What to give 1 year old DS to drink?

[robynholly]

If you aren't BFing and aren't into dairy, what do you give to drink?

[Llyra]

filtered water

[alegna]

A 1yr old who is not nursing needs formula or a full-fat animal milk.

-Angela

[kjbrown92]

water, enriched rice milk, smoothies with coconut milk and lots of fruit, bone broth

[mrsfrenchy]

Originally Posted by alegna

A 1yr old who is not nursing needs formula or a full-fat animal milk.

-Angela

:

It doesn't mean I would only give that, I'd give water too. But he needs something.

[mamadelbosque]

Water. Maybe a little juice. But I'd really be pushing raw cows' milk if I wasn't breast feeding, and offering it even if I was.

[Chloe'sMama]

DD is 17 months and we just do water. We have done smoothies a few times, but mostly as a treat and less than once a week.

[Pepper44]

My DD is 3 and still nurses, but she drinks other stuff. Mainly she drinks water. She might have a glass of orange juice or one glass of quality apple juice each day if she asks for it. If she drinks more than one glass she gets loose poops and she knows it, so she limits herself.

What about kefir? It's usually dairy, but it's extremely good for you! (I think there is a kind made with water and not dairy?) My DD loves it blended with frozen strawberries and a dash of orange juice to thin it out, and a few drops of honey to sweeten it if the berries are tart. Kefir has something like 9 grams of protein in one cup and it's full of healthy bacteria for the gut.

[robynholly]

Why do babies need full fat milk?

[Holiztic]

I *personally* would be doing this: http://www.realmilk.com/formularecipes.html (there's a non-dairy one--its liver!)

At 1 DS was still nursing A LOT, so he just got a little water, but if he wasn't nursing I would have just about gone to the ends of the earth to get something like the above into him! Just water? Juice? Yikes!

I'd scale this opinion down (a little) for an older 1 year old (like past 18 months) that was eating a very nutrient dense varied diet for most of their calories (with plenty of fat soluble vitamins and cholesterol!), then water *might* be enough.

[mamadelbosque]

Babies need full fat milk cause' they need the fat for their brains to develop.

[sunnysandiegan]

All humans need fat. Developing babies need it more. Brain development is the most common reason (and it is a mighty important one), but I'm sure we humans haven't studied *all* the other things that benefit from fat in our diet.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

All humans need fat. Developing babies need it more. Brain development is the most common reason (and it is a mighty important one), but I'm sure we humans haven't studied *all* the other things that benefit from fat in our diet.

:ita When it comes to babies and toddlers, having fat in their diets is a good thing. Cow's milk is most often recommended because it contains the fat AND calcium, although it's not the only or even best source of calcium out there.

With my cow's milk allergic DD, we gave her soy milk or calcium enriched OJ after she weaned.

[Drummer's Wife]

I agree with full-fat milk of some kind at least until 2 years.

[anomaly13]

my 14 month old still nurses some but he also drinks water, plain unsweetened hemp milk, full fat coconut milk, whole milk yogurt in smoothies, and plain whole milk kefir. we did the no dairy with ds1 until he was almost 3 and now he drinks all above mentioned as well as goat milk. but babies/toddlers really do need full fat milk, but i don't think it has to be animal milk, which is why we are doing yogurt/kefir with ds2 now

[Ruthla]

I wouldn't avoid milk for a toddler because "I wasn't into dairy." Humans are mammals, and baby mammals need mammal milk. Human milk is the best thing for human babies and small children. If that's not available, then the next best thing is milk from another mammal- cow, goat, sheep, etc. If you have a child who can't tolerate cow's milk, the best thing is to use goat or sheep milk, if that can be tolerated. If no mammal milks can be tolerated (and human milk from a mom who's avoiding dairy products isn't available), then some kind of formula (soy based, meat based, or highly processed "hypo-allergenic") would be needed.

Nutritionally, there's little difference between milk and cultured dairy products such as yogurt, kefir, or cheese. If a toddler is eating a lot of dairy products, but not actually drinking milk, then water is the only beverage the child needs.