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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:
CoteDAzur · 23/04/2017 15:40

"If your doctor proposed to pump your child with tiger enzyme, I think you'd be horrified. "

WTF is "tiger enzyme"? Grin

Please tell me its chemical composition so that I can decide if I will be horrified or just laugh harder.

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2017 15:40

"cote other carnivorous predators don't generally hunt other species' babies in order to obtain their milk."

No, they hunt other species babies to crush them in their jaws and eat them alive.

You are welcome Smile

Crumbs1 · 23/04/2017 15:42

Rubbish that milk is unhealthy preschoolers. It's high protein, good fluid intake and excellent for bone development. Children who drink full fat milk tend to be a healthier weight than those who don't. It is also much better for dental health than juice.
What is the problem meant to be? Too much water could result in insufficient calories.

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 15:43

I agree with your OH milk all the time is not good for a child at all

It's okay with some meals but it is very unhealthy to have it all the time between meals and with all meals

It'll inhibit iron uptake
It'll be bad for their teeth
It's healthy to have gaps between food, if he's sipping milk as hydration (espeically in summer) he'll be constantly using his digestive system which needs breaks

Also, whilst some cows milk is okay, it's not "good" for you, nobody needs to drink cows milk.

The child needs water! Can you maybe take the child shopping for a fun new "water cup" with favourite characters on it? a swirly straw? you can even get musical straws, and use them just for water to encourage it

GaelicSiog · 23/04/2017 15:44

Milk from any given species contains enzymes from that species. This is what causes the problem with cows milk, the human body can't break down the enzymes that aren't found in humans. Some people it doesn't have an effect, others it causes inflammation. You're laughing at the idea of tiger enzyme because it is ridiculous. And yet that's exactly what we're doing by drinking cows milk. We've just normalised it to the point we don't think about it.

Pinkandwhiteblossoms · 23/04/2017 15:45

Yes, they do. Which is still less drawn out and painful than our process. Tbf most predators stalk and kill quickly - they have to. I think the exceptions are when they are teaching young to hunt and sparrowhawks killing garden birds is pretty unpleasant to see.

Nature can be cruel, I think we all get that. There's still a difference in a leopard killing a baby antelope, however upsetting it is to watch, and what we do, which essentially condemns animals to live a life of misery and then to die in pain, fear and terror. And they do: visit an abattoir if you don't believe me.

That being said, I don't think anybody should have to stop eating meat, or dairy. As I think people just won't and it's hard. I find it hard. But if you can reduce your meat consumption and dairy consumption - it helps. meat free Monday is one of these. If everyone had one day a week - not necessarily a Monday - where they didn't eat meat - it helps LOADS. Not just the animals but the planet!

GaelicSiog · 23/04/2017 15:47

And again, children who drink milk are not healthier than those who don't because milk is healthy. They are healthier because not everyone who cuts out milk replaces the vitamins and minerals in milk with vitamins and minerals from other sources.

derxa · 23/04/2017 15:48

No, they hunt other species babies to crush them in their jaws and eat them alive This is true.

Riversleep · 23/04/2017 15:48

My DS used to drink a lot of milk, but then would not eat food. I stopped the milk because he was not underweight but very thin. He still is slim so I think it's his build Envy but I wanted him to get more calories from food rather than filling up on milk then not being hungry.

Pinkandwhiteblossoms · 23/04/2017 15:49

Of course it's true. Predator and prey. That's how nature works.

They do NOT pen them up, deny them their natural habitat and destroy other predators' hunting grounds whilst they do so Hmm

derxa · 23/04/2017 15:52

which essentially condemns animals to live a life of misery When I look out at my sheep in the fields their life is pretty idyllic tbf.

Pinkandwhiteblossoms · 23/04/2017 15:56

And are you keeping them as pets, derxa?

I understand some people don't want to or don't feel able to become veggie/vegan and I don't have an issue with that. I didn't come to vegetarianism until my thirties myself. But denying the cruelty that takes place - I don't see how you can, really.

MrsLupo · 23/04/2017 15:57

Loving all the people here proudly announcing how little water they drink. Let's talk again after you've passed a kidney stone or two.

OP, milk is fine as long as you regard it as a food, i.e. DS has it in place of other foods, rather than as an alternative to water. Everyone needs water.

