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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How much milk does your 2 year old drink a day???

42 replies

Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 11:45

Hi there, just wanting a rough idea of how much milk peoples 2 year olds drink in a day on average.

I started another thread about my ds's complex feeding issues.

The conclusion was that I am now experimenting for a few weeks with him drinking normal whole milk (instead of the high cal stuff I believe supresses his appetite).

If the 'experiment' goes really well I might try him on a little less milk each day. He has 16oz a day at the moment and will turn 2 on 30th oct.

OP posts:
ElecTrickorTreatElephant · 06/10/2009 11:48

Ds is almost 2 and has about 5oz in the morning after his breakfast, and 9oz in the evening before bed.

I think I need to cut out the morning feed by the time he is two, and moves up into the next room at nursery, so I'm very gradually cutting it down, and offering more snacks.

bamboostalks · 06/10/2009 11:49

My dd drank no milk at 2, she hated it. I had to give her cheese and yogurt.

BornToFolk · 06/10/2009 11:53

One 9oz bottle before bed. Sometimes he'll drink milk at nursery and sometimes he'll have a few sips from an open cup with a straw (especially if I add just a bit of Nesquik!) but really, the bedtime bottle is the only time he'll drink any quantity of milk.

He's a good eater though and has porridge every morning that probably uses 3-4oz and yoghurt and cheese everyday and sometimes custard or rice pudding too.

He's two next week but he's been like this since he dropped the morning feed a few months ago.

gingertoo · 06/10/2009 11:53

Ds3 is 2.2
He has 4oz of whole milk when he gets up in the morning, 4oz after lunch before his nap and 4oz at bedtime.

CMOTdibbler · 06/10/2009 11:55

When DS was 2, he had a small cup of milk with snack at nursery, and sometimes a cup of milk in the evening

flowerybeanbag · 06/10/2009 12:00

None. DS hasn't had any milk to drink since not long after he was 1. He then used to have yoghurt at least once a day, and some cheese as well. Sometime before he was 2 he started completely refusing yoghurt as well.

We just have to try and make sure he gets calcium elsewhere.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 12:24

Wow, quite a lot of variation then! Will just have to see how he goes. We do tend to offer him his bottle a couple of times before he finishes it, although sometimes he drinks it on one go. I'd rather he drink it from a cup but he refuses so far. I think he'd drink less if we weren't so persistant.

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invlanderen · 06/10/2009 12:42

Dairyrumps, I don´t know what your los complex feeding issues are (?) and wonder why he has high cal milk (?), but I do know that with your average child, if you fill them up with milk then they will eat less solid food and not get used to eating normally (and appropriately for their age)..

Your ds has about three times more milk that mine (!).. she has about 6oz before bed and once in a while asks for (and gets) about 4oz in the morning before breakfast..

As far as I´m aware, chidren this age have a nighttime bottle (for a long as they want it), but not more than c 7 - 8oz..

Original poster
Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 12:53

invlanderen - Well, I could direct you to 'the thread' but it'd take you about 2hrs to read it

So, in short... he's difficult to feed, has always had small apetite and very gradually went from 9th centile to 0.4th for weight during his first year. He was put on high cal milk just before a year old and has been on various types of it ever since. I feel the high cal milk fills him up too much but dietician insists he stay on it as she wants his weight to be on the same centile as his hieght (the 9th). I would much rather hi eat better as he was just eating tiny amounts and then dietician added 2 high cal powder sachets to his diet each day too.

She is happy with the amount of milk he drinks a day and says for his age it should be 12-16oz. I however think he'd be happier on less as it's sometimes a struggle to get him to drink that and it's not my experience that all 2yo's drink that amount - as clearly proved by this thread.

He has been off the high cal milk and powder for a few days now and getting 16oz of whole milk a day. Even with this amount of milk and a cold I have seen his appetite increase already.

OP posts:
MrsBadger · 06/10/2009 12:55

I don;t measure dd's - I just slosh it into her cup (am still using an anyway up cup as can't face the mess - she has water in an open cup though.
Def no bottles though - I ditched those the same time I stopped expressing so cows' milk has always come in a cup)

some with breakfast (maybe 3oz to drink, a further 4oz if she has cereal),
cupful (guess 4-5oz) at snack time in the afternoon
some with dinner if she asks (max 3oz I guess)

So max 12oz a day, sometimes as little as 8oz (if toast for breakfast)

We have just stopped bedtime milk as she didn't need it for comfort, wasn't really drinking much and it made teeth cleaning afterwards tricky - now we do them in the bath.

