chocolate milk (a glass of which has no more sugar than a glass of orange juice) and see if he will drink that, then slowly start mixing half choc. half white, then 3/4 choc. 1/4 white, then just enough choc. to add color, then take it out completely. If you do this over a 2 week period, about 3-4 days per mix it might work. With mine I was supplementing formula with breast milk so that I could have a life outside of nursing and slowing mixed formula and regular milk until they got used to the regular milk. I also gave my kids whole milk until they were about 3 because it is good for brain development and a little bit sweeter than skim.
ReplyDeleteGreat question-I'd encourage you not to worry about it. What he needs are the nutrients, not necessarily the milk itself. I still don't worry about getting my son to drink milk. We did give him goat's milk (much yummier and easier to digest if you're a baby!) and whole-milk mozzarella (full-fat and soft, easy to eat.) Cottage cheese is great, too. As long as he's getting the calcium and protein he needs, he doesn't necessarily need to drink milk itself. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAmy
Have you tried giving him soy milk? It's sweeter and some have added DHA
ReplyDeleteMy son wouldn't drink milk until I added a splash of chocolate syrup to it. Within 2 weeks he was drinking it without the syrup.
ReplyDeleteI would second the chocolate syrup comment. I had a good friend whose daughter wouldn't touch milk, but she would do the chocolate. They just put a little bit and decreased it over time til she was drinking plain milk.
ReplyDelete