DS refuses cows milk

[TheWeeBabySeamus1]

DS is nearly 15 months and refuses to drink cows milk. I've been trying him with it since he turned 1 but he just spits it straight back out ( I've never seen him do this with anything else -he is a dream to feed as he'll literally eat everything ). So far I've tried: putting it in his sippy cup, bottle, normal cup, mixing it with formula, warm, cold ... I'm out of ideas! He just really doesn't like the taste

Has anyone else had this? What can I do to make it more appealing? Really struggling financially and we're going through a tin of formula every 8 days so need to get him switched over.

How is he with cows milk on cereal?

One of my children never liked milk as a drink. He would have cereal with milk, porridge with milk, would drink hot chocolate, have milk in sources (for pasta etc), but post-weaning never wanted it as a drink no matter what I tried. So I just made a big deal about ensuring he had lots of dairy in his diet.

My 16 month old loves her Toddler Milk (formula) but she only has 2 7oz drinks per day. I keep it as formula for the vitamins. I forsee that she wont like the change to cows milk.

sauces*

He'll have it on cereal, not overly keen on creamy sauces but will eat it. He has yogurts and cheese as well.

So if he is getting dairy in his food that's enough? He's not fussed with water ( he'll take a few sips at a time but it only amounts to about 3-4oz a day )which is why I'm still giving 20oz of formula a day.

Maybe he's just a milk hater like me

None of mine have drunk a huge amount of milk at that age. They can get loads of calcium from food like dairy and veg. I just made sure they got plenty that way.

People are obsessed with milk and their kids drinking milk and feeling like a failure if teh ya rent a family who gets through six pints a day

I'll let you into a secret. I am one of those kids who has never ever ever liked milk. even on cereal. you may as well have tried to get me to lick shit off your shoe the fuss I made about being forced to have milk.

over 30 years later I'm the only one in my family who's never broken a bone despite going to extreme lengths to avoid milk.

as long as you have yogurts and green veg and things like chick peas and you can get away with it in cooking it's fine.

filling up on milk can lead to them.not gaining enough nutrition from.other foods anyway

if he is getting dairy in his food that's enough?

Yes, absolutely. As long as you ensure he has plenty of dairy in his diet.

However if he is not drinking water, then getting dairy into him is not your only problem. Dehydration could be a bigger problem so keeping up his fluids is important.

Could you try squash instead of plain water?

I've been avoiding squash because of the sugar but think I may need to give in. He's not getting dehydrated as he's still having formula through the day, but like I said it's costing a fortune (and its a PITA making it up ) so need to phase it out.

Funny thing is he drinks loads of water for my mum - she watched him for 3 hours on Tuesday and he drank 8oz in that time. I think he can sense I'm a bit soft

They only need the equivalent of 300mls of milk per day at that age - around 3 portions of dairy would give that and they don't have to be in drink form e.g. Yoghurt, cheese, ice cream, milk on cereal would count towards that total.

DS never drank milk, ever.

When I weaned him off the breast at 15 months, he refused any attempt to get him to drink anything milky. Water, or occasional apple juice were his only drinks until he reached his teens. He ate some yoghurty/fromage frais things until he was about 3, then refused those too, but he has always eaten cheese.

He is now 17 and 6ft tall, solidly built. Milk is really not an essential part of the diet.

I'd try to avoid getting him hooked on squash if at all possible, though.

if you are feeling 20 pz a day no wonder he'd not thirsty for the water.

I'd drop it right back give water in the day and feed the milk at night. a bowl of porridge, a yogurt and some cubes of cheese and green veg etc is more than enough

My DD won't have milk either, just breast milk still. Won't touch formula either. She's 21months. She doesn't like yoghurt but will have cheese and creamy sauces. I'm planning to wean her at 2 (although it's going to be very hard) and I hope she'll suddenly start having milk then. I do worry because she's quite small- barely 10kg- and she really cannot afford to have less calories.

Hi there!
My little boy didn't like cow's milk either. He was on formula previously so I just switched to toddler formula which he loves :-) he was 12 months that time.

At 15 months he was on only 2 bottles a day. One in the morning and one in the evening. They dont need more than two at that age. He drinks now 150ml in the morning and 180ml in the evening. One tin lasts for more than 2 weeks! ( around 16-17 days). So it's not bad at all and he gets all the nutrients and vitamins.