When do children stop needing milk?

[BlastOff]

My ds1 was ebf, then had bottles, and has until the last few evenings still had a drink of milk at night. But now he says he doesn't want it, and won't drink milk in the day either.

He is almost 3 and although eats a wide variety of healthy food, the quantity he eats isn't enormous, and I really wanted him to continue having a drink of milk at night for calories. He's always been slight, and I'm sure that's just him. I'm not worried about that per se. But I'd be interested to know how long other people gave / are giving a drink of milk at some point in the day for.

Should I still push it and find an inventive way to get him to drink it, or given that he eats yoghurt and cheese etc not be too bothered?

I don't know what age they stop needing ilk but you could try making a smoothie after dinner as a dessert.

I think as long as they get calories and calcium in other food its no drama. In nature humans were meant to have human milk until they lost their milk teeth (hence the name), but there is no requirement to have cows milk if they don't have human milk.

Ds is 4 and won't drink milk, and hasn't done for some time. He was BF until he was 2 and never really liked formula or cows milk as a drink, although he did have formula at nursery. He has milk on his breakfast cereal and cheese and yoghurt in his lunchbox so I think he is getting adequate calcium that way.

I don't think humans ever stop needing calcium in their diets, do they?

DD1 self-weaned at 3.6y/o and I decided that I wouldn't try to replace bm with cows milk as she if she didn't need human milk any more why did she need bovine milk?

She does have it on occasions as a snack but when she does have it, it is 100mls or so in a cup after school (she is in Y1 now). When I was pg with DD2 and I had low/no supply I supplemented her with gold top milk in a beaker but then she was around 12-18m so needed something in addition to the calcium rich foods she ate.

I really wouldn't be that bothered by a 3y/o that won't drink milk if you give him a wide variety of foods to eat and he gets enough fat in his diet (not something most families have to worry about but you never know).

After 2ish most children will have good enough diets not to need a drink of milk.

Thank you to all of you for your replies. He has a very good diet, but doesnt / won't have milk on cereal so I'm aware he doesn't get any milk at all. However, he enjoys yoghurt and cheese so I guess he is getting calcium. I am of the generation that got free milk at school (or remember it being stopped anyway!) but that was in a world of very different diets to now.

I'll just continue to offer it as an option but not stress that he doesn't have it!