Can we discuss milk for a minute?

dmartin726 · July 2013

I am sure this has been discussed somewhere before. I just cant find it. What kind of milk do your LOs drink? Do you give them chocolate milk?

DD isn't much of a drinker of anything, so I started adding a little chocolate silk (soy milk) to her 2% cows milk to get her to drink more. Usually half silk and half reg milk. I picked the silk over regular chocolate milk, because there is less sugar. I am contemplating taking her off of cows milk all together. I read an article on the milking process that has me completely grossed out.

Anyone..???

kcisthebombdotcom · July 2013

My daughter has celiac but was still having bloating so I took her off cows milk and it went away. We do almond milk-she loves the vanilla flavor. While its pricier, it has double the calcium so your child needs less. If your child didn't take to vanilla you could try a little bit of ovaltine with it. The pitfall of almond milk is that its lower in fat and calcium is fat soluble so you have to add fat with the meal you give it with to make sure lo is absorbing the calcium. I don't think cows milk/milk products should be anyone's only source of calcium-even a healthy persons body has difficulty processing it as its formulated for cows, not people.

penguingrrl · July 2013

My girls drink 1% milk and love it. They usually have it with breakfast, lunch and dinner and water the rest of the day. My mom and ILs occasionally give them chocolate milk as a treat.

I would look carefully at the nutritional content with milk substitues because many have little to no protein. The reason cow's milk is recommended by many pediatricians is the balance of protein, fat and carbs in whole milk and nut and rice "milks" are pretty much devoid of nutrition.

dmartin726 · July 2013

auroraloo said:

I have no insight, but we are about to start giving DS milk, and I'm looking into skipping cow's milk all together and going straight almond. I don't want to do soy because of the estsrogen content, but I'm researching other milk types. If I ever find anything, I can update.

What have you read about the estrogen? I read about it, but it said in large quantities. LO drinks maybe 8-10 oz of the soy milk a day...That doesn't seem like a large quantity, does it?

jenniann87 · July 2013

DS drinks whole milk. He gets it at breakfast, lunch and dinner, the rest of the day he has water or water with a splash of juice.

mandymack · July 2013

Neither of my kids ever "went on milk".

They went from breastfeeding to just water.

My DD weaned at 13mos and her Pediatrician wasn't one bit concerned about her not wanting milk. I tried it in every form and in every sippy cup- she refused. She's almost 7yrs now and started asking for chocolate milk last year. I buy fat-free milk and use 2T Hershey's syrup once a day, sometimes only 2x/week.

My DS weaned at 17mos and went straight to just water. I never even offered milk. He's growing and thriving and loves other milk-products.

penguingrrl · July 2013

auroraloo said:

penguingrrl said:nut and rice "milks" are pretty much devoid of nutrition.

This isn't true? Almond milk as much more calcium, for instance?

Almond milk has less calcium per cup (20% DV versus 28% DV) only 3g of fat and only 1 gram of protein per cup versus 8 grams of both fat and protein in whole milk. It's not a bad thing to drink, but it's not a substitute for whole cow's milk.

Now, if you're of the belief that cow's milk is unnecessary and you will make sure your child gets all the nutrition elsewhere there's absolutely nothing wrong with almond milk, but it's not an adequate sub.

penguingrrl · July 2013

auroraloo said:

penguingrrl said:

Almond milk has less calcium per cup (20% DV versus 28% DV) only 3g of fat and only 1 gram of protein per cup versus 8 grams of both fat and protein in whole milk. It's not a bad thing to drink, but it's not a substitute for whole cow's milk.

Now, if you're of the belief that cow's milk is unnecessary and you will make sure your child gets all the nutrition elsewhere there's absolutely nothing wrong with almond milk, but it's not an adequate sub.

The almond milk in my fridge has 45% DA per cup. Whole Milk has 27% per cup.

The second part of your post is my reasoning, FWIW.

That's interesting. Is yours fortified? I took the info off the one in my fridge lol!

LatteLady5 · July 2013

DD drinks organic whole cows milk. I tried soy milk and coconut milk and she didn't really care for either. She loves WCM. Pedi recommended 12-16 ounces daily for her.

Stefibeth · July 2013

DS has never wanted to drink milk since he stopped bottles. I don't know why, but MH and I aren't really milk drinkers either so I guess he comes by it naturally. It's not a big deal though, he can get the same nutrients in milk elsewhere. People recommended that I do the chocolate milk thing, but it's really not a concern. Definitely not worth it to give chocolate milk instead. I would probably not do soy milk either. I would go with coconut or almond milk first if you're wanting dairy alternatives.

MountaineerMomma · July 2013

Dd1 drinks organic wcm and vanilla almond milk with cereal to sweeten it.
Eta- we don't do chocolate milk unless it's a special occasion.

nosoup4u · July 2013

Just offer him cheese, yogurt, and other sources of calcium. Totally not a big deal if he's not a milk drinker, there's plenty of substitutes out there that aren't chocolate- or sugar-based.

kcisthebombdotcom · July 2013

nosoup4u said:

Just offer him cheese, yogurt, and other sources of calcium. Totally not a big deal if he's not a milk drinker, there's plenty of substitutes out there that aren't chocolate- or sugar-based.

