Milk

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I’m in the process of weaning my 23month-old off the bottle. She has no problem drinking juice and such from a sippy cup and with a straw. But she just does not seem to like to drink milk from her cup. What’s happening is that she just not drinking milk. I’m just constantly bargaining with her to take a sip here and a sip there. But I can’t keep this up.

So what do I do? Let her keep the bottle longer? Let her give up milk?

She only occasionally eats cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc. So she isn’t really getting any other regular source of calcium or vitamin D, though I did recently start a multivitamin.

So what should I do?

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Same here.She thinks milk only comes in a bottle,juice comes in a grown up cup/glass and water in her sippy cup…:bummer:
I tried a few times to give her milk in her sippy cup but it did not work.Everyone kept telling me (except for her pediatrician ..!!) that if and when I will stop giving her the bottle,she will most likely stop drinking milk.That was what I sensed was happening so I kinda stopped giving her milk in a sippy cup and assured myself that I will start waening her off around the 22 month mark (approximately) and be done with bottles by her 2nd birthday.
I totally understand the need to stop giving her a bottle but I also feel like she needs atleast 2 servings of milk/day.I’ll start it once we get back from our trip,Inshallah.
Sorry,do not know what exactly you should do.Maybe associate milk with some fun activity.A friend was telling me a while ago that she gives her 2.5 yo milk in a sippy cup and lets her watch her favorite cartoon during that time.She drinks it all.

What vitamins are you giving your daughter…??..chewables or the other kind…??

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My son is 18 month old and he associates drinking milk (bottle) with comfort. I have tried decreasing his bottle feed and feeding more of our food but that just isn't happening.

I am looking forward to suggestions other guppans might have for when I wanna wean him off the bottle.

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Thats why we never introduced the bottle to the second one. She drank milk from cup from age 1 and still does now at 26 months.

Bad experience with bottle and teeths with the first one, made us avoid the bottle, even though we hear ohh she doesnt take any bottle (like what horrible parents) .. but the result are worth any talks about us.

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Chipsy, I even got her a Dora sippy cup. The first few days she was willing, now she's not. I've tried the tv-show thing. It doesn't work. I even said she could have her favorite snacks (like Cheerios or raisins) after she finished her milk. Still nothing.

Maybe part of the problem is that I have weaned her off slowly, so I just replaced one feed at a time with a sippy cup. Other times in the day she was still allowed the bottle. So she still sees it as an option? So these days, she takes the milk from a sippy cup in the morning and afternoon, but at night I give her the bottle (tho that is supposed to change starting Monday -- when all three feeds are going to be with a cup). Maybe I just need to give her time to adjust? If she got dairy in other forms, I would let her be. But she barely takes it.

Also I was hoping to be rid of the bottle during our trip to Pakistan, so we didn't have to worry about cleaning and such. But alas.

Autumn, the firs time I tried was around 18months, but she just stopped drinking milk, so I decided to let her have the bottle fora few more months.

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btw, about the multivitamin, Chips, my SIL gives the poly-visol drops to her son and she just mixes them up in his juice. I was afraid to start them as the reviews say they smell and taste really bad and children refuses them. And my daughter is a little older, so I just got vegetarian chewables from Trader Joes. She likes them.

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We weaned k's bottle off at about 2 years and a few months. I put all her bottles in a bag and told her that they had gone bad and not worth using so we are going to throw them away. She saw me do all that and throw them away. We went out and bought sippy cups of her own choice and i told her big girls drink from cups and babies drink from bottles. She still longs to drink from a bottle when she sees one but i am adamant she doesnt go back to it since she is doing fine without the bottles. MIL thought i should give it to her again if she wants to but i dont see the point of going back to it since we are doing fine without it. So i guess we just went cold turkey.

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Smart move.
One friend of ours was visiting us from Pakistan , their 10 year old daughter used to drink milk in baby bottle. Her parents and she were not hiding it either and all of them were very comfortable about it. :smack:

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Ok today is the first day without any bottles. We'll see how her evening bottle goes. I did switch one thing. She used to have milk before her afternoon nap. Yesterday I gave her milk in the cup after her nap. She was drinking it more willingly. I also told her she could have her breakfast after she finished her milk. She hasn't completely finished it, but she is more willing to drink properly.

