Cow's Milk - why you ARE or ARE NOT giving to your toddler

[rvamommy]

DD is 17 mos and so far not having cows milk. Recently I've been wavering on this. DD is growing very well and happy and healthy but is nursing every one to two hours and my body is really starting to feel the strain.

I'd love to hear some opinions on why you've started or why you're abstaining.

Thanks!

[blizzard_babe]

We're not. Well, we're not giving him like cups of milk. Occasionally, if we're out of yogurt, he gets milk on his cereal, and it's not like we're not giving him anything with dairy in it. We're avoiding straight milk because while DS is only nursing a few times a day at this point, it's as much milk as he'd be drinking. We also have a history of... um... poor lactose digestion in my family, so it's not like ANY of us our downing big glasses of milk. Yogurt works much better for us since the lactose is partially digested. I doubt we'll ever be regularly giving him large glasses of milk; he really likes plain yogurt and I see no reason to move away from that.

[frontierpsych]

DS is 16 months and is allergic to dairy, so it was an easy decision for us.

[elmh23]

We give our children whole milk one or two times a day.

Dd nursed until 3 but I started giving it to her around 22 months to help get her to sleep through the night without nursing and go to sleep without nursing (I was pregnant and ds was born when she was 27 months.)

Ds is now almost 3, but he weaned at 17 months. He needed something with fat in it and it was something he'd eat (he's picky and won't touch a lot of high fat foods.) In fact for a while there, milk was the only fat he'd take in, so it became a life saver

[nameisrio]

I was hesitant about giving it b/c I had a milk allergy that lasted til adulthood, but my daughter loved cow's milk from her first sip and has no trouble digesting it. I work so it enabled me to stop pumping when she was 16 mos. (she still nursed when I was home til 32 mos.). It was also a big source of nutrition for her as she was a super-picky eater in her 2nd year. We did have trouble getting her to give up the bottle at age 2, but when we did, she started eating better. Now she probably drinks about 2 cups a day. She also loves cheese and yogurt.

[noobmom]

DS had a milk protein allergy as a baby (which he grew out of), so we've never pushed milk. If he wants to drink it, fine. I would say he drinks about half a cup milk a day, tops. He does consume a lot of cheese and yogurt though.

[Anna's Lovey]

eczema. for some reason cheese and yogurt are fine, but my lo got eczema as soon as I started with milk.

[weliveintheforest]

my son is 2 now, and has been getting raw milk since about a year, more after 18 months.

[ashleyhaugh]

ds is 26 months and allergic to dairy. he has soy or rice milk at daycare, but only occasionally drinks it at home. he nurses 2 (during the week) or 3 (on the weekends)

[yasinsmama]

DS is 20 months old, and just won't drink milk. I've actually tried to get him to drink it on occasion, just because he needs all the calories he can get, and he just spits it out, then asks to nurse. He still nurses quite a bit during the day and night, and he loves yogurt, so right now i'm not concerned.

[broodymama]

DD2 is 17 months and is not given cow milk to drink. She had a dairy & soy sensitivity as an infant and has outgrown it now. She still nurses several times a day, but I'm 16 weeks pregnant and my supply has dropped off a little bit. Just like my older two, water will be her main source of liquid and she'll get healthy fats from the foods in her diet and breastmilk, I plan on tandem nursing (again) after this baby is born.

[AllyRae]

We don't give our 2 year old milk and we won't be giving our 11 month old milk once she gets old enough--they both have dairy allergies. The 2 year old was formula fed (she was adopted and couldn't nurse) and the 11 month old is breastfed. Once they get to 12ish months old, they get coconut milk products in place of dairy (and of course, we'll still give breastmilk too).

ETA: None of my kids eat dairy, and the two youngest are pretty decent eaters and eat a healthy diet. They are both growing very well with no deficiencies.

[Krisis]

DS is 23 months and drinks organic whole milk all the time. He drinks several cups a day, loooves it. I never really understood the whole milk is bad argument. Granted, raw would be better, but I can't afford it and it tastes yucky to me (like....licking a cow.)

[Baby_Cakes]

DD is 15 mo and we are vegan. She has never had dairy. She does get soymilk when she is w/her DCP one day per week, but other than that she only gets water for hydration. She still nurses plenty and I don't feel she needs another form of milk nutritionally. I read on Kellymom that as long as your child is nursing 3-4 times per day they do not need additional alternative milk.

[rightkindofme]

My 19 month old get some raw cow's milk, but probably less than 1/2 a cup per day. She gets it when she asks for it. Mostly she drinks water and I'm good with that. She nurses a fair bit most days.

[Artichokie]

DD is 23 mo and has never had milk other than mine. She does eat cheese and yogurt. We've just never had any occasion or reason to give it her milk - we prefer water at meals and her snacks usually have yogurt or cheese component already, so milk seems like dairy overload. She nurses every four hours or so when she is awake.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

my ds is 3 1/2 so more of a preschooler, but i never force him to drink drink drink the cow's milk as so many people do to their lo's. Ds was nursing until 28 months and would barely touch cows milk until we went to india and that's all they had when he was 30 months. I prefer soy or almond milk, so we mostly drink that, but i will sometimes buy cows milk to make pudding, but we do eat cheese, yogurt and ice cream sometimes. I just don't force dairy on him, and he is a healthy boy in 97% height/weight percentile. We also limit poultry and we don't eat beef/pork/seafood. For me it's more of an enivornmental/humane thing. While i haven't completely elimated poultry/dairy, we try not to over consume them..

[lilmom]

DS is almost 2.5, and he drinks lots of organic whole milk. In our case, I wasn't able to BF because I did not have any milk, due to the fact that I was extremely sick while pregnant with him. So, I was practically counting the days until he was able to drink milk rather than have formula. He loves it, and since he is definitely skinny, we also like that it has fat in it for him. He doesn't seem to have any trouble digesting it either. So it worked out nicely.

[fruitfulmomma]

My youngest just turned 1 and she is having sips of whole milk when I drink it, as well as yogurt, butter, cheese, etc... She is still mostly getting bm so these aren't substitutes but dairy is actually one of the very few foods she can actually tolerate well, which I am so thankful for because her list is pretty low right now.

My three yo isn't nursing much anymore. She is free to eat as much dairy as she wants or not.

[Materfamilias]

Originally Posted by MoreThanApplesauce

DD is 23 mo and has never had milk other than mine. She does eat cheese and yogurt. We've just never had any occasion or reason to give it her milk - we prefer water at meals and her snacks usually have yogurt or cheese component already, so milk seems like dairy overload. She nurses every four hours or so when she is awake.