I don't think of her milk consumption as a big deal as she is a brilliant eater but I am up to speed on your other thread and know that your ds isn;t...

invlanderen · 06/10/2009 13:02

Hi Dairy, difficult for me to say anything really, given your situation (very hard for you!), but a few things jump to mind..

Aspiring for his weight to be on the same centile as his hieght seems like a nonsense, if a common mistake made by hvs with babies (?) Have you looked into this as a valid aim in itself?

Large quantities of milk and especially high cal milk are bound to work as an appetite supressant! What is the dietician suggesting to increase a balanced diet? How can your ds get all the other necessary nuitrients if never hungry enough to eat?!

My gut feeling (and more importantly YOURS) is that reducing milk and the high cal stuff is a very good idea.. Can you get a second opinion from another dietician?

Original poster
Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 13:10

Not sure if I can get a 2nd opinion, last time we saw the dietician it was a different one to the one we usually see but she just kinda said to carry on as we are...

I feel as we are he's not progressing with his eating, he's just got a very small apetite and they just seem concerned with him getting up to the 9th. I've asked them what the long term plan is and do they envisage him coming off the high cal milk soon and they just say to keep him on it and don't seem to have a concrete long term plan?!

So, I figured if i try this out and see how he goes I can present them with the evidence and see what they say. Providing it goes well that is!

OP posts:
invlanderen · 06/10/2009 13:12

Good on you Dairy, I´d do the same in your position! Good luck!

TheWebster · 06/10/2009 13:14

DS (just 2) drinks from an open cup so I don't measure,he has a choice between water and milk. Recently he picks milk everytime and has stopped drinking a lot of water which is a worry tbh.

MrsJohnDeere · 06/10/2009 13:20

Ds2 just shy of 20 months. Drinks next to no milk. He is offered a Tommee Tippee cup of milk with breakfast and supper and drinks half of it at best, sometimes none. He has water the rest of the day and prefers that.

MegBusset · 06/10/2009 13:25

DS1 didn't have any milk at all for months after he stopped breastfeeding at 20 months. But now (2.7) he has a small cup of 'pink milk' (thanks, Charlie & Lola!) at bedtime and v v occasionally will ask for milk in the day -- otherwise he prefers water or juice.

olivo · 06/10/2009 13:52

DD would have a cup at breakfast, plus some on her cereal, then a cup at both snack times at nursery then a cup at tea time. she has similar amounts now at 3.

allaboutme · 06/10/2009 13:57

Both DS's (19mo and 4yo) have 8oz ish at morning and 8oz ish at night.
They love milk and thats quite a lot compared to all their friends I think

SecretNinjaChipmunk · 06/10/2009 13:59

hello, ds is 2 in a couple of weeks and has about 7oz first thing about an hour before brekkie and then about 8 oz before bed. Am thinking of slowly decreasing the morning one as it gets colder and encouraging porridge/ cereal with warm milk instead but will see how it goes. He loves it though so I don't see the point in stopping him having it. and he still has it in a bottle. All his other drinks are in his cup and always have been.

craftynclothy · 06/10/2009 14:07

dd is 2.5 but since about 18/20 months has only had a tommee tippee cup of milk at bedtime (she has a lidded beaker cos she drinks it in bed while she gets a story read to her).

Original poster
Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 14:10

Secret - Ah at least someone else's still has a bottle . Is he an ok eater? I would leave ds's as it was if he ate loads but he doesn't...

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Original poster
Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 14:13

It seems to be more the case that most have less than ds then...

OP posts:
TrickorTreatTrunkThighs · 06/10/2009 14:16

DD is 2 in 2 weeks.

She drinks no milk at all. She has some on her cereal, that's it. She just doesn't like it.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 06/10/2009 14:32

I quite like the fact some peoples lo's don't drink milk at all, makes me feel I should relax more when ds refuses a couple of oz now and again.

Suppose they can't all like milk!

Funny thing is, when he was little he was always the baby who drank less milk than the other babies, new we seem to have got in to a situation where he drinks more!

OP posts:
SardineQueen · 06/10/2009 14:33

Um, maybe 3 or 4 tommee tippee cups full a day. We offer her milk or water and she normally chooses milk (whole), we give her drinks with her meals.

That's say 4 x 190ml then which is 760ml which is 27 fl oz apparently.

She's 2.2yo

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