Ira, I'll try explaining to her too and taking her to get her own cup. That's a good idea.

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I have never heard or seen a 10 year old drink from a bottle. Sounds.....different.

Sahar i was worried about my daughters milk intake as well and was pleasantly surprised when she took to drinking from a sippy cup so well. I think it helped for her to see that she didnt have any other option and her bottles were in the trash.

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I did not hear or saw anything like this before.

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From BabyCenter: Baby | BabyCenter

How much milk does my toddler need?
Dr. Lisa Dana
Between the ages of 1-3 years of age, a toddler should drink no more than 24 ounces of milk per day. I recommend that toddlers have 16- 18 ounces of milk per day…one cup at each meal. After age one, milk is a beverage and no longer a food.

Interestingly, there is no minimum amount of milk that a toddler must drink. However, they do need their calcium, vitamin D and healthy fats. Milk is an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D. If your toddler does not drink much milk, than he needs to get these nutrients from other sources.

Many parents have a hard time getting their one year olds to drink milk after they have weaned them from the bottle to the sippy cup. I also have found that many babies who have been breastfed never really love cow’s milk. (Not too surprising…they are baby humans and not baby cows.)

However, If your toddler refuses to drink milk from a cup, you do not need to go back to the bottle. Between the ages of 1-3, he needs between 500 -700mg (milligrams) of calcium per day.

He can get his calcium from these following foods:

Lowfat yogurt 8 ounces: 415 mg
Cheddar cheese 1 1/2 ounces: 306 mg
Whole cow’s milk 8 ounces: 291mg
2% cow’s milk 8 ounces : 287
Orange juice fortified with calcium 6 ounces: 200-260mg
Soy milk with calcium 8 ounces: 80-500mg *read the label for the exact amount
Firm Tofu with calcium salts 1/2 cup: 204mg *read the label for the exact amount
Cooked spinach 1/2 cup: 120 mg
Cooked kale 1 cup: 94mg
Vanilla ice cream 1/2 cup: 85 mg
Raw broccoli 1/2 cup: 21mg

*For a more complete list of calcium content in foods, read the NIH factsheet on calcium. Babycenter also has great information about Calcium in you child’s diet.

If your toddler has 8 ounces of yogurt and a serving of cheese, he will have met his calcium requirement. If you are relying on the fact that he loves broccoli, keep in mind that he will have to eat 16 cups of broccoli each day.

If your toddler does not drink very much milk, you will need to make sure he is getting enough vitamin D. Not all yogurts are fortified with vitamin D, so it is important to read your labels. Read here to learn more about why our bodies need vitamin D. Ask your doctor about a vitamin D supplement if necessary.

You also want to make sure that your toddler does not drink too much milk. If he is drinking more than 24 ounces of milk per day, than he is consuming too many liquid calories. He will fill up on the milk, and may not be getting the iron and protein rich foods that he needs.

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Well, my kids drank out of their bottles until age 4. :smack: Not that they drank more than 2 cups a day…but somehow their bottles became their little comfort thingies. Thank goodness their teeth are fine and now they are “normal” and drinking like regular kids :hehe:!!!

So I’m from a totally different school of thought. If your kid is eating her meals regularly, has good teeth cleaning habits, and isn’t addicted to her bottle, don’t stress her out. But then, don’t listen to me either because I’m not the perfect example to follow in this case :nahi:!

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Did they stop at 4? Or did you decide to change it?

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I decided to put a stop to it as it was beginning to look silly. :D

Took one week of consistency.

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:D

And they kept drinking milk? She doesn't demand the bottle too much (she does ask, but she doesn't insist). It's just that she won't drink milk without constant pressure and bribes.

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The older one gave it up for a few months. She'd take chocolate milk once in a while, right out of the containter [the little bottles/packs]. The eventually she eased into white milk from a cup/glass. The younger one loves milk so she didn't have an issue.