But actually, milk isn't really fine, imo. Here's some light reading.

witsender · 23/04/2017 15:58

We don't drink much milk as a family. I takes my drinks black, and apart from that it is only used on cereal or in porridge. Both kids were breastfed until they decided to wean, at 20 months and 3 years respectively, so they never 'needed' milk. I do make sure to buy full fat, organic milk though, so that which is consumed is good stuff. We have a local jersey herd which is grass fed and the milk is non-homogenised...That stuff is practically its own food group.

I think as long as it isn't affecting his actual healthy food consumption and he is drinking good quality milk I wouldn't be too fussed...I'm not sure I would encourage it but I wouldn't get too get up. I'd rather my kids drank milk than squash, especially artificially sweetened stuff.

ButtermilkPancakes · 23/04/2017 15:58

Côte d'Azur you're absolutely right of course, but you may be wasting your time here. Science isn't as attractive to some as sensationalist "they-have-been-lying-to-you-and-we-are-all-being-poisoned" pseudo-science.

derxa · 23/04/2017 16:03

And are you keeping them as pets, derxa? No

GaelicSiog · 23/04/2017 16:06

I absolutely don't think we're all being lied to and poisoned. I just think the science hasn't caught up yet.

derxa · 23/04/2017 16:10

MrsLupo I've never seen or heard of such things here in Scotland. I've read that article
Farmers mechanically draw semen from a bull, and then force the female cow into a narrow trap, known as a “cattle crush”, where they will brutally impregnate her. Absolute rubbish

ThreeLeggedHaggis · 23/04/2017 16:11

NotYoda

Yes, ones that are fortified with calcium.

Yes. And?

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 16:12

which essentially condemns animals to live a life of misery When I look out at my sheep in the fields their life is pretty idyllic tbf

Sheep generally get a way better deal than cows. And cows raised for meat get a much better deal than dairy cows.

Dairy is a whole other level of cruel. Even small indepenant dairies separate cows from their babies and they scream for each other!

I don't know how anyone who has ever breastfed or pumped can be totally fine with dairy.

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 16:15

MrsLupo I've never seen or heard of such things here in Scotland. I've read that article
Farmers mechanically draw semen from a bull, and then force the female cow into a narrow trap, known as a “cattle crush”, where they will brutally impregnate her. Absolute rubbish

Well a lot of the small "independent" local farmers in my home town use AI, some do still use a bull "in person", but there aren't that many bulls about, it's logistically difficult to move a bull to your farm (you can't keep using the same one - father would be impregnanting daughters) and it's not cost effective to raise multiple male calves. Farmers belts are tight. and AI is better for diluting the gene pool.

AI is not uncommon, your nice "local" milk provider probably uses AI

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 16:20

I understand some people don't want to or don't feel able to become veggie/vegan and I don't have an issue with that. I didn't come to vegetarianism until my thirties myself. But denying the cruelty that takes place - I don't see how you can, really

I agree, I eat some dairy and meat once or twice a week, I don't believe that any commercial dairy is a nice life for an animal, I think all you're doing by going for local smaller farms is supporting less shit but still shit lives of service and grief.

I have loads of lame excuses for not going vegan (yet) but I still can admit that my lifestyle isn't the most ethical

It's like running a car because your lifestyle requires it but justifying it by denying that individual car use has an environmental impact!

Iamastonished · 23/04/2017 16:21

We always used to drink milk in tead of water or squash. There is nothing wrong with me or my sister. And in those days skimmed and semi skimmed didn't exist.

"I am very, very anti-cows milk tbh. We don't need it. It isn't healthy"

Hmm

Ignore those saying that milk is disgusting. They just don't like it.

Aeroflotgirl · 23/04/2017 16:24

Jeneau massive eye roll. Its milk, not poison, I assume op is not breastfeeding. Cows milk is fine, its not like he's drinking coke fgs! It will nourish and hydrate him.

Squeegle · 23/04/2017 16:26

Another anecdote here; I have always drunk lots of milk. Since the 60s. I am well, thin and I have low blood pressure. My DS also drinks a lot of milk he is 13, thin and fit. I usually drink full fat too. I don't like coke or squash or any of that stuff. The white stuff is much less of a risk than much of what he might choose to drink. Tell your DH to stop sweating the small stuff. He can start worrying when your DS takes up smoking or weed. Or many of the other temptations he will be exposed to.