Can't get my son to eat Dairy!! Help!

[EvieT80]

Hi!,
I'm having a crisis at the moment, trying to get my 7 year old to eat dairy, except yoghurt. He used to eat everything and was obsessed with milk, had it every meal time but as he is getting older, he is eating fewer things. He won't even contemplate eggs or cheese (has dry pizza!) and now is refusing milk. I've been able to hide the cheese in some foods and of course, cook with eggs so that isn't too bad and it is totally in his mind as he enjoys the food he has, but now I am struggling with breakfasts....
He was having honey on waffles every day but I have said he can't have this every day anymore. Does anyone have any ideas for breakfasts he could have that are healthier? I'm going to do beans on toast but would like to get milk into him some way or another.
He doesn't eat spreads apart from Jam, so I would really appreciate some more ideas!!!
Thanks in advance x

Do you mean he eats yoghurt or you don't want him to eat yoghurt?

If more yoghurt is ok look up recipes that incorporate it. I make pizza base and pancakes with yoghurt. Pizza is equal amounts flour and natural or Greek yoghurt then more for rolling, mix into dough and roll out, bake quickly both sides then top and bake
Pancakes are 100g yoghurt, 30g sugar, 1 egg 100g flour. Drop a blob in a hot frying pan and flip when the bubbles come through. They make fat American style ones.

If you're worried about protein and calcium he needs more pulses and green veg.

Would he eat porridge? The milk is less obvious than with normal cereal, especially if it's cooked firm.

Why do they have to eat dairy?

I have one who won’t eat dairy. Never has apart from cheese on pizza roughly once a month and then I make it mysels so it’s not too cheesy. They won’t eat melted cheese on toast though. They have never had cereal with milk for breakfast as refuse the milk. Doesn’t like creamy sauces, will have a few mouthfuls at most then declare themselves full.

They are an older teen now and have not suffered due to their lifetime lack of dairy. If it’s calcium you are worried about just serve up dishes that contained tinned salmon (soft edible bones are packed with calcium), lots of leafy greens (I still hide them in everything, very possible , tofu (I pack it into things like home made fried rice and when originally asked what it was said diced egg omelette pieces, all my non tofu eaters happily eat it ). I cook rice in almond milk. Essentially pack in calcium rich foods and hide/disguise them if necessary so they are happily eaten.

Chocolate milk?

I don't think this is the worst food avoidance to have, he could have a calcium and vitamin d supplement and vitamin d is also found in egg yolk/salmon and calcium is found in green veg

Milk shakes??
Offer him soya milk..
Tell him it's like a milk but for people that don't like milk..
Might make him feel special to have his own little bottle of milk..

Have you tried him on oat milk? Why do you need him to have dairy?

He doesn't need dairy.

Mine would never eat dairy - hated hot chocolate, hated milk, hated yoghurt, hated anything creamy (including cake if it had cream on it!), and he's now six foot tall, so it obviously didn't do him any harm.

Don't worry.

Eggs are definitely not essential, so don't worry about those unless he needs more protein.

Dairy - I probably eat cheese once or twice a week. No yoghurt, milk only in pancakes at the weekend. Whilst dairy is an easy source of calcium, it is not essential.

What about waffles with Greek yoghurt and fruit as a breakfast compromise?
Beans on toast is good.
Ham sandwich?
Honey on toast?
DS2 has marmite while DS1 has lemon curd or bovril on toast.

Wholegrain bagels are a good breakfast.

He does not need dairy but he obviously needs to get enough calcium. You can get foods fortified with calcium eg Kingsmill 50/50 bread or you can buy calcium supplements.

What does he want to eat for breakfast? Sandwhiches, left over dinner. Remember he does not have to have specific breakfast foods.

Hi OP

Unless your DS is vegetarian, I don't think you need to really worry about whether he eats dairy or not. Does he eat a reasonably varied/full diet otherwise?

For vegetarians dairy is an important source of key nutrients, but meat eaters can get these nutrients elsewhere. If he's eating meat/fish most days and a reasonable variety of grains and vegs plus yoghurts I'm sure hes absolutely fine!

My DC are vegetarian and one of them doesn't like milk and the other's not keen on cheese. They both eat yoghurt and butter every day, eggs maybe once a week. They're fit as fiddles :)

Would your DS eat plain yoghurt for breakfast, maybe with cereal or fruit? Or a flavoured yoghurt followed by some toast with marmite, cheese spread or peanut butter.?

You don't need to worry about calcium if he is getting enough vitamin D. He should definitely be taking vitamin D supplements during winter, as should all children btw. Without vitamin D, calcium isn't properly absorbed in the intestine. He doesn't need to eat dairy as long as he is eating a healthy diet in general.
Don't you make the waffles with milk?

Pancakes made with mashed banana and eggs

There are plenty of very healthy vegan children who eat no dairy at all. Try him with oat milk instead of cow's milk. My daughter is a meat eater but she won't touch cow's milk, only oat or soya milk. Nobody needs cheese, it's not healthy anyway.

For vegetarians dairy is an important source of key nutrients

What are these “key nutrients” that vegetarians can’t get elsewhere?

Don't force dairy onto your child alternatively your DC can have calcium from dark leafy veg, salmon and sea vegetables. Also vitamin C is so much more beneficial than dairy.

It's better that he doesn't eat dairy. When we consume animal products we consume the fear and pain of the poor creature who provided it for us, no wonder your child doesn't enjoy it!

Why do you think he needs dairy so much OP?

Why does he even need to? Dairy is a poison!

SuburbanRhonda
Dairy and eggs (and, according to some sources, yeast and seaweeds) are the only natural vegetarian sources of B12, which is an essential nutrient. Deficiency can be very serious.

Some other foods (like processed breakfast cereal) contain added B12, but from what I've read this B12 isn't the same as naturally occurring B12 and is harder for our bodies to use.

I'm a long term vegetarian, and for moral and environmental reasons would like to be vegan. But, much though some people say that adult humans don't need milk, we've evolved as a species to be omnivores. Any changes to our biological processes will take many generations.

I wish mine would go off dairy. Obsessed with milk. I think it makes her phlegmy. I’ve tried to replace with almond milk and oat milk but she refuses.

Thanks everyone for your comments...

I thought he needed dairy for the calcium and just because I probably don't know any better, but feel reassured it isn't so essential...he eats a lot of fruit and is good with veg/ meat (apologies to the veggies) so that is covered....I think I just want to cut the sugar out/lower and not have waffles and honey every day.

He won't eat spreads like marmite, peanut butter etc so I can rule that out..I may give the milk substitues a try though. Wont go near porridge but I am going to try the greek yoghurt and croissants.

This is not the extensive list of his dislikes, this is only breakfast time lol!!!! Thanks though!

“best of both” bread is fortified with calcium . If he ate 2 slices of thick sliced BoB bread per day he’d be v close to meeting his calcium requirements.