Will they ever drink milk?

We are not 1 yet but we were switched to whole milk at 9 months. We transitioned slowly for 6 weeks. It all went pretty smoothly. Now they will not drink milk for anything. I fight and fight and get maybe an ounce in them. By the end of the day they have drank maybe 4oz. Trust me I have to work hard to get even that in.

Our Ped has advised as to no less than 12oz.

I cannot take it anymore. they cry, I cry, we al sweat and get totally stressed. I have no clue what to do. They hate drinking. No matter what it is.

I am wondering if the reflux is back. They were on Soy formula and now whole milk. Maybe it has something to do with that.

Whatever it is, I cannot take it anymore.

What's the deal?

 

What happens if you offer formula?

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Jun 17 2008, 10:11 AM) [snapback]830918[/snapback]
What happens if you offer formula?



That is just as bad. The PED switched them to milk because they were drinking maybe 2oz. of formula 3 times a day. When we first switched to milk it was wonderful and now forget it.

I am literally not in a good place right now. I just told DH to get home from work as I dont even want to be around them right now. It is sooooooo frustrating. The PED says they are fine as they gain weight, but she doesnt get how hard we work to get anything in them.

 

Do they drink water? Do they eat a lot of calcium-rich foods? :hug99: I'm glad your DH is coming home. Get out of the house for awhile and take a break.

 

QUOTE(Leighann @ Jun 17 2008, 10:17 AM) [snapback]830927[/snapback]
Do they drink water? Do they eat a lot of calcium-rich foods? :hug99: I'm glad your DH is coming home. Get out of the house for awhile and take a break.



He especially will not eat a single veggie. It seems even ones he has never had he knows are veggies. He picks it up and then immediately throws it down. They will eat yogurt and occasionally cheese.

They are so friggen weird. What kid doesnt like milk!

 

This might sound crazy and I'm sure others won't agree, but it works for us. Mine too would drink plain whole milk at first and then I had to fight them to drink it. I started putting a little bit (just a little less than a teaspoon) of Ovaltine in it and I still warm their milk. They drink three 8 oz glasses everyday now since usuing the Ovaltine. I brush their teeth at nap time and at bedtime. They love their milk now. I've probably ruined the possibilty of them ever drinking regular milk, but it's working for us right now and I figure I'll cross that bridge when it comes.
Good luck, hope you find something that helps.

 

Tammy, I'm no expert, but there are just some kids who don't love milk. Continue to offer it but you're not doing any of you any good by worrying SO much. You don't want to stress yourself and the babies out to the point where they just associate milk with frustration - that will put you in an even more difficult situation. Also, at 11 months old they're starting to realize what behaviours get a reaction from their parents, positive or negative, and sometimes that can be a part of refusing foods/drinks. And twins sometimes feed off each other - if one is fussy the other one is along for the ride. I would suggest casually offering milk in the morning, before naps, before bed, and with meals but don't force it and don't worry about counting every 1/2 ounce. To make you feel confident in their calcium intake, offer yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar, and BEST OF ALL, smoothies (my boys were crazy for smoothies for a while there and they made me feel much better when James was refusing milk - I put milk, natural yogurt, berries, avacado/mango - whatever together in the blender then spoon fed them, sometimes mixed with baby cereal to thicken if it was too messy - I'd even add a scoop or two of formula for good measure). If you're really worried, give them a vitamin like poly-sol which includes vitamin D (found in milk). But try not to worry so much. You're a great mom and although milk has traditionally been the most important part of your babies' diet, they're getting older and it's losing importance.

 

