Q&A: introducing milk to toddler

K had an addendum to her sleeping question:

"milk, when and how to introduce it?

background: the lovely lady is 13 months and her cousin has had terrible problems with milk allergies. apart from him there are no known milk allergy cases in the family.

my options are:
stage two powder milk
goats milk formula powder
fresh goats milk
soy
rice milk
real normal milk [full fat]
watered down full fat yoghurt

what did you do?"

What did I do? I was still nursing El Chico at 13 months, so I didn't really worry much about it. He was already drinking water and "bubble water" (plain seltzer/club soda) as a treat* from a straw cup by then. We have no history of allergies, and he was fine with other dairy products, so I just tried some whole cow's milk in a straw cup one day and he liked it. I gave it to him whenever he asked for it if he was eating his normal meals. After a few months I stopped buying whole milk and gave him the 1% my husband drinks, because the logic of recommending whole fat dairy to toddlers isn't that they necessarily need the dairy fat but just so nutty people don't restrict fat in a toddler's diet. El Chico ate avocados and other fatty foods (nuts, etc.) 'til the cows came home, so I wasn't worried about his getting fat in the milk he drank. He's almost 4, and he still mostly drinks water and milk (and apple juice at school).

Here's the thing, though: There are plenty of cultures in which toddlers don't drink milk, and they grow up perfectly healthy. So if you don't drink cow's milk or don't want your child to, it won't be a big deal. And if your kid doesn't like cow's milk, nothing bad will happen. My brother and I both despised cow's milk as kids. I eat plenty of other dairy products (cheese and ice cream, mostly), but my brother still can't stand dairy (he even orders pizza with no cheese). And we're both tall (5' 8" and 6' 0", respectively) with no health problems and good bones and teeth**. My mom made sure we ate a variety of foods (she was a co-op hippy kind of mom) and we took vitamins, so I'm guessing we were healthier than kids who drank a ton of milk but didn't eat much else.

Anyway, all of that is just to say that I don't think people should be stressing that much about introducing milk to their kids. Try cow's milk in a sippy or straw cup, and if your kid doesn't like it, pick something else to try. Some kids like goat's milk, but it's way expensive and tastes too gamey to me, so I'd try fortified soy "milk" (it's bean juice, people) or rice milk (a.k.a. horchata) instead. But that's just me and my tastes. Some people want their kids to drink a variety of different milk-like liquids, and that's great, too.

If your toddler is still nursing or eating a variety of foods you don't really need formula of any kind, but if it makes you feel better to give formula, then go ahead. I wouldn't bother to heat it up at all, because then you'll have to keep heating it every time you give it to her.

So I don't know. What do you and your partner drink at home? (Other than wine and espresso, I mean.) Try giving her a little to see if she likes it. If she does, you're set. If she doesn't, or you want her to get used to a variety of beverages, keep trying things and seeing what she likes.

*I highly recommend giving your toddler bubble water every once in awhile if you ever go to restaurants to eat. They think it's really special, but it's only carbonated water, so it's fine for them, but they get to order a special drink like the adults and it helps you delay the soda question. It's one of those ways of giving your toddler the illusion of control without letting them make a bad choice.

**Interestingly enough, my grandmother grew up on a dairy farm and has drunk a pint of milk every day of her life, had 5 kids and nursed them all for at least a year each, and does weight-bearing exercise regularly, but she developed major osteoporosis. She's totally the outlier on the stats of bone strength and lifestyle factors. But she's been getting chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture and taking Fosamax, and her bones are in better shape at 90 than they were at 80.

Comments

[kelly jeanie]

Fantastic idea on the "bubble water," Moxie. Can't wait to try it! All around, extremely helpful answer, thanks.

[AmyinMotown]

Maggie had some issues with milk-based formula. I supplemented with that although she was mostly breastfed. Her constipation stopped once we moved to soy-based formula. Starting with the full-fat yogurt at about 12 months worked for us (we use YoBaby--have you tasted that stuff? It's delicious!) and she was probably 13 months when we gradually switched over from formula to milk (I stopped nursing just shy of 8 months). The intense love affair with the stuff has just cooled down--she was drinking probably 16-24 ounces a day there for awhile in addition to regualr table food meals and snacks! We went slow and I think that helped.

Moxie, a question (and I'll ask this as a formal one if you'd prefer) how did you get El Chico to drink from a straw? After your previous post on this I though it was a great idea and keep handing Maggie straw cups. She takes out the straw, plays with it, and giggles. She does not, however, drink from it (she'll drink from a regular glass if I help her becasue she likes to imitate me, but won't follow my lead on the straw thing).

[Melissa]

Amy, maybe Moxie will share her method, but I thought I'd share mine as well. I taught my daughter to drink from a straw about a month ago. I started by dipping one end of a straw in liquid, holding my finger over the other end, and putting the liquid end in her mouth. After a while, once she was used to liquid coming from the straw, I stopped releasing the liquid until she sucked on the straw. After doing that for a little while, I gave her the straw cup and she took to it right away. The whole process only took a few days. Hope that helps!

[Moxie]

Melissa's method is better than mine, because I had no method. El Chico just seemed to get it right away (maybe because he was also trying to suck on the bubble liquid instead of blowing at right around the same age? who knows). So try Melissa's plan and if it doesn't work maybe someone else will have another plan you can try.

[-Blue]

I'm coming in late to this topic (sorry!) but I wanted to add that if anyone out there wants to try goats milk as an alternative to try to find a producer on the farm.

I raise diary goats and I can attest to that tinned goats milk being nasty. Fresh Goat's milk that's not properly handled will also taste 'off'.

A person on the farm (goats are often raised by folks on v. small 'farms' so a producer might be closer than you realize) who milks cleanly and refrigerates quickly will have v. good tasting milk to offer. You should NOT be able to tell it from fresh cows milk!

Contact http://www.adga.org for a list of grade A goat dairies in your area.

Whew ... sorry for the novel!

-Blue