milk, refusal to drink

When your toddler is ready to switch to whole cow milk at about a year, you may experience the child refusing to try the new beverage. This is easily overcome by my favored technique of gradual trickery.

Option One: Try sweetening the milk with Quik® or similar flavoring agent, and give it exclusively in the "sippy cup." Kids have low sales resistance for sweet things. Once the tyke accepts the new beverage, start gradually reducing the flavoring agent until in about two weeks you are offering milk alone.
Option Two: If that doesn't work or you have some sort of objection to giving a sweet, simply do the same with whole milk: add just a little at first to the formula bottle and then gradually increase the proportion of milk to formula until you are on milk alone in a couple of weeks.

This general approach can be helpful with weaning from breast to cup as well.

As for toddlers and children who just won't drink enough milk to satisfy their parents and grandparents, an observation: calcium can be obtained from other sources, and they all grow up regardless.

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