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AIBU?

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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:
Iamastonished · 23/04/2017 20:46

If we get ride of cow's milk what are the options for feeding babies whose mother's can't (or won't) breastfeed? Isn't formula made from cow's milk?

lasttimeround · 23/04/2017 20:49

OK so lactating is worse than bring killed?

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 20:51

OK so lactating is worse than bring killed?
Dairy cows are still slaughtered.
The males are killed young
The females are killed later, after a life of being impregnanted only to be separated from their young to be milked
Dairy isn't the "no kill" option

lasttimeround · 23/04/2017 20:53

Oh I'm a convinced meat eater just the last few comments the main outrage seems to be making animals lactate.

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 20:53

If we get ride of cow's milk what are the options for feeding babies whose mother's can't (or won't) breastfeed? donor milk, wet nursing, development of plant based formulas etc

it's a bit of a leap though to go from people objecting that it's good that a kid drinks milk all day to objecting to formula, which I'm not! it is however not the only alternative to direct breastfeeding already and hopefully research will go into developing and promoting other options

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 20:55

Oh I'm a convinced meat eater just the last few comments the main outrage seems to be making animals lactate.

Yes I think beef cows have a better life than dairy cows. Beef cows might not have an ideal life, but they do in most cases have a better life pre slaughter than dairy cows have pre slaughter.

ButtermilkPancakes · 23/04/2017 20:55

A find from the Internet : the Red Billed Oxpecker, a bird that can perch on the udders of an Impala and drink its milk. Elsewhere, in Isla de Guadalupe, feral cats, seagulls, and sheathbills have been observed stealing the milk directly from the teats of elephant seals

Given the chance, some adult animals do drink milk.

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 20:57

Beef calves aren't separated from their mothers, male and female calves get to be rearerd "normally" until adolesence when the males are taken to be killed for beef.

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 20:59

Fair enough buttermilk. Although I doubt any of that stimulates an unnatural level of lactation and also doesn't separate the mother from its young, but I conceed that some animals sometimes drink milk. Still doesn't make what we do to cows okay

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 21:00

Believe me you'ld rather live next to a beef farm (cows and calves lowing at each other is not an unpleasant sound) than live near a dairy farm where they scream for each other (it's a totally different sound, it's disturbing!)

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2017 21:09

"Dairy isn't the "no kill" option"

Yes, Tinsel. We are going to kill them. And we are going to eat them. And we are going to skin their carcasses and use it as leather for our shoes and clothes.

Before all that, thought, we are also going to milk them and make lots of yummy cheese and yoghurt from that milk.

If you don't like it, don't eat it. But it's ridiculous that you think people will renounce their place in the food chain if you pull hard enough on their heartstrings with cries of "LACTATE! Is nothing secret?!" Smile

Iamastonished · 23/04/2017 21:13

"donor milk, wet nursing, development of plant based formulas etc"

I can't see that there would ever be enough women to supply the first two, and I think it will take far too long to develop the third option. don't you think the answer should be to have more breastfeeding support available. After all that is the most natural option.

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 21:13

A lot of people don't really think about it that way, I didn't used to give it much thought, it was only really once I'ld nursed and given birth myself that the horror of it really hit me

CoteDAzur · 23/04/2017 21:13

Is nothing SACRED, even Grin

TinselTwins · 23/04/2017 21:17

don't you think the answer should be to have more breastfeeding support available. well you asked specifically about babies that aren't breastfed, so that's what I answered. The WHO already states that donor milk is preferable to formula although I'm assuming they mean voluntary donor milk

Do you really think anybody wouldn't be in favour of more breastfeeding support? I thought that was a given.

Iamastonished · 24/04/2017 11:26

"Do you really think anybody wouldn't be in favour of more breastfeeding support? I thought that was a given."

I read lots of threads started by women who have no intention of breastfeeding, so it isn't necessarily a given at all. And I don't want to start a bunfight.

Craigie · 24/04/2017 17:45

He's 3, he doesn't need to have his milk "watered down". How silly. If he's drinking milk he isn't dehydrated.

RevEm · 24/04/2017 18:08

Personally would give less so much milk....milk is food, full of calories and fat...not good to be consuming so much. Plus it's not very digestible. I don't think you're being unreasonable but I do think your husband has a right to be concerned.

Blueink · 24/04/2017 18:23

From my childhood experience, watering down milk is weird (& tastes terrible), especially when it's already watery (semi skimmed). Whole, organic, unhomgenised milk is more natural as it's gone through less processing. Encouraging water is great, however if the child is not overweight and eating a balance diet the milk consumption itself is a non issue. Fruit juice, sugary drinks and artificially sweetened drinks are more of an issue either for teeth or health. As others said, they change as they get older. Save energy for the bigger battles to come!!

nursy1 · 24/04/2017 18:53

I don't really understand your worry about dehydration. Liquid of any sort keeps you hydrated. Cows Milk, Soup, lemonade even jelly. If he likes milk but eats a balanced diet as well it won't do him any harm. Give him skimmed milk. Then he is still getting the calcium so important in this age group

cheval · 24/04/2017 19:26

Most of us in UK are vitamin d and calcium deficient. Milk is a good source of it. His bones are growing and need it. Maybe his body is telling him what it needs.

TinselTwins · 24/04/2017 19:29

Most of us in UK are vitamin d and calcium deficient. Milk is a good source of it

Your sentence is an oxymoron because most of the UK have a high consumption of dairy

Milk contains calcium and vitamin D, however it is not the most effective bioavailable source of either!

EatTheChocolateTeapot · 24/04/2017 19:37

Yes, it is not clear if calcium from milk can be used by the body.

Personnally, I would just give him his milk in the morning or evening and give plain water during the day. It's not like he will let himself die of dehydration with a glass of water in front of him, kids are smart.

MrsLupo · 24/04/2017 20:15

Liquid of any sort keeps you hydrated. Cows Milk, Soup, lemonade even jelly.

Gin and tonic...

DaisyEmma · 24/04/2017 20:28

I really wouldn't feed cow's milk to my child now. I did with my first because I listened to the 'general advice' that that's what you do - 'it's got calcium in for strong bones' without ever really questioning it.

Then I saw a video of a calf being separated from its mother, so we can drink her milk instead, it was absolutely heartbreaking.
Then I did some research about whether milk is actually a) necessary for us and b) good for us, found both answers were 'no' (asked 2 doctor/scientist friends to research it too- not just Internet research)
also found that it has pus in 😁 which was the final straw (cows get mastitis just like us- they can't tell the farmer to put that milk somewhere else, so it is pasteurised, pasteurised pus is boiled pus which doesn't sound all that much better to me) so I stopped all dairy products that day and went vegan much to my own surprise! That was 3 years ago and I've never felt better. Just wish I'd done it sooner.