I had the milk issue with the boys switching from formula to milk. I went out and bought pediasure and mixed about 3/4 of a sippie of pediasure with 1/4 milk. The pediasure in vanilla is something they loved. After I got them hooked on that then I cut it to half milk and half pediasure and eventually dropped the pediasure altogether. By then they would take the regular milk and to be perfectly honest on days they balk at plain milk, I'll add a little strawberry syrup. They hated the milk to begin with and now we pretty much have to ration it because they would drink it all day long. They can chug an 8 oz sippie of milk in a heartbeat and if brother isn't through - they'll snatch it as well.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Jun 17 2008, 10:25 AM) [snapback]830938[/snapback]
Tammy, I'm no expert, but there are just some kids who don't love milk. Continue to offer it but you're not doing any of you any good by worrying SO much. You don't want to stress yourself and the babies out to the point where they just associate milk with frustration - that will put you in an even more difficult situation. Also, at 11 months old they're starting to realize what behaviours get a reaction from their parents, positive or negative, and sometimes that can be a part of refusing foods/drinks. And twins sometimes feed off each other - if one is fussy the other one is along for the ride. I would suggest casually offering milk in the morning, before naps, before bed, and with meals but don't force it and don't worry about counting every 1/2 ounce. To make you feel confident in their calcium intake, offer yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar, and BEST OF ALL, smoothies (my boys were crazy for smoothies for a while there and they made me feel much better when James was refusing milk - I put milk, natural yogurt, berries, avacado/mango - whatever together in the blender then spoon fed them, sometimes mixed with baby cereal to thicken if it was too messy - I'd even add a scoop or two of formula for good measure). If you're really worried, give them a vitamin like poly-sol which includes vitamin D (found in milk). But try not to worry so much. You're a great mom and although milk has traditionally been the most important part of your babies' diet, they're getting older and it's losing importance.



We do the poly-vi-sol with iron. We have since we realized they were only drinking a few oz. a day. My main concerns are calcium and of course hydration! I will try the smoothie tonight though.

Thanks!

 

Oh boy, my son has BAD BAD BAD reflux and let me tell you the whole cow's milk was like poison for the reflux. He would drink until the cow's came home (lol), but he'd puke it ALL back up right after. Everytime. So, we tried goat's milk and the difference is like night and day. He went from puking 6+ times a day to 0 times overnight. It's been 2 weeks and he is doing great on it! His reflux is virtually gone...Not even spitting up! Maybe you can try it?

 

Tammy, you know we had reflux terribly as well, and we went from soy formula to Vanilla flavored Rice Milk. We tried whole milk after formula, but they started spitting up a lot on it. I switched them to the Rice milk and the spit up stopped almost overnight. At 18 months, I was able to switch them from the Rice Milk to whole milk with no problems. Jake still is not fond of plain whole milk, so I mix in some Carnation Instant Breakfast for him. Emma drinks regular.

 

A girl in our playgroup makes smoothies for her boys to get their milk in. I believe they were exclusively breastfed and they won't drink it either.

I know our pedi mentioned there are still periods up until 2 years old that the reflux could come back. That's certainly something to look into.

 

I couldn't get my girls to drink milk once we switched to sippy cups. For weeks and weeks they drank no milk but I was able to get them dairy in other ways. The Peds don't seem to mention that the dairy doesn't only have to be in the form of pure milk. If you give them yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, Oatmeal made with milk, cereal and milk and the such, that counts as dairy. I know how stressful it can be. I have to admit that eventually I did start putting Quick in their milk and as soon as I did that, they totally started drinking milk again. To this day they will pretty much only drink their milk with Quick in but I don't care. At least I know they are drinking SOME milk.

 

Well tonight we went out and bough very very vanilla soymilk for kids. It has all the calcium and such that milk has.

It was a disaster. The first few sucks were rapid (that stuff is so sweet) and then it was back to the screaming and fighting. It was terrible.

I am putting them back on prevacid as of tonight and we will see if this is reflux related.

I also bought some rice milk, some kefir and some graduates splashers which has calcium in it.

We have to find something.

I went to the pharmacy to see about a calcium supplement for them and get this they dont have such a thing.

Ugggggggg

 

calcium and your toddler: http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/toddlercalcium.htm

 

I have a daughter who is now 9 and to this day she will only drink Chocolate milk. My Ped said better to have it chocolate than not at all! I have a son who for a time only liked his strawberry flavored but he now drinks it white.

Cindy

 

Well this morning was only half a disaster. Thomas drank about 3oz. and Elizabeth about 4 sucks before she tossed the cup aside.

Ugggggg

 

They did eat the smootie I made them. Yogurt, Tofu, DHA, Strawberries and some Baby Oatmeal.

Lots of good Calcium!

 

Add a couple of scoops of formula to that smoothie and you're set.