ds won't take a bottle or drink milk

[mum2jakeyroo]

ds2 is 15 months. He was exclusively bf till 5 months then I had to return to work so introduced a couple of bottles which he took no problem. In November he just started to refuse bottles. I have now given up work for the time being so have been breastfeeding him at night and at breakfast but feel I should be weaning him off but don't know what to do for the best as surely he still needs some milk intake.

Do you mean he's refusing the formula or the actual bottle?

I assume he drinks from a cup for water in the day if he's 15 months?

If it's the bottle he doesn't like, could you try using a cup where he sucks from a spout, rather than a bottle. He might quite like to be more independent.

If it's formula, have you tried different brands as they do smell/taste different.

My DS drank his formula from a bottle with a spout, rather than a teat, which he found fine. He's now almost 3 and has a cup of milk/hot chocolate at breakfast time, a carton of cold milk at preschool, probably another cup around 2:30/3pm and his big cup at night before sleep.

If your DS is only 15 months, I think he should be having more than just breakfast and bedtime milk but am not entirely sure what the recommended minimum is for that age.

Just looked it up and it's supposed to be 400ml/2/3 pint whole milk a day for children over 1 year old.

At 15 months 3 of my 4 children did not drink milk. It is not essential. You can give dairy in other foods such as yogurts, cheese, puddings, breakfast cereals etc. Children do not actually need to take drinks of milk from cups or bottles after a year. Breast milk is always good though

my DS2 did not drink milk at this age either - we stopped breastfeeding at about 13 months and nothing I could offer in a cup or bottle was up to scratch!

I should try not to worry about it and offer cheese, yogurts etc and keep offering milk (cows milk is fine) in a beaker - he may start to like it!

dd didnt drink milk around this age either, i stopped breastfeeding when i fell pregnant again about 14 months i think, she had milk on cereal and other sources of calcium, i kept offering milk on the same cup (a tommee tippee beaker with soft spout as she always watched her slightly older cousins with the same cup and wanted it) to try a build a bedtime routine and she now really loves her milk! she probably has approx a glass a day but i dont force it, if she wants it before her nap or bed she drinks it, if she is too full after a fav meal she leaves it.

thank you all. was just a bit worried cos feeling guilty if I start to wean him off bf he will not get anything. But will persevere with milk in a beaker. He just hates the bottle, He was ok for about 6 months then just started refusing it. He loves yoghurt and cheese so will go with that angle too.

DS1 refused to drink milk of any description when he was weaned off the breast at 14 months - he was fine - loved his yoghurt and cheese and had milk on his cereal.