3 yr old who doesn't drink any milk

[brimfull]

don't know whether to be concerned about the fact that ds hasn't drunk any milk since I took away his bottle at 2.5yrs.He's now 3y5m

He refuses milk from cup/beaker.Won't eat yogurts/cheese sauces/raw cheese.

Anyone else have a non milk drinker/

Dos he have any for breakfast? Like with weetabix?

occassionally he will have weetabix or porridge with milk,but usually prefers dry cereal or toast.

My dd didn't drink any milk from finishing bf at 1 and starting pre-school at 2.9 years. She did eat some cheese and yoghurts though so don't know if I can be of help.

Personally, I wasn't concerned about it, couldn't force her after all!

HTH

My dd will be 5 in May, and hasn't really drunk milk since she was about 2.5 - she has the odd bowl of cereal (maybe once every three weeks), a yoghurt a couple of times a week, and occasionally will have cocoa at bedtime. She won't eat cheese but will sometimes have cheese sauce.

I sneak milk into things she likes where I can, in things like mashed potato, mushroom pasta sauce or soups and she usually eats them quite happily. I know it's not ideal but I'm with Clayhead on this one - there's not much I can do to force her, and as the rest of her diet is pretty good I'm not too concerned about it.

Are calcium supplements not available then.I do worry about that?

I'm not sure that calcium supplements are ideal for children - perhaps if dd is still not having a lot when she's a little older I would think about it, but I wouldn't want to give them too early.

Does your ds eat things like oily fish, broccoli, or do you cook with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, grains and beans? All good sources of calcium.

My 4.5 year old does not drink milk either. After stopping bf at 1 we put him onto rice milk. But we stopped that at bout 3.5 and he has nothing now. I do not worry at all. He eats many of the foods mentioned here. I think it is a myth that milk is necessary. There are plenty of countries where milk is not drunk at all and it is NOT the best source of absorbable calcium contray to popular belief.

he eats cod but not salmon/trout/mackerel etc.

He will eat broccoli,haven't tried too hard on the beans front,didn't realise there was calcium in them.He has a nut allergy,so sunflower seeds always have a warning on them, so we can't use them.

Chick peas and baked beans are particularly good sources of calcium. Plus these days most flour is fortified with calcium so cereals are a good source, even if he eats them dry.

IlanaK you are right, it's a very British thing! dh wasn't brought up here and thinks it's quite odd! (although where he's from (Southern Europe) they have other foods that children must eat!)

WWB - does homous count then?

I'd have thought so, yes - particularly if you make your own and particularly if it's got sesame seeds in as well as the chickpeas.

My 3yo won't drink milk, or plain water, or anything other than fruit juice 50/50 with water. I melt cheese over his dinners, give him houmous with breadsticks/veggie sticks and give him loads of green veg, and hope for the best. How do you know if they are not getting enough calcium? Isn't it a bit late once their teeth start turning to chalk?