Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About DS drinking milk

273 replies

darwinsbabe · 23/04/2017 12:34

I have a DS who is almost 3.

My DH drinks water all the time and we encourage my son to do the same but he always refuses and asks for milk instead. Even with the lure of diluting juice he will opt for milk. My DH thinks he drinks too much milk and not enough water and gets worked up about it. I'm just glad he's drinking and it's something healthy.

Aibu to tell my husband to calm down and continue to let my DS drink milk?

OP posts:
Original poster
darwinsbabe · 23/04/2017 12:35

I realise how ridiculous this thread sounds btw but DH gets totally pissed off and thinks he'll be getting dehydrated Confused

OP posts:
Fluffyears · 23/04/2017 12:36

Maybe start watering his milk down a little at a time.

Birdsgottaf1y · 23/04/2017 12:37

My girls are 19-31,they or their peer group now follow completely different diets than what they were bought up on,soit isn't worth the battle.

Mt youngest drank milk until she was about five, then switched because they had water in school. Her teeth are perfect.

The main thing to worry about is protecting his teeth, anything else changes as they grow and isn't forever.

PeaFaceMcgee · 23/04/2017 12:37

Urgh. Cows milk is gross. I see your DH's point. It's not actually that healthy either.

NapQueen · 23/04/2017 12:38

As long as he is drinking it from a cup rather than a bottle, and it isnt having a detrimental affect on his appetite then I cant see why its going to do him any harm

Moreisnnogedag · 23/04/2017 12:39

It's fine and I wouldn't fuss about it at all. It's loads better than lots of alternatives.

Trifleorbust · 23/04/2017 12:39

Milk will hydrate him and nourish him. He doesn't NEED large quantities of it but some milk is recommended for the calcium. I suggest your DH chills out. He will drink water eventually.

ElspethFlashman · 23/04/2017 12:40

How will someone who's drinking plenty get dehydrated?

He's not drinking sea water! Hmm

juneau · 23/04/2017 12:41

I'm not a milk fan. Breast milk for human babies/toddlers - absolutely. Cow's milk for everyone else? Since when did humans need food designed for baby cows? So I'd have to agree with your DH on this one.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 23/04/2017 12:41

I wouldn't worry about it. I'd water it down until it eventually gets to half and half.

CaptainBraandPants · 23/04/2017 12:41

My eldest is 15 and would still drink milk in preference to anything else. However, we have always restricted him as it really dents his appetite and, especially when he was a young child, he would want to drink milk and then not eat.
If yours is still eating ok, then I wouldn't get too upset about it.

blueskyinmarch · 23/04/2017 12:41

I know a girl who at age14 was still only drinking milk. She was also getting terrible headaches. She went to the doctor and was told to stop drinking so much milk as she was not hydrated enough. I guess from this what your DH is saying has some truth in it. As i understand milk is viewed as a food not a drink and you should really try to cut down on your DS intake and try to get him to drink some water too.

LapinR0se · 23/04/2017 12:42

Is he eating well?

Birdsgottaf1y · 23/04/2017 12:42

""DH gets totally pissed off and thinks he'll be getting dehydrated""

We get hydrated through everything that we eat and drink,if we didn't we'd be dead,as a species.

Young children don't need to drink water for good kidney health. There are countries that children wouldn't be rationed for much water (were there is a scarcity) and would still be BF, with no ill effects.

It'll do your DS more harm to make this into a battle and your DH getting in a temper about this.

chickenjalfrezi · 23/04/2017 12:43

I think the point is more that if he gets used to only drinking milk then when it's not available he won't drink water.

DSD is largely used to drinking squash and as a consequence will go through patches of refusing to drink anything else and then is at risk of dehydration.

BertrandRussell · 23/04/2017 12:46

"She went to the doctor and was told to stop drinking so much milk as she was not hydrated enough."

All that shows is that doctors can be ignorant too. And in thrall to the bottled water industry. Who funded all the recent research on "hydration"

CecilyP · 23/04/2017 12:47

Sorry, your DH sounds a bit dim to be honest. The largest ingredient of milk is water! It also contains lots of other useful nutrients. The only thing to watch for is if he fills up too much with milk, it may decrease his appetite for other food, or, alternatively it may cause too much weigh gain.

Birdsgottaf1y · 23/04/2017 12:48

I'm 46, we had breakfast, sometimes of a morning, which wouldn't involve drinking water.

Then at 11 o'clock, had a carton of milk. I can't remember drinking much water. We weren't dehydrated.

Child refuses a drink, child suffers the consequence, lesson learned. Really no need for angst.

Do you not think that all this concern over 'hydration' all started when they started to market bottled water, or was that a lucky coincidence?

Birdsgottaf1y · 23/04/2017 12:51

I'm not 46, i'm 49, bloody hell.

ZilphasHatpin · 23/04/2017 12:51

What a ridiculous thing to make an issue of. It's milk not vodka. It's absolutely fine. Unless he is connected to an IV drip of milk?

SaucyJack · 23/04/2017 12:52

I would (and do) water it down for a kid of that age.

It's bloody expensive as much as anything else.

Boooooom · 23/04/2017 12:52

Cows milk is for baby cows

ZilphasHatpin · 23/04/2017 12:52

I'm 30 and my first drink of water every day is around 11pm when I take a glass to bed with me. I usually only have a few sips too. I'm not dehydrated.

Original poster
darwinsbabe · 23/04/2017 12:52

DS eats pretty well. We tend to stick to three good meals a day and not really snack very much.

The way DH goes on you'd think DS was drinking a vodka Diet Coke.

OP posts:
user1491572121 · 23/04/2017 12:54

Milk isn't that great for humans. Of course it does have a lot of good stuff IN it but in copious quantities, it's not ideal.

It's for baby cows...

I see your DH's concern really. More than 3 glasses can also give too many of their calories...how does your DS eat? Well? A good range of foods? Is his weight ok?