My boys LOVE LOVE LOVE milk! That's the ONLY drink they ask for, and pretty much-drink! They are not big fans of juice for the most part. And when I do give it to them(Juicy Juice or frozen), I always add more water than is asked. With the Juicy Juice, I just add a bit of water. I would like for them to drink more water. They refuse. Unless-it's from a bottle, or there is no cover on their cup. NOT HAPPENING. They CONSTANTLY ask for milk. They will drink a cup, then ask for more right after. I can't tell you how much they get-but I know it's a lot. In an ideal world, I would like for them to have milk with their meals. Water/juice throughout the day and at snack time. What would you do? Do you have excessive milk drinkers? Do they drink anything else? I myself love milk, so they probably got it from me! And...I dislike juice(for the most part), and water as well... I'm creating monsters! LOL!
My girls for a long time were only drinking milk and the way I stopped it was just to say water or nothing. It was painful and some crying was involved, but when the only options they were given was water or nothing, they would decide on water. They now drink a fair amount of water throughout the day and only milk for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This might not be something you want to do, but it worked for us.
Mine love water, so I don't have the same problem... but have you tried playing around with the temperature? My boys will really only drink ice cold water. Maybe special water-only sippies, to make it fun? Good luck! I'm a die-hard water drinker who hates milk, so I hope they can learn to love water too!
I have big milk drinkers, too. They'd drink milk from sun up to sun down if I let them! My husband bugged me about it all the time, but it wasn't until my Ped scolded me for their milk intake did I do much about it (apparently too much milk can be detrimental...cause anemia or something). They STILL ask for milk all the time, but they don't get it. They get maybe an ounce or 2 in an open cup with all 3 meals & sometimes I'll get them seconds if they finish eating their food. Some days they don't even finish it. They get a full milk sippy in the morning when they wake up & they always down that. They still get a full milk sippy at bedtime, but we're working on that since we're potty training now...eventually it will have to get dropped or at least dropped down to a lesser amount. During the day, mine are always offered water. They drink it, but never ask for it. I always put ice in it to make it fun & sometimes let them help, to make it more fun. Otherwise, my two are addicted to "juice", which is actually flavored water. I'm pretty anti-juice, so like you, I dilute it so much that they are essentially getting water with a splash of juice . They do LOVE real juice, though, but it's only a special treat (like right now we have Apple Cider, so they are allowed a splash of that after nap). Have you tried flavored water? Also, we're trying to transition away from sippy cups with spouts during the day, so we use a lot of straw sippies & these. Maybe if you got the boys new "big kid" cups & tell them NO MILK is allowed in there, they'd be better with it? Try to let THEM pick the cup? Mine love Diego, so they don't care what's in their Diego cup anyway! Like someone else said, even if mine ask for milk, they aren't allowed it except morning/bedtime/meals. After a while, yours will get used to it. And they'll drink if they're thirsty, even if it's not milk!!!!
Do your kids still drink primarily from sippy cups? Our guys were/are HUGELY into milk, but when I stopped offering them sippies at home, they started drinking less, overall. I give them about 2 ounces of milk with every meal (depending on how well they're eating, I'll refill with milk upon request, or I'll refill with water and say there's no more milk). For snacks they get water or watered-down juice, and if I feel they need to get more liquids I'll offer them a crazy straw, which they LOVE. Maybe if you tried the straw thing or had a super-fun "water cup" they'd find it more appealing?
my girls love their milk, too. but they also drink a ton of water throughout the day. we have separate water sippies and milk sippies, and that helps. also, i put a ton of ice in their water, and they constantly ask for more ice, so you could try that! let them watch you put the ice in and make it a huge deal... they may want the water then ardon:
We only do milk at meals. We tell them we will have milk at lunch/dinner/etc---would you like water or juice right now. It took some fuss fests , but they are used to it now. They will drink water or diluted juice. Too much milk can cause them to 'eat' less and/or is not good for older toddlers/preschoolers. Our Pedi said to limit it to meals only and to serve dairy rich foods to help with more calcium/Vit D. I still have one that cries for milk as a comfort 'food' when she is fussy/upset.
My girls would drink milk all day long if I let them. Up until recently I would typically give into their requests, but then I noticed that it was starting to effect how much they were eating during their meals. Now my girls get a sippy of milk in the morning, at lunch, and before bedtime. For the rest of the day they get water with a splash of juice (they won't drink just plain water). It has really helped to get them eating again.
I understand completely. I started offering water all the time in cups and milk only before bed. They get all the milk and juice at daycare. They are only supposed to have like 4 oz of juice and 15 or less of milk. When I realized they were getting everything they need I switched their bed time drink to drinkable yogurt and water only in bed. I even eventually got them completely broke of cups in bed and now they have sippys of water on their nightstand. They rarely ever drink soda but both enjoy a glass of tea or lemonade as a treat. Might try some leamon juice in the water to get them to drink
My oldest son would drink milk all day long if we would let him. Because of this he would fill up on milk and than not eat his meals. I started only letting have milk at meals which was a bit of a battle at first but it did get better. He also doesn't like water but we mix his juice 3/4 water 1/4 juice and let him have it whenever he wants. It seemed to work for us and he is now eating better. I also took away his sippy cup at the same time we started this so he doesn't drink near as much as he used to. Best of luck