While this is true theoretically, you have to pack in a lot of food to make this up. To make up the equivalent of the recommended 16oz of milk, you'd need one cup of yogurt (which is 1/4 of a huge container of yogurt) and 1/4 of a cup of cheese and thats assuming milk isnt your sole calcium source. if you got a kid with a big appetite who can put away that much yogurt and cheese on top of the recommended fruits, veggies, grains and protein requirements that's great. If not its probably best to substitute something whether it be almond milk, sweetened cows milk, calcium fortified oj (gasp!), etc. a little extra sugar is going to do less harm than being calcium deficient. I think I have a pretty big appetite but can't finish a whole cup of yogurt in a sitting along with other stuff.

Mommy2CB · July 2013

DS1 just turned 2. He drinks whole milk, and 1 glass of half whole, half choc in the mornings.

sunnydays99 · July 2013

DS drinks 2% and DD drinks whole. They both get a cup with each meal and water throughout the rest of the day. DS would drink a ton of milk if I let him. DD very rarely drinks all of hers.

fancynewbeesly · July 2013

We do whole. My daughter drinks it with meals and then "cold water with ice" the rest of the day.

She loves her milk. I heard good things about almond milk--but because of allergy reasons can't have it.

LoriLee14 · July 2013

I offer whole milk 3 times a day. Some days he drinks more than others. And water inbetween

nosoup4u · July 2013

KC_13 said:

nosoup4u said:

Just offer him cheese, yogurt, and other sources of calcium. Totally not a big deal if he's not a milk drinker, there's plenty of substitutes out there that aren't chocolate- or sugar-based.

While this is true theoretically, you have to pack in a lot of food to make this up. To make up the equivalent of the recommended 16oz of milk, you'd need one cup of yogurt (which is 1/4 of a huge container of yogurt) and 1/4 of a cup of cheese and thats assuming milk isnt your sole calcium source. if you got a kid with a big appetite who can put away that much yogurt and cheese on top of the recommended fruits, veggies, grains and protein requirements that's great. If not its probably best to substitute something whether it be almond milk, sweetened cows milk, calcium fortified oj (gasp!), etc. a little extra sugar is going to do less harm than being calcium deficient. I think I have a pretty big appetite but can't finish a whole cup of yogurt in a sitting along with other stuff.

Huh? Do you really track what your kids are eating this closely? I serve my kids food until they're full. I'm assuming 16 oz of milk is for over the course of a day (in terms of what a kid should get), so a cup of yogurt over that time period isn't that insane. Andplusalso, you can eat all kinds of food *in combinations* to get your daily intake. Looking at what someone (especially a kid) is eating over the course of a few days is fine (as opposed to trying to stuff your kids with x amount bc it has x amount of nutrients in it).

Do you have a problem with calcium deficiency with your kids or something? I just don't understand the nitpicking here.

kcisthebombdotcom · July 2013

nosoup4u said:

KC_13 said:

nosoup4u said:

Just offer him cheese, yogurt, and other sources of calcium. Totally not a big deal if he's not a milk drinker, there's plenty of substitutes out there that aren't chocolate- or sugar-based.

While this is true theoretically, you have to pack in a lot of food to make this up. To make up the equivalent of the recommended 16oz of milk, you'd need one cup of yogurt (which is 1/4 of a huge container of yogurt) and 1/4 of a cup of cheese and thats assuming milk isnt your sole calcium source. if you got a kid with a big appetite who can put away that much yogurt and cheese on top of the recommended fruits, veggies, grains and protein requirements that's great. If not its probably best to substitute something whether it be almond milk, sweetened cows milk, calcium fortified oj (gasp!), etc. a little extra sugar is going to do less harm than being calcium deficient. I think I have a pretty big appetite but can't finish a whole cup of yogurt in a sitting along with other stuff.

Huh? Do you really track what your kids are eating this closely? I serve my kids food until they're full. I'm assuming 16 oz of milk is for over the course of a day (in terms of what a kid should get), so a cup of yogurt over that time period isn't that insane. Andplusalso, you can eat all kinds of food *in combinations* to get your daily intake. Looking at what someone (especially a kid) is eating over the course of a few days is fine (as opposed to trying to stuff your kids with x amount bc it has x amount of nutrients in it).

Do you have a problem with calcium deficiency with your kids or something? I just don't understand the nitpicking here.

I was a kid who didn't drink milk and my parents thought it was ok because yogurt...yeah it didn't end up being ok. I definitely don't measure stuff out and focus on trends vs a day to day thing. I just think people underestimate how much calcium infused food is needed to make up what is contained in one calcium infused drink. I think the masses believe that just offering good foods is good enough and kids will just naturally get all the nutrients they need but it isn't always the case. I wouldn't allow my kid to eat nothing but strawberries for five meals a day because its healthy-if they eat a lot of fruits and grains in the first few meal/snacks I balance out the next two with vegetables and protein. If my kid goes through a spell of rejecting yogurt and cheese that doesn't pass in a few weeks I definitely substitute accordingly. It's an important nutrient for a growing kid.

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Can we discuss milk for a minute?

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