What to Replace Breastmilk with If My Son Doesn't like Cow's Milk??

Just wanted to second the Goat's milk. Its slightly sweeter. Definitely do not go with soy- there is a lot of emerging research that suggests that the proteins in it are not handled well by the body in general,and especially in children. My son was lactose intolerant for his first 3 years of life, and he was on goats milk from the time he was 4 months!! Its slightly expensive, but if you watch it sometimes goes on sale @ kings & @ vitamin cottage... I used to buy a lot of it when it was on sale!! Good Luck!

I mixed Ovaltine in with cows milk to get my son to drink it. I used about 1/2 of the recommended amount at first and then slowly mixed less and less until it was just milk in his cup. It took several months but now he loves milk and even asks for it.

Is anything good for you anymore? Try very vanilla soy milk (silk). It is sweet like breast milk. My daughter is allergic to dairy and likes the silk. It gave her most of her nurients b/c she has other food alleries too. It's better than nothing. Good luck. take care!

I would suggest mixing in a little cows milk with expressed breast milk and increase the amount of cow's milk gradually. My son (18 months) didn't like cows milk either for several months, but takes it fine now, after a gradual transition. He also wouldn't take juice - bottle or sippy cup until recently after becoming more fully weaned. The taste of cow's milk is really different, so it might take a little while until he acquires a taste for it.

When I weaned my daughter she didn't like cow's milk either. I read a lot of advice on mamasource and decided to try some chocolate milk. My daughter didn't like it. So I tried strawberry milk and she liked that. I made it very light and slowly over a couple weeks made it less and less until she was drinking plain milk. It may take a month or so but just give him some time. I bet he will warm up to it. In the meantime give him other foods to make up for it and keep trying.

My daughter refused cows milk as well. I talked with her pediatritian and he said put chocolate in it give her yogurt even ice cream she will eventually drink the cows milk if you don't turn it onto a battle. She turns 4 in January and loves milk I'm glad we listened

You can try chocolate milk.

I would go with the gradual approach. If that doesn't work, I would ask your ped for suggestions. Goat's milk may work too. It isn't just the calcium that they need, but the fats too. Your doc can provide the best advice. I have heard of some people going to formula. Doesn't necessarily taste good, but if he will drink it, it is better than just water.

have you tried various amounts of fat in milk? whole, 2%, 1%, and skim all have different flavors.

S.;
I'm not sure where you live but my 11 year old daughter can't have very much dairy so we have her drinking goat's milk. It might be something to try. I also had 3 sons that couldn't drink breastmilk so we put them on gaderaid.
Good luck;
J.

Hi S.,
Goat's milk is an option. It's very nutrient dense and the milk proteins are easier to digest. We get fresh goats milk from a farm and my hubby is the only one on dairy in the family.

Honestly, there are many ways to get calcium thru veggies, kale, broccolli, etc, fats from avacados and protien from beans. It's not such a bad thing he wont take milk. If you want to know more about that statement, read the China Study. Very eye opening information about milk.

I hope that helps.

L.

That was my daughter. We used one spoon of chocolate (Nestle's) in a cup of whole milk; that's about 1/3 the "serving size." We also skipped bottles (on all three) and went straight to sippy cups on the first two and straight to straws on #3. I figure one spoon of chocolate each day is worth getting them to drink enough milk to get what they need from it.

I agree with reading the book called THE CHINA STUDY. Humans are not to drink milk from other animals. Cows milk is for cows, Human milk is for humans. Cows get their calcium by eating green leafy vegies. Maybe we can learn from them. There are seeral products you can introduce your son to, ALmond milk, soy milk, Rice Dream. All of these have been fortified with calcium as well, Good Luck

Hi S.! I just want to comment on a couple of the responses you have received.

The China Study is not a reliable source of information. It was poorly done, and even though it was ruled as inconclusive, it was published as a book! Yikes!

We use goat's milk. Soy is overprocessed and rice milk is very high in sugar. Almond or hemp milk is great!

Unfermented soy products could ruin your son's endocrine system. This includes soy milk, soy cheese, soy sour cream, etc.

As for myself, I have never liked milk, even as a toddler! I eat alot of veggies that have calcium and I do eat yogurt and cheese.
Good luck in your decision!

There is really no need for him to have cow's milk. We feed out kids yogurt (for his age you want whole milk yogurt like YoBaby), cheese, and green leafy vegetables are also a good source of calcium. Water is the best drink for him right now.

My kids won't drink milk either but they do eat yogurt and occasionally eat cheese. They love, love orange juice with calcium and the "gummi calcium" vitamins. I tried mixing milk with yogurt, choc milk mix, strawberry mix and nesquik....nothing worked. Now I just make sure they eat their calcium vitamins and get calcium via greens, OJ, etc. It's not vital your kid drink milk for calcium. For fats/protein a regular diet should take care of it, I'm assuming you child eats table foods though :) GL!

My son is allergic to cow's milk so that was not an option for us, but there is research now that kids who drink chocolate milk (it does come in 1% or whole)end up being healthier (less obese) and drink more milk than kids who only are allowed to have white milk...so don't be afraid to give your kiddo chocolate milk.

My son is on soy and rice milk...plain, chocolate and vanilla varieties. There is also almond milk as well. Check in the fridge section and the cereal/health food sections of your grocery store (Kings has it, as does Walmart and Sams). My son gets chocolate in between regular or I mix it 1/2 and 1/2 (In a sense, I make choc a "reward" for drinking a glass of plain). As long as he is drinking "milk", I don't really care (my son is very underweight for his age- genetic thing- so any food and drink I can stuff into him to help him maintain his weight, I'm happy with)! There are so many other things more important to me than cows milk versus soy or choc vs reg.

Hi S. - my youngest was exactly the same way. I had to wean early so he had to be on formula. He hates cow's milk too so until 2, we gave him stage 2 formula. We like Enfamil's DHA/ARA Stage 2 formula.

Have you tried transitioning gradually from breast milk to cow's milk by giving him a cup or bottle of mostly breast milk with a little cow's milk in it? Over time, increase the cow's milk and decrease the breast milk until he's only on cow's milk. You can always give him yogurt, cheese, etc. to get the calcium and protein in.

Remember that breastmilk is slightly sweet, but regular cow's milk is not. Try mixing a little bit of Carnation Instant Breakfast in with the cow's milk. It will give the milk a sweeter taste, and will also give added protein, vitamins, etc. Soy milk also has a slightly sweet taste, so you might try that as well. Good luck!

For people who are against dairy, that is fine, but realize that people have been drinking cow's milk for centuries--literally hundreds and hundreds of years (probably much longer). There is nothing wrong with human's drinking cow's milk. We drink both cow's milk and soy milk in our house, and like them both. However, the slightly sweet taste of soy milk makes it not always tasty with certain foods (ie. spaghetti, etc).

When I was weaning my daughter she didn't like cow's milk at all. She just wanted water and breastmilk -- but I was done breastfeeding even if she wasn't. I was worried about this same thing, but a couple of weeks after we were all weaned, she suddenly liked cows milk. Cows milk is easy (especially if the rest of the family likes it/drinks it). Unless your son has an allergy to it I would suggest just keep offering it to him and see if he gets used to it.
If he doesn't really like it much, make sure you offer him other things to keep up the calcium/fat: yogurt, cheese, put whipped cream on things (my DD LOVES this!)
Good luck!

If your son can tolerate the cow's milk you could try introducing it a little at a time. Pump your breastmilk and add 2-3 Tbls of the cows milk to it. After three days add anther Tbls. Continue this until he has made the transition. I am actually in the process of doing the very same thing with my son and it is working. Good luck.