Does milk really matter?

[jujumum78]

DS has recently lost interest in his bedtime beaker of 210ml milk. He might have 50ml of it but nothing more, and bizarrely is only interested in that now if he can drink it while in the bath. Should I stop offering him a bedtime milk completely? He's 19mths, is that too young to stop? He has milk with porridge every morning and drinks water throughout the day and seems quite happy to drink that.

Why not just offer him 50ml if that's all he ever has?

I don't think they do need milk at that age as long as they are getting plenty of variety in the rest of their diet.

Thanks bushymcbush, I think he gets plenty of nutrients in the rest of his diet, but I'm also wondering if he might wake up more in the night if he doesn't get his milk. (It seems a drop in milk is corresponding to him waking up more). Should I give him a yoghurt instead at bedtime? He loves yoghurt!

He can get his calcium elsewhere - neither of mine ever had bedtime or morning milk after they stopped bfing (11 and 12 months). It's not essential by any means - make sure he has a piece of cheese or a yogurt or something every day (full fat, of course) and he'll be fine.

I tried dropping his milk to 90ml last night and he wouldn't drink a sip, not even in the bath. He clearly doesn't want it and I'm fed up of pouring it down the drain so that's it, no more bedtime milk. I'm a little sad, it's another one of those signs that he's really not a baby anymore :-(

I wouldn't worry too much about it - there are plenty of other ways to get calcium and other nutrients into your child. I think that giving our children so much milk is cultural, rather than a dietary necessity (I blame the milk marketing board because they print so much weaning information for parents and health visitors to read).

My DS is very seriously allergic to milk, amongst other things. Even a drop would give him a life-threatening reaction. Lots of well-meaning friends, family members and health professionals have been horrified by him never being able to have cow's milk in custard, yoghurt etc. But where is it written that thou shalt feed thy children custard and yoghurt daily? There are plenty of other things to eat.

One of my least favourite memories is being forced to drink milk as a child daily. I am not allergic to it, but it always made me feel dreadfully sick and bloated. I am a great believer in not forcing children to eat foods that they really do want to refuse.

There's nothing in milk you can't get elsewhere in the diet. Cheese / yogurt/ custard etc or dairy alternatives. If he doesn't want it then don't worry about it. Butter/ milk on cereal it all counts :)

DS2 only takes his sippy cup of milk mid morning and mid afternoon. He'll not take milk after this (he's 21 months old and been like this since I stopped the breastfeeding at 17 months old).

You can substitute the milk for other dairy products throughout the course of the day.

DS2 will take water in his sippy cup at night time if he's thirsty..

DD has never been keen on cow's milk taken as a drink - but she has lots of other dairy products, so I've never worried about it. Yoghurt is a good alternative, much more easily digested and if you get a Greek-style variety, there will be plenty of useful fats etc. in there as well as the good ole probiotics.

But as greenbananas points out, dairy products aren't really necessary anyway - for example, an excellent source of calcium are almonds. DD loves almond butter spread on bread or in sandwiches (assuming no nut allergies, it's an excellent food - rich in various minerals too).

Apparently there are many other cultures where they don't eat much in the way of dairy products, but have lower rates of things like osteoporosis, so I suspect this idea that milk and dairy products are necessary for bone growth/health because of their calcium content is actually a fallacy - provided the child/adult is getting calcium from other sources too.

As for whether your DS will wake through the night, all I can say is that DD has her supper at about 18.00 with lights out (no further food/milk etc.) at 19.30 or so and she doesn't wake in the night feeling hungry.

10 days without a bedtime milk and DS hasn't batted an eyelid! Personally, I would like to reduce his dairy intake and increase other sources of calcium anyway so I'm quite happy.