If your LO didn't like whole milk at first....

*sallymad* · February 2012

How long did it take for them to finally start drinking it?

I'm trying to wean dd2 from nursing using the don't offer/don't refuse method. She really only asks to be nursed once during the day but still waking up twice at night to be nursed. The night ones are probably just for comfort....

Then I've been offering her whole milk with each meal for a week now and she took a few sips the first day but didn't like it. I tried mixing it with breastmilk (but she doesn't like pumped milk, go figure.), warming it up, and about 4 different kinds of sippy cups. I'll keep offering and I'm sure she'll come around but I'm curious how long it took your lo's to actually like and drink whole milk.

eta: She gets water in between meals, so it's not like she's not getting any liquids.

Kaley28 · February 2012

We're coming up on 14 months and are in the exact same situation. I'm sooo anxious to hear what everyone has to say.

WildcatPrincess · February 2012

2 months - from 13-15 months she drank maybe 1-2 oz a day. Then suddenly she took to the milk and takes 12-18 oz a day, now. Someone also told me some babies don't really take to it until a couple weeks after weaning completely, that's what her pedi told her and what her experience was.

Temp994124375009771 · February 2012

I tried to fully wean her to whole cows milk at 12 months but it was a no go. I tried again at 13 months (we were only doing morning and night for that month inbetween and offering whole milk with meals).

At 13 months she never asked to nurse and I never offered so it just ended one day. Within a few days of being completely off the boob she started sucking her milk down and never looked back.

She still is not a big drinker (of milk or water) compared to most kids her age but she gets enough (maybe about 12 oz of milk and 8 oz. water at most a day).

Good luck!

Hyfagal · February 2012

Ellie is being really finicky (sp?) about it. She will take it some days and then give a look of disgust the next day. We just mix some formula with it on her off days. We've been working on this for about a month.

*sallymad* · February 2012

ChicagoLaura:

At 13 months she never asked to nurse and I never offered so it just ended one day. Within a few days of being completely off the boob she started sucking her milk down and never looked back.

Thanks ladies! This was my first daughter ^ so this is new to me : )

rach10782 · February 2012

My son self weaned completely at 16 months and refuses to drink whole milk. I have tried one million times but he just doesn't like it. He probably drinks at least 30 ounces of water a day so at least I know he is hydrated.

AC830 · February 2012

It took about a month before we could get my son to drink plain whole milk. Finally what worked was that we gave him some of the Horizon vanilla milk straight from the little box with the straw. We think that drinking out of the box instead of a sippy cup was just far more exciting. Then we put the same vanilla milk into his sippy and slowly added more and more whole milk until he was drinking all whole milk out of his sippy cup. Another thing that we learned was that he liked his milk cold, sometimes room temperature, but never warm.

Other things that were suggested to us were to add a little bit of vanilla extract to the milk or add a little bit of sugar or corn syrup but neither of these thrilled him.

LeanneCM · February 2012

Our LO prefers 2% to whole and pedi said that is fine

pinkcallalily · February 2012

If you haven't already, I would try different brands. I wanted my son to drink organic milk so we tried one kind for a while and he hated it, so I tried another kind and he drank it a little better. A couple months ago the grocery store was completely out of organic milk so I bought him so regular milk and he loved it! He still only drinks about 8 oz a day, but that's a lot more than he was drinking before.

I think I'm just about done weaning him. He's only nursed a couple times in the last week and he has started asking for his milk sippy pretty often. He's always liked water, but doesn't drink a ton of that either.

BelhurstBride · February 2012

Probably somewhere right around 18 months, completely out of the blue, she asked for some and went to town. I always bought it and offered it daily but she wouldn't touch it, then one day, still in the store nonetheless, she had to have some right.that.second.

We're still nursing, too, though. Mornings, nap time and bedtime... middle of the night if she's teething or sick.

jessie55 · February 2012

We weaned at 19 mos and dd wouldn't drink it either, I add the tiniest bit of chocolate oval tine now and she loves it. With ds he liked vanilla in it. After a month or so I stopped putting it in with no problems. You could try strawberry syrup too. Breast milk is so much sweeter they are used to the sweetness.

iris427 · February 2012

My 3 year old has refused to drink cow's milk her entire life. She likes milk with cereal and she loves yogurt and cheese, so I just try to give her plenty of that.

mrsf123 · February 2012

DD hated it at first,but I started warming it up very slightly and now she loves it! I don't like my milk really cold either

rlyttle · February 2012

I stopped nursing DS at 13 months. I started offering whole milk at 11 months. He never cared for it too much till I stopped nursing him. Then it took about 2 weeks & he was drinking it like crazy. I also gave him flavored him mixed with reg whole milk. I people say it's awful, blah, blah, blah. It's the only way he would drink it for a few weeks. I quickly weined him off of the flavored milk. He LOVES whole milk now!!

inluvwitcowboy · February 2012

I was/am having the same issue. I nursed my daughter and she never had formula. She would actually gag if I gave her milk. I think I tried everything, but she really loved the Yobaby banana yogurt drink, so I would give that to her and slowly start mixing in milk (think replacing 1/2 an oz every few days). She still won't drink more than 50/50 milk and yogurt drink out of a sippy, but will drink straight milk from a bottle which she still gets at night. She is underweight so we will keep using the bottle for awhile. I think she thinks of it as a treat. another way she drinks milk is if we mix it with a couple of scoops of the Enfagrow toddler vanilla, it says for ages 2+ , but her ped. says it's totally fine. Good luck. It's good to hear we aren't the only one with this issue!

aribs2010 · February 2012

WildcatPrincess:
2 months - from 13-15 months she drank maybe 1-2 oz a day. Then suddenly she took to the milk and takes 12-18 oz a day, now. Someone also told me some babies don't really take to it until a couple weeks after weaning completely, that's what her pedi told her and what her experience was.

We had this exact experience. I thought it was hopeless but kept offering LO milk, then all of a sudden, about 2 weeks ago, milk is great! I didn't try to force milk on her, which I think is important. I just offered it once or twice a day and I often threw it out (it was a very wasteful few months).

myattemptatmotherhood · February 2012

I nursed DD until she was 15 months old and tried at around 13 months to get her to drink whole milk. We tried giving her almond milk, ovaltine and then one day I took her to Babies R Us and bought her a "special" sippy cup just for her milk and she's been drinking it ever since. Probably a freak coincidence, but I'll take it!