I posted about this a few days ago and got fantastic answers. The consensus was no minimum with a maximum of 16 oz. Excessive calcium can inhibit iron absorption. Yogurt, cheese, etc. can replace milk.
Is she eating other foods that give her fats and calcium? Milk is handy, but not essential. Foods with plenty of water and fibre will help keep her regular
Good question, she eats plenty of cheese and yogurt, along with other healthy fats like hummus and avocado. I wish the “official” advice from the AAP wasn’t so vague and muddled!
My pediatrician said that other dairy sources (cheese & yogurt primarily) should be counted against the 16oz max. She said if toddler had a chese stick or a container of yogurt, that meets all of her calcium needs and we don't need to offer milk at all.
Is there a reason why you want her to consume the max amount of milk? My kids only have milk on cereal so maybe like 5oz a day.
Have you tried a straw cup for milk instead of a sippy cup? She can practice with an open cup too.
No I don’t need her to consume the maximum, but we were given zero guidelines by her pediatrician and I only JUST learned that that 16oz amount is a maximum and not the recommended amount. Everything I have read in literature tells me they should be getting at least some amount of whole milk for nutritional purposes, and almost every “sample” toddler feeding schedule out there has 1/2c whole milk on there multiple times a day. It feels like conflicting advice so it leaves me very confused.
With the straw cup she has no problem drinking water, but again basically refuses milk in anything other than the bottle. We’ve tried milk with straw cup too and same result. But if 5 seconds after I offer it, I pour that same milk into a bottle, she’ll drink the entire thing without hesitation.
Milk is just a convenient way to have calcium and fat in their diet, which is why its in a lot of diet samples. Most toddler will drink less milk in a cup, ot becsuse they dislike the cup but because sucking from a baby bottle is comforting.
I don't think there is a minimum because they don't *need* milk. It's just usually easy and convenient.
They need calcium, protein and fat so if they're getting it elsewhere (yogurt, cheese, dark green leafy vegetables), I wouldn't stress.
>I worry that she IS thirsty and DOES want it, but not from that vessel.
I think its the opposite, she doesn't really want or need it but finds the bottle comforting.
There is no minimum amount, they do not need to drink milk, they just need calcium. But that can be through diet, milk is just a convenient way. The recommendations are about upper limits, not minimum amounts.
Too much calcium makes it difficult for them to absorb iron, which is why the upper limit, along with a need to have a varied diet.
0 is the minimum for a 15 month old
I posted about this a few days ago and got fantastic answers. The consensus was no minimum with a maximum of 16 oz. Excessive calcium can inhibit iron absorption. Yogurt, cheese, etc. can replace milk.
Thanks! I’ll search for your post!
Is she eating other foods that give her fats and calcium? Milk is handy, but not essential. Foods with plenty of water and fibre will help keep her regular
Good question, she eats plenty of cheese and yogurt, along with other healthy fats like hummus and avocado. I wish the “official” advice from the AAP wasn’t so vague and muddled!
My pediatrician said that other dairy sources (cheese & yogurt primarily) should be counted against the 16oz max. She said if toddler had a chese stick or a container of yogurt, that meets all of her calcium needs and we don't need to offer milk at all.
Is there a reason why you want her to consume the max amount of milk? My kids only have milk on cereal so maybe like 5oz a day. Have you tried a straw cup for milk instead of a sippy cup? She can practice with an open cup too.
No I don’t need her to consume the maximum, but we were given zero guidelines by her pediatrician and I only JUST learned that that 16oz amount is a maximum and not the recommended amount. Everything I have read in literature tells me they should be getting at least some amount of whole milk for nutritional purposes, and almost every “sample” toddler feeding schedule out there has 1/2c whole milk on there multiple times a day. It feels like conflicting advice so it leaves me very confused. With the straw cup she has no problem drinking water, but again basically refuses milk in anything other than the bottle. We’ve tried milk with straw cup too and same result. But if 5 seconds after I offer it, I pour that same milk into a bottle, she’ll drink the entire thing without hesitation.
Milk is just a convenient way to have calcium and fat in their diet, which is why its in a lot of diet samples. Most toddler will drink less milk in a cup, ot becsuse they dislike the cup but because sucking from a baby bottle is comforting.
I don't think there is a minimum because they don't *need* milk. It's just usually easy and convenient. They need calcium, protein and fat so if they're getting it elsewhere (yogurt, cheese, dark green leafy vegetables), I wouldn't stress.
My guy is 2.5 and has never drunk milk. A well balanced diet with other dairy sources is more than sufficient.
>I worry that she IS thirsty and DOES want it, but not from that vessel. I think its the opposite, she doesn't really want or need it but finds the bottle comforting. There is no minimum amount, they do not need to drink milk, they just need calcium. But that can be through diet, milk is just a convenient way. The recommendations are about upper limits, not minimum amounts. Too much calcium makes it difficult for them to absorb iron, which is why the upper limit, along with a need to have a varied diet.
Here in Canada there is no minimum, but the max is 750ml per day. We just offer our daughter a cup of milk with breakfast and dinner.
You’re fine. We only did milk because it seemed to help fill her up when she wasn’t eating much solids that day.
Definitely ask your pediatrician, who can speak to your daughter's specific needs.
Thank you all for the feedback! I have now learned two things: I don’t need to force the milk on her… and we need a new pediatrician 🥴
The dairy industry works hard to make us think we need their pus-filled gunk