I must have jinxed myself. A few posts ago, saying that since the Critter liked her sippy cups full of water, she'd have no problem drinking milk from them. Damn haven't I learned anything?? Write it on the blog, and the opposite will come true.
Apparently drinking milk from sippy cups is terrible. Worse than terrible. Intolerable.
I started with her mid-day bottle. I offered her milk at the same time, same place, just in sippy cup form. She took a sip, let it dribble out of her mouth and refused any more. I didn't push it, and offered her a snack instead. A snack of her favorite cheese crackers and water. Which she happily ate and drank, while ignoring the milk. Milk down the drain.
Today I replaced her morning bottle, again with sippy. Same place, same mommy cuddles, same watching the digital picture frame show pictures of babies. She took one look at the sippy and just started bawling. Real tears and everything. So we went downstairs and she ate a big breakfast of oatmeal and blueberries instead. And all was well, other than the ounces of milk down the drain again. Oh, and when I offered her water out of an identical sippy, she happily drank that.
What's up with that? Why is water ok, and milk total poo? Should I be concerned that she isn't ingesting much milk at all? Or should it be ok since she is a good eater and getting her calories elsewhere?
What say you, oh wise interwebbies?
Making Bets
5 days ago
This is EXACTLY what Hen does. Well, not the tears, but he's having none of that evil milk-in-the-sippy-cup thing. No way, no how.
ReplyDeleteI've decided that it's not so much that he likes drinking the milk, as that he loves the familiarity of milk in a bottle that he sucks & gets held like a baby while he drinks. Milk in a sippy cup just doesn't push the same comfort buttons. He's never liked cold milk, but he doesn't even want warm milk in a cup. Granted, he's also uninterested in juice--water or tea is really all he wants to drink. I do wonder if I were drinking milk these days with meals, if he'd drink too? He's definitely doing his best to be just like Mommy in a lot of ways right now.
That said, I asked my pediatrician about the lack of milk-calories as we wean him from his sleepytime bottles & he said not to worry about it. Really not to worry about it. That he'd get his calories & nutrients from food AS HE'S SUPPOSED TO. So I'm not worrying. Really. (and neither should you!) Especially since Critter is a good eater like he is.
Good luck. Getting him off the bottle continues to be one of the biggest parenting challenges yet--I hadn't realized how bound up in 'this is my baby' feelings bottle feeding him is for me. So far (knock wood!) slowly weaning off the bottle has worked without any problems on his end. My end's another story--sniff!
I got nothing of use for you, as we have the same problems here. Except that after I put milk in the sippy cup, then B gets angry at the whole idea of the cup and wont take water from it either. So my approach? I'm giving up for a few months. Will try again later.
ReplyDeleteKeep offering it to her. I've read it can take 15-20 times of offering something before they'll consider it. Maybe put less milk in it so you're not having to dump out too much each time. If she says no to it, just kindly say, "it's ok, you don't have to drink it" and then sit it aside. If she feels it makes you frustrated or it's being forced upon her, she will refuse it to the fullest extent. She may be holding out for you to bring the bottle back, but don't or this will continue because she'll learn that you'll eventually cave and she'll get the bottle.
ReplyDeleteTyler used to love his sippy straw cups and then one day out of the blue he refused them. He would go all day and not drink a single sip of water, but if I gave him a regular cup, he'd drink like he was dehydrated. They are stubborn little creatures. I just got him a water bottle like mama's, while not leak proof, at least he started drinking water again. Now he'll use his sippy cup again. They sure keep us on our toes.
As far as not drinking milk, don't worry about it. They're finding that cow's milk doesn't "do a body good" as they had once thought. The processing and pasteurization of the milk heats it so high that it destroys many of the benefits. She can get her fat and calcium from plenty of other sources until she's willing to take milk again. Does she like avocado? If I remember correctly, that would be a no. Does she like cheese or yogurt? Buttered toast? All of those have the fat and calcium content.
Alrighty, that's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.
oh no! i wonder why she'll take water but not milk out of a sippy cup? kids can be so strange! we were lucky in that louise's transition form bottles to sippys went really well, unfortunately, the same is not true for food in general, we can't get her to eat hardly one bite of ANYTHING.
ReplyDeleteK did exactly the same thing. Loved water in her sippy, but milk was only tolerable in her bottle. At just past 18mo, we caved in to pressure from our family doc and transitioned her off the bottle. That meant that milk intake plummeted. I don't toss the milk out if she doesn't drink it though, just put it back in the fridge for next time.
ReplyDeleteK will get some milk when eating her cereal in the morning. She loves cheese and yogurt, so she gets dairy that way too. The only cup we found that she would drink it out of was a cup with a lid and a straw through it. Fancy sippies were no way to convince her to drink milk. Even then, I'd have to sit reading books with her before bed and keep putting the straw in her mouth to get her to take a sip. After a few weeks of that, we just kind of gave up as it was too much effort.
I don't think you really need to worry about it like the others have said. Focus on her getting a good diet from solids, and use cheese and yogurt. We do make sure to give K a vitamin D supplement as I think lots of kids don't get much vit D and it's added to milk to increase intake.
Just be glad she's a good eater and likes her water!