My baby doesn't like milk. Anyone tackled this one before?

[EvanMom]

I breastfed ds2 until 9 months and then weaned him very quickly (due to him biting me) onto formula from a cup (he would grab the bottle I was trying to give him and throw it across the room so I gave up with bottles) He drank formula (not a huge amount, but some) for a couple of weeks and now refuses to drink it any more. He is 11 months old. I have tried full fat cow's milk, semi skimmed, skimmed and other brands of formula etc. I wasn't too worried as he ate yoghurts and cheese.

He has now gone off yoghurts and when I give him a piece of cheese he throws it back at me.

He now only drinks water and dilute apple juice from a cup. I hate to admit it, but he likes weak sweet tea (yes I will try anything to get some milk into him). Any other suggestions to get calcium etc. into him?

Am I the only one with a baby who hates milk and bottles, but is partial to a cup of tea??? He hasn't had more than about 4-6oz of milk in any one day for 2 months now.
EM x

You could try Nesquik or similar - not ideal I know, but you could gradually make it weaker. My friend has the same problem with her dd so will follow this thread with interest.

Sorry to be dumb, but what is Nesquik...? I have seen it in the shops but don't know what it is.
Ta

How about sneaking it into his food.

I haven't been through the weaning process yet with my DD (so am by no means an expert), but I can remember my sister being a baby/toddler who never drank any milk or ate yoghurts/cheese. Mum managed to get her to eat cheese if it was in a sauce. She ate things such as cauliflower cheese, moussaka, mashed veg with milk added, jacket potato mashed with cheese & ham etc.

Our DD was like this. I fed her until 16 months and following that would not touch milk at all and still doesn't at 5. You can make sure that they have milk in things to ensure that they get enough Calcium. I used to give her rice pudding, custard, angel delight, nutri-grain bars, nesquik (powdered milk flavouring), from frais and even Danone water with added calcium for her drinks!! She never suffered as a consequence - don't worry!!

What about hot chocolate or horlicks?

Another one with a dd who hates milk here (can't blame her, I think it's vile too and have never taken it since I was a baby, except in hot drinks and on cereal, and it must be sweet cereal). She does eat cheese though and will take fromage frais, but thats about it, unless I cook something with a white sauce. Not worrying though - she's pretty healthy and so am I.

He has one meal a day with a bit of cheese sauce.
I haven't tried hot chocolate but will give it a go. I will also try danone.

In lots of things it's a case of weighing up giving him flavourings and additives etc. at such a young age, against him having having no milk. Which is worse? I guess the latter?
Ta

fruit smoothees? might be somthing else you could try

i think having no milk would be preferable to sugar/additives/sweetners etc at such a young age.
i think you you be better hiding milk in foods he already eats.
will he eat rice pudding or mashed potatoes? if he doesnt like rice pudding you could add some pureed fruit through it.

Have you tried rice milk or soya milk? (they come with and without calcium, so make sure you get the one with calcium).

i think there have been other threads on ways to hide milk in food, you could try a search?

Tea is meant to be very bad for kids - the tannin binds to iron or something like that. Hot chocolate or Horlicks would be preferable! Or what about a yoghurt drink with fruit whizzed in - the M&S smoothies came out very well in a taste test recently.

I have to admit that DS took ages to get used to plain milk after I quit BF. I offered it in a cup and wasn't too fussed if he didn't drink any, and eventually he decided it was OK (gave him water in the same way in sippy cup, eventually he decided that was OK as well). Also you could try putting it in a special cup/mug or even using a straw? Might be why he likes the tea (apart from the sugar!)

Seems anything with a creamy taste is what he doesn't like. He is not fussed on rice pudding. I have just tried him with some clotted cream ice cream from Sainsbury's. I had a quick look at the ingredients (all looked rather suspect for an 11 month old). Must say it was rather delicious - fine for a 34 year old! He wasn't fussed at all.

In terms of adding it to food - I look at the amount of milk his brother was drinking at 11 months (8oz, 4 times a day) and wonder where on earth I will 'hide' all that!!!

My ds wouldn't drink milk either until quite recently (he's 17 months.) He always ate cheese though. If he's eating sandwiches you could try well-mashed tuna or philadelphia in them. When he's big enough to have box drinks try the Cadbury chocolate milk box (once in awhile, a lot of sugar in those...) You could add milk powder to homemade muffins. Macaroni cheese and rice puddings are great ideas too.

Hi Evanmum,

Just looked up how much milk/dairy products a 1 year old needs in a book I bought for when I start weaning DD.

This is what it says:

"Dairy products are an important part of a child?s diet. They contain protein, calcium and other nutrients that help build strong bones, teeth, muscles, etc. It?s recommended that your 1-year-old have four to six servings of dairy products per day. A child-size serving of milk is half cup or 4 oz., so if your son/daughter got all his/her dairy from milk, he/she should drink 16-24 oz. per day.

You can still make sure your baby eats enough dairy by giving him/her yogurt or cottage cheese (1 serving is half cup) and hard cheese (1 serving is 1/2 - 3/4 oz. of cheese). You can cut the cheese into bite sized cubes or melt it onto strips of tortilla or bread."

HTH

EvanMom,
4 x 8oz is a lot of milk. As PreggieMum says they really don't need this much at this age. My DS is neaarly 10 months and only has about 14oz of formula now + dairy in food.

What about cereal? you'd be amazed how much milk 1 wheetabix will soak up and it's not at all creamy.

If he likes apples, then what about either adding apple juice to his milk, or adding apple puree?

Will try and think of some more..

BR

How about:

mixing a yoghurt into a bottle of milk
custard, made fresh by you
fruit smoothies with milk
fish poached with milk
cheese on toast with a bit of worcestshire sauce
cheese grated in baked beans
Cheese and milk in mashed potato
lasagne