how much milk should my 14 month old be having?

[mckenzie]

My DS has a beaker of milk first thing in the morning followed by his cereal with more milk, fruit or toast etc. Sometimes he downs this beaker in practically one go and othertimes he barely touches it but he always finishes the milk with his cereal so I dont worry about it.
He has his main meal at lunchtime, tea at about 5pm and then a bedtime bottle at about 6.45pm where he'll drink anywhere between 6 and 9ozs. Is this okay? Again, sometimes he cant guzzle it quickly enough and sometimes we find ourselves having to persuade him to have it after he's stopped after just 1 oz (I think we might have conditioned ourselves that he should drink it all and if he doesn't he'll wake up at about 5am screaming because he's hungry)

I know that all our offspring are different but does anyone have a general guideline for milk consumption, and at what age do they generally give up the bedtime bottle?

Doctors say a child should be off the bottle at 1 year but I never been able to do away with it at night. Im still trying to stop my 21 mo old from taking one bottle. Uses the cup all the time. I probally need to try harder. I read on the internet that a child just over a year needs to drink at least 3-4 servings of milk or something in the dairy category a day.

Mckenzie. I beleive the serving size is 1 cup. I have never totally followed the guide lines. I always offered the milk and if they did not want it I did not worry. When they are over one their appetites change so much because milk is not their main source of food anymore their eating all those solids. If you feel hes not getting enough dairy just give foods in between with the calcium. Like cheese. Kraft singles have 1 serving of milk (1 cup) in each slice. He can eat 2 slices and consume 2 servings already. Make sure you get the brand that says that though. I yogurt is a serving. If he likes orange juice you can by the calcium fortified. A couple of these foods a day or others you might have would help you and you would not have to worry about him drinking the milk straight each day. I do this with my toddler a lot.

I still give my DS a bedtime beaker of milk but he isn't really interested (perhaps becuase he has tea/bath/bed fairly promptly) - so in fact I am not sure why I am persevering with the last milk drink (he is 18 months by the way) - in fact just writing this down has made me realise that it probably isn't necessary at all!

thanks everyone. This time last month he wouldn't use a beaker at all so I guess i'm just pleased that we've progressed such that only one milk feed is by the bottle and the other one and his water is all from a beaker. But having said that, if I dont try i'll never know so tomorrow night, a beaker it is. If he needs the milk he'll drink it wont he?

And thanks for the tip re the kraft singles Threeangels, i'll shall look out for those.

Lindy, be interested to hear how you get on when you stop giving the bedtime milk. Fingers crossed for you.

it worked. Gave DS his bestime milk in his beaker last night. The beaker only takes about 6 ozs and I reckon he took maybe 5 of it. went to bed happy about 7.15pm and woke up about happy about 8.20am. And he still wasn't fussed about being given any milk/breakfast straight away so we'll stick with the beaker for now and less milk.