Baby hates cow’s milk - what do I do?

[cannotcope677]

My baby boy is 13 months old. I know I should’ve dropped the formula and bottles and moved him onto cow’s milk and cups at 12 months, but I couldn’t face disrupting his routine.

So today I finally took the plunge and gave him a bottle (still not a cup) of cow’s milk instead of formula this morning. He drank about 20mls then refused any more, just kept pushing the bottle away. It was the same story after lunch, at which point I gave up and let him have the formula instead.

I know bottles aren’t recommended beyond 12 months and that he should be dropping the formula and moving onto cow’s milk.

The NHS website says babies should have at least 350mls of cow’s milk a day OR “2 servings of foods made from milk, such as cheese, yoghurt or fromage frais.”

But how much is a “serving” of cheese/yogurt? I have no idea how much that is and how much I need to give him to ensure he’s getting enough calcium.

Just when you feel you’ve got a good routine down, everything changes again. So stressful!

Definitely try warming the cows milk

I've never liked milk as a drink, and my mother tells me I always refused it from when I was a toddler. I wouldn't worry about it, just give milk in other forms. I would eat cheese, or cereal with milk, or rice pudding, or custard on a serving of stewed fruit, hot or cold.

(There was still such a thing as school milk when I was at primary school; I still have vivid memories of spending almost all of morning playtimes trying to choke the vile stuff down, until they said I needn't have it any more.)

First stage formula is fine. Some countries say children should have formula until 2 yrs. the problem with formula is the bottles not that formula so it’s fine to give formula in cups.

It’s 350mg of calcium a day, that can be in yoghurts, cheese, fortified foods (ready brek, some of the 50/50 breads and some cereals) and milk on cereal. I know vegan Horlicks has lots of calcium in (I’m assuming the non vegan one would too) - I make it up with 3 heaped teas spoon of the powder and 100 ml of milk and that provides enough calcium for the day. You can hide it in food eg crumble and custards, rice pudding and semolina.

My boy never took to milk either. We went cold-turkey on formula at about 14 months as we night weaned. He used to have a bowl of greek yoghurt with breakfast and cheese as snacks. I think he started eating better meals as he wasn't drinking so many calories.

Thanks for replying. I feel like making sure my boy gets all the right nutrients is so stressful. It’s like I suddenly have to be an expert in nutrition!

Did you try him with it warmed up this morning?

Definitely warm it up but really don't panic. My now 8 month old has been refusing most bottles since I started weaning. At best, he gets 400 mls a day but I'd say it's probably nearer 200 most days. I just make sure he's getting lots of dairy in his diet. Milk in porridge, soft cheese, yogurts.
He's on the 75th centile for weight so it's not doing any harm.

Have you tried arla big milk? Both mine really took to this well, it is like cravendale with sime added vitamins. Ds2 took alittle longer but now loves it. I just switched them both cold turkey to a cup of milk with breakfast and at snack times. I was lucky though as ds1 wasn't a fan of bottles or formula and loved cows milk. Ds2 naturally dropped his bottles at months old making the switch easier.

13months*

Mine won’t drink cows milk. I give him a small portion of cheese as a snack, such as a Babybel or Cheestring. Plus as much plain yogurt as he will eat. He copes better with Skyr yogurt because it’s really thick and sticks to the spoon.

I think you should try some of the suggestions on here, but just to say my DS would never drink cows milk whatever we did. He also wouldn't go back to formula. Gave up in the end - he hates it as a drink and still does at almost 6. He has it on weetabix happily enough, and he will eat plain yoghurt with honey so he gets that most days. He doesnt much like cheese either but if I slice it thin and put a bit of marmite on it he will eat it! He is tall and healthy and I do my best to get calcium in so dont worry too much if he wont go there, there are other sources.

As other pps say if little one doesn't take much at first it is okay as long as getting plenty diary- milk, cheese, yoghurt etc in diet.

I'd stick with it. My DS refused for the first day or two and now he's fine. Maybe start with milk in cereal.

We gradually changed an ounce at a time to cow’s and then once we were down to half and half we just switched to warmed up cows milk. Defo warm it up. He took it just fine.

We then bought him a new sippy cup for the morning and by that time he was used to cow’s milk.

He’s 2 now and has lost interest in bedtime milk so we just give him some in a cup through the day, he has it at on cereal etc and mixed with mash, and he has cheese and yoghurt each day.

You don’t need follow on milk. DS was prem and every paediatrician we’ve ever spoken to said it was absolutely pointless. Cow’s milk with a vitamin supplement.

My 4 year old still likes to have a drink of milk from a bottle

It’s once a day at home whilst having a bit of a cuddle so I don’t see any harm

A breastfed baby would continue drinking from the boob after 1 in many cases and sometimes for quite a few years

Warming it up to the same temperature as formula worked for my DS. We just reduced the temperature over time.

I know people are saying about warming it up but the cold was a godsend for dc1's teething and he loved it cold and is still not a fan of warm drinks unless hot chocolate! Maybe just have a little experiment with it and some different cups. Dc1 preferred a sippy cup whereas Dc2 transitioned to a straw cup then a magic cup. They really are all different.

The 12 month+ formulas are really under regulated and they're all full of sugar and terrible for teeth so defo avoid those. Any formula for up to 12 months is fine to keep using as long as it doesn't push food out of their diet.