Cutting out milk completely

[Natzer]

DD is 15 months and has been on formula since she was 12 weeks. She is now very good with her food and eats most things, but I am really struggling with milk, she really does not like cows milk, I have tried adding some to formula etc and she wont drink it. She used to drink formula with no problem but since nasty mummy spiked it with cows milk she has gone off it. I am wasting a fortune.

She has only been having 2 bottles a day each of about 6oz.

If I cut bottles out entirely, do I just add in extra snacks during the day? Shall I put her tea time a bit later from 4.30? (she goes to bed at 6.30) . Do I give her something little before bed instead of a bottle?

I'm really confused.

And yes, don't worry will give her lots of yoghurts cheese etc to ensure she gets the calcium.

Sorry, just to add to the question, when do they have breakfast?, especially if she wakes up early, this morning she was up at 5.45am, not particularly hungry though, normally its closer to 7am.

Is she getting enough calcium during the day by having cheese and yoghurts? Have you tried blending her favourite fruits with milk? Strawberry or banana flavoured milk does taste that much better!

DS dropped bottles by himself at 18 months, before then he happily drank cows milk now its evil. He has plenty of cheese and yoghurt in his diet so I am not concerned about him not having milk

from 12mths they should have 12oz a day of milk but that can be made up with cheese, yog etc, so some milk on cereal or in porridge and some cheese and a bit of yog and you are fine, so two bottles of 6oz is the daily requirement anyway :)(

Thanks, but I plan to drop the 2 bottles completely, and yes I suppose she has milk in her ready brek or weetabix most mornings. I like the idea of the fruit flavoured milk.

But its the whole logistics of it, she has her tea at 4.30, so should I give her something before she goes to bed?

why do you plan to drop the bottles? any reason? only 2 bottles a day at her age is fine, just make sure you clean her teeth after the one before bed. honestly she is very little still.

three of mine were bfeeding at that age, ds4 still have bottle of 4oz before bed until he was 3yrs 5mths when he gave it up in return for a buzz lightyear cup! he drank water etc from a cup the rest of the time.

my dd is 19mths and has two bottles one morning and one night of 4oz in each one, she is a BIG cheese fan so always has some of that for lunch, she prefers her cereal dry tho without milk!

yes if having tea/dinner at 4:30 i would give her a bottle of milk before bed to make sure she isnt hungry overnight and also its a nice way to wind down at bedtime :)

5madthings I'm considering giving the bottles up as she doesnt drink them, I make up a bottle of 4/5 oz and she maybe drinks 1 or 2oz (this is formula, aptamil first milk) I just feel its just such a waste of money.

Have had no luck getting her onto cows milk at all, she hates it.

thats not meant as a criticism btw, just a question as there does seem to be a big emphasis on weaning them off bottles, boob, dummy etc in the uk and the reality is they are still little and at your dd's age i really wouldnt worry about it.

ds1 self weaned from breast at 18mths.

ds2 with some encouragement as almost 4yrs!

ds3 3yrs 5mth ish? maybe a bit older.

ds4 was breast then bottlefed, and cut down to 2 bottles at 18mths? and then just had one bottle before bed until 3yrs 5mths.

dd is 19mths and has 2 bottles ish for the past few months, only ever 4oz she was never a big milk fan, occasionally she has one at lunchtime as well, again 4oz.

they all drank water from a sippy cup from 6mths and ate a variety of food etc, but still had the milk for comfort as well as nutrition, i just made sure i cleaned their teeth before bed.

there is nothing wrong in getting rid of the bottles btw if she is happy etc, i just wondered if you had any reason to or if it is because you feel/thought that you 'should' iykwim? :)

btw in norway children often have a bowl of porridge before bed, so yes if she has her dinner at 4:30 you could give her a bowl of porridge and it could serve the same purpose as milk, which helps to make you feel sleepy and would keep her full overnight :)

My DD had 7oz of cows milk before bed up til 17mo when.she dropped it herself. She is now 18mo. She has her evening meal at about 4.30 so I offer her milk in a cup just before bed and she has a couple of oz usually.

I add cheese or cream cheese to a lot of her meals, she has milk in her cereal in the morning and 1 yoghurt per day.

ah crossed posts, yes if she isnt drinking it then its a waste and she obviously doesnt want it? or is she teething? go for a bowl of porridge last thing before bed, it will fill her up and is part of her milk quota for the day :)

with my two that are bottlefed i never bothered to change them to cows milk at one, whilst htey had a bottle i just gave them first stage formula, purely as they were used to it and happy so i saw no reason to change. once ds4 was off bottles he will occasionally drink a cup of milk etc ,not that often tbh, he mainly drinks water but has milk on his cereal, has hot chocolate occasionally, cheese, yog, etc, they dont really need to drink milk if they have a good balanced diet. plus calcium is in some veg, fish etc as well :)

Would I be really crazy/naughty to give her some very weak low sugar hot chocolate before bedtime instead?, (maybe cocoa which is lower in sugar)

If I make sure she brushes her teeth? Just thinking maybe she will like that rather than just cows milk, but I mean really weak.

And btw she is teething and I noticed today that she is eating more again, but still not much milk, so will give it a few days and see if it picks up.

I also think she gets distracted, these light evenings are hard, she sees all her toys around and wants them instead of drinking the milk. I'm going to have to get some big toy boxes and take her toys out at bed time arent I?

dont see why not, as long as you clean her teeth it should be fine, no different to a drink of warm milk really. i would go for a decent cocoa powder that is low sugar like you say :)

and yes tidy toys away at bedtime, lights off, curtains closed, i just try to keep everything low key and chilled (as much as it can be with 5 children!)

have you tried letting her drink milk (either kind) through a straw, some toddlers like that.

We used to mix fromage frais into milk to make ds a little "milkshake" as he stopped drinking it too. He's 7 now and still likes it every now and again!

We have the room dark (as we can at this time of year) with a cd on, but she is going through a real teddy phase and will see a teddy and wont stop until she gets it, and this is after bath etc.

cats I like the idea of the fromage frais!

will she cuddle a teddy as she has her milk? my dd loves teddies! her fave is her cuddly lamb which goes to bed with her and she often cuddles that whilst she has her milk, we often have to stop and offer the milk to the lamb as well tho!

oh adn black out material for windows! yog in milk sounds worth a try,.

Thanks 5madthings last year when she was tiny we got a black out blind and black out curtains when we were trying to get her to sleep through the night, but if there is any sun which is unusual it streams in through her bedroom window at bedtime at the moment.

She does cuddle a teddy and I love the idea of giving some to teddy too, but she then sees another teddy and wants them all!!

So many things to think, thanks ladies!! x