Rdy to Pull Hair Out~formula 2 Milk Question

When my son was ready to dink regular milk. I was told by the doctor to try adding a little bit of vanilla in the milk. That worked for awhile. But what I did when that did not work was add half water and half regular milk and that did the trick. Doing it that way it seems to them like it is their formula. It taste like the formula and once they get used to that stop adding the water.

Give her the formula. Give it to her straight for awhile. Then try substituting a little of the formula with milk. For instance, if she is getting 8 ounces of formula. Give her the 8 ounces in her bottle for a week or so, then substitute 2 of the ounces with milk. Try it that way for about 2 weeks til she gets used to it. Then up the milk content by another 2 ounces. If she starts rejecting it, go back to 6 ounces of formula with 2 ounces of milk. Your daughter needs the fat that is in the formula and milk for brain development.

My son (now 3) refused milk at first. He loved cheese and yogurt so we got away with giving him those as well as formula until we could get him to switch. Now he loves milk. I think part of the difference may be the temperature. There is also a difference in taste. If you slowly substitute it, she may be more amenable to the milk. You may, also, find when you do this that she is more amenable because it isn't as cold. I would use the formula until it runs out but like I said, slowly start substituting part of the formula for the milk. If you find as you do this, that she becomes resistant the more milk you add, try warming it a little to see if it is the milk or the temperature.

Good luck. Feel free to email me.

Hi H.

Have you tried mixing milk in with his formula? When I transitioned my son to milk I started with 6oz formula, 2oz milk and gradually increased the amount of milk while decreasing the amount of formula. It took a week or so, but once we got to all milk, he didn't even realize it was different.

We had exactly the same scenerio with our daughter (third child-1st to refuse to give up the formula). We ended up extending the formula for an extra can. Meanwhile we kept offering her the milk-different sippies, bottles, warm, cold, you name it. Finally, we ran out of formula and just offered her milk and water. Within about two to three days, she decided it was acceptable and has been happily demanding it ever since.

I was told that as long as they get enough calcium they are fine, so try the soy or choc etc, but dont worry-just go w cheese and yogurt and other calcium rich foods....and also keep trying the milk...it can take a long time to get them used to something new.

H.,
Try organic milk if you haven't already. It's creamier and thicker; just make sure it also says pasturized organic milk. My 3-year-old loves it, and to be honest, I drink milk daily now because I like the taste. It may cost a little more than regular milk, but it also lasts longer. Check out the expiration dates on the containers! I would still only mix 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk. Good luck!
M.

maybe try soymilk or a flavored milk? only thing i can think of, hope something helps!

My first refused milk too. She was itty bitty and weaned herself from nursing at 13 months. The Dr wanted us to work on the milk because of the extra calories. We tried every kind of milk the store sold - soy, whole, rice, goat, all flavors. She refused all of them. She didn't even like juice - just wanted water. So we focused on high calorie dairy foods instead. She loved yogurt and milk. Around 2 she started to like vanilla soy milk. I forget why we tried again even.

We offere milk to my son around 1 and he gagged and spit it back at me - I wasn't going through it again, so I let it go. We had a food allergy incident at 19 months and he was still nursing. I had also ingested the food and so he couldn't nurse for 48 hours. He started accepting vanilla soy as well as a substitute. He went back to nursing a few times after that, but that was pretty much his transition to soy. To this day he's addicted to it. He has several cups a day.

My daughter just isn't a big milk drinke - likes the soy sometimes and occasionally will drink a few sips of cow milk at preschool snack. But we can't blame them as my husband and I don't drink it either. We often don't finish a quart of milk before it goes bad, but we use almost 3 gallons of soy a week. It's not a great solution for cost savings though as it can be pricey...at least at the rate we use it. They do have sales though and mine with drink any brand.

Yogurt and cheeses are also great sources of calcium and protein so you could skip the milk battle and do that instead. Usually kids don't refuse those items.

Don't give up on the milk. Milk is so important the first three years of a childs life. My family thought my peditrician was nuts when he suggested we not give our daughter juice for the first two years. He said by only giving her milk or water it would make her a better milk drinker and it did.

Some ideas: Have her pick out a new cup and use that cup for the milk. This could be a different shpared cup or a a straw cup or a cup with her fav character on it. It could be the temp of the milk that is part of the issue. It took both of my kids a few months before that got used to the taste and started enjoying milk.
Does you child eat cheese and yogurt? They are great choices until she gets used to milk.
In the meantime, if you are concerend, I wouldn't hesistate to ask your daughter's doctor. Pediatricians can be quite helpful.

my daughter is doing the same thing
I just gave up and don't buy her formula anymore, she gets juice water or breastmilk and thats it. I give her cheese and dark green veggies for calcium. Yougurt is also good. Have you gone the soy milk route yet? Try the very vanilla. You can try adding some choclate syrup or strawberry, to improve the flavor.

Hi H.....I wouls def try soy milk. My daughter only drinks the silk soy vanilla or very vanilla which is kids fortified. She loves it! My Ilena can not drink reg milk, she gets very sick(allergies), so the soy is great. I even started giving it to my daycare kids instead of reg milk.

Have you tried mixing chocolate milk with regular? Or the danimals yogurt drinks? My oldest is 8 and hasn't drank a drop of milk since I took her bottle away at 15 months old. She will eat cereal with milk. I just make sure she eats yogurt, cheese, yogurt,oj with calcium etc. My 2 1/2 is not a milk fan either. I have noticed that if I just don't give in and give him juice he will eventually drink chocolate milk. But it is a struggle. He is strong willed and will yell "no milk" and throw his cup. Hang in there! My middle son LOVES milk and even buys it every day at school with lunch. So go figure! They are all different. They make goldfish with calcium, too. Probably not that much but it makes ME feel better!! T.

Hi H.,

I would def try soy milk. Its sweeter than cows milk, so it might be an easier transition, since formula has so much sugar in it. There is different flavors of it, regular, vanilla and chocolate. Worth a shot before you keep spending money on forumla. Good luck.

H.,
I'd recommend trying organic whole milk. My children insist it has a very different taste. They don't like regular white milk at all but gobble up organic whole milk. I'd try that next and see how it goes!

I saw several people recommending soy. Please do your own research on soy before deciding whether to start or not. There have been many reports released that state problems with children who get too much soy.