18 month old rapidly losing interest, lack of fluid panic!!

Jessica - posted on 02/14/2011

Thankf for all your comments, i really don't have much milk left now and she is less and less interested as the days go on.. can't imagine she'll be bothered in a couple of days. Still won't drink milk but gonna try her with a banana milkshake maybe tomorrow for snack.. been making a dairy lunch with lots of powdered milk and yogurts, i just think the health visitor scaredme by saying she needs 20oz a day! she gets maybe 12 at best but i'm not worried, i can't force her to have it and have to trust the process sometimes. Will keep offering it her as see what happens.. thanks for all the advice, some good tips for anyone else who's going through this stage!
Thanks
Jessica xx

Rachel - posted on 02/13/2011

hey Jessica, I had the same problem! I breastfed my daughter until she was ready for milk and then weined her since I had to go back to work (between 9.5-10 months we started and by 10.5-11 months she was on homogenized milk)
She didnt like it at all from a cup , it had to be warm in a fast pouring spouted cup or in a bottle (which was weird because i never gave her a bottle at all, when she started having water and juice at 6 months it was always in a sippy cup.)
I didnt understand but i let her di what she had to, in orde to en the breastfeeding stage.
It sounds like your daugher is just done with breastfeeding as you said- it naturally just ends around that time for most people. What youre worried about makes sense- my daughter had me shovelling cheese and yogurt at her non stop since only before naps and at bedtime would she even consider milk! (and agin, had to be warm and in a bottle)
We decided to try (not on a warm day or while sick etc) to just only offer milk. The first dayi got really worried that she would never drink again! lol She drank 1 cup of milk over lunch and breakfast and only when she HAD to wash something down :P
I gave ehr water by the end of the day since i as worried and her pee had veen begun to smell strongly :S
The next day i did the same thing again ad believe me- it took A LOT of will power not to just give her whatever fluid she would drink. Eventually (by lunch that 2nd day) She was thirsty enough that she drank a whole cup!
Then at dinner, the same thing!! :) It was great, for a eek straight it was water or milk, milk at all meals andbefore bed- not warmed anymore and it worked amazingly!!!
For a treat to spark her interest since your daughter is older you could add some chocolate syrup or mix pre-madechocolate milk with the recommended homogenized. :)
Give it a shot and hopefully this helps! I really didnt think i could do it until it just kinda happened :P So good luck! It doesnt hurt to try :)

Michelle - posted on 02/13/2011

This is a great idea but I would first try a home made milkshake with her fav fruit maybe if she helps make it shell b more interested

Erin - posted on 02/13/2011

I had the same problem with my youngest when she weaned. We tried putting all kinds of things into the milk to help and nothing worked. She still won't drink much milk although we keep offering it. Try putting powdered milk into her food. If she's not taking baby food put some in some applesauce or blend up some fruits to add it in. She won't be able to taste it and it will help with getting her more calcium/iron. You could try flavored milks, but be careful of high fructose corn syrup, it's in most of them. We also give her about 4 ounces of pear juice a day to help with fluids and vitamin C. Our daughter drinks water just fine so we keep a water cup going at all times for her to drink. I hope this helps, I know I felt a lot better when we started putting the powdered milk in her food. I stopped being so worried about her getting what she needed.

Heather - posted on 02/12/2011

I experienced this with my daughter when she was 15 1/2 mos. and it was fine with me also but I was concerned as well as she wouldn't drink anything except some water here and there. I offered her water,milk and juice through out the day of course and then I also would give her juicy fruit like watermelon, peaches, etc and that seemed help with hydration and after about a week she just started drinking cow milk. You also might consider a vitamin. I know someone who gave her kids goats milk that may be an option? My pedatrician said she'd come around in a week or so and she did. Good Luck!

Monica - posted on 02/12/2011

Toddlers don't need as much fluid as infants and in fact too much fluid can get in the way of them eating enough. I offer a sippy cup of milk at breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes my son drinks the whole cup and sometimes only a few sips. He then has water available to him the rest of the day - sometimes it seems he's drinking a ton and other days hardly anything. He's now 2yo, but when I weaned him at 15 mos from bfing, he drank less - just continually offer and she'll drink when she's thirsty - if she's ready to wean and not really interested, you don't need to force bfing for her to get adequate nutrition.

Pamela - posted on 02/12/2011

Bovine milk isn't that good a source of calcium anyway, so don't stress if your little one isn't a fan of dairy.
Check out leafy greens, and other foods that are abundant in calcium.
Also, continue offering the breast. Even if she only has a little snack once a day, its still packed full with what she needs.

Nora - posted on 02/12/2011

My kids were weaned at 12 and 14 months. The doctor told us there should be 20-24 ounces of milk a day, which some days the kids do not cooperate. (my kids are both underweight so I am suppose to push it). For my older one (3) we had to start doing flavored milk to make it eaiser. We were also told yogurt. I may not be able to get them to drink all the milk they should, but if I give them yogurt, they won't stop.

Anita - posted on 02/12/2011

My little girl was the same. Weaned herself at 15mths. She also refused to take any form 'milk' from a bottle or cup, even breast milk was a no go in anything except the breast! She did drink water out of a cup though so I continually offered her that. I was concerned about the amount of calcium too but my midwife told me not to worry as long as she was having some cheese and yoghurt most days then she would be fine, my daughter also eats a huge variety of veggies and other food.

Lori - posted on 02/12/2011

My son was similar, but I had started to lose my milk because I was pregnant. I had pumped the whole time, so I started him with breast milk, then adding an ounce of whole milk every so often. He know loves it. I also put a couple zippy cups in the fridge with milk,juice, and/water, and I find he goes into the fridge to get what he wants. My son just turned 2 so, so he is a little bit older. He usually drinks 2 cups of milk and 1 cup of water, and sometimes a cup of juice too, but not too often finish that much water and juice.

Good luck, just remember a child will never go hungry or thirsty if you offer all you want her to drink. She will take to something.

Cindy - posted on 02/12/2011

You can also express milk for her to put in her cup for a while and add a wee bit of cow's milk each week until she gains a taste for it.

Aicha - posted on 02/08/2011

try getting her a special cup for drinking milk out of . Also offer her lots of green leafy vegetables , yogurt, cheese and nut butters have calcium in them

Lisa - posted on 02/08/2011

try some chocolate milk that is whole milk or use the nestle quick powder mix with whole milk.

Janice - posted on 02/08/2011

My daughter also is not a huge fan of milk. I still nurse her 2x a day (15 mo.) then she get one sippy cup of milk with dinner. I make sure she hasother dairy 2x a day. Usually yogurt once and cheese once. I talked with her pediatrician and she said that that is plenty. Also there is calcium in many green vegetables so if your daughter is a big veggie fan she can get calcium that way too.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 02/08/2011

There are lots of foods that have calcium. If she drinks juice look for calcium fortified. You could also look at calcium fortified non-dairy milks like rice milk or almond milk (if she doesn't have allergies). Here's a list of foods:http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitami...



I always just let my daughter have a cup of water all day. She takes drinks here and there and then puts it down. If I keep it close to her I find her drinking throughout the day. She also loves to drink from my cup so you could try offering some water in a big glass and help her drink from that.