2.5yo DS drinks half a gallon of milk DAILY

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bigsis144

Mon, Apr 16 2012, 11:52 pm

And I am losing my mind trying to get him to eat anything else.

He's not constipated, and has super-high energy levels and while really tall and skinny, is still in a normal weight range.

It's not that he's picky, it's more that he sees all other foods (and sippy cups) as mere curiosities - a bite or two and then he'll ask for a bottle. Occasionally, he'll devour an entire peanut butter sandwich, or two scrambled eggs, or a dozen strawberries or a bowl of chicken soup with vegetables and rice, and I cling to these moments with utter hope and desperation.

For a while, I was able to trick him with other kinds of milk, so I alternated between cow's milk, soy, rice, coconut, hemp, oat and almond milk, to get some sort of varied nutrients in him, but now he'll only take cow's milk.

Before he goes to bed, he can easily drink 16 ounces or more of milk, and wake up twice during the night shrieking for more. This, of course, means that he regularly soaks through his diaper and wakes up at the crack of dawn all wet.

He doesn't even bother asking for bottles anymore. He'll open the refrigerator (I have posted already about DS's ability to break every single fridge lock we have tried), lug the half-gallon (or even gallon-sized bottle) of milk to the nearest adult (he does this at STRANGERS' HOUSES -- pushing chairs to open fridges with handles too high for him to reach) and ask for milk.

Months ago I tried going cold turkey, with no milk in the entire house for a week (so no cereal in the morning for me and DH), but DS went for the next best available liquid in the fridge -- grape juice. Same lugging it out, trying to pour his own bottles... (I store his bottles in the most inconvenient spot in the entire house, yet NOTHING will stop this child!) That, and he kept screaming for milk throughout the entire day. My resolve broke long before his showed any sign of cracking.

My pediatrician says I need to try again, that milk anemia is a real risk, but let him be the one stuck for a week with an INSANE toddler.

Please.
Help

Last edited by bigsis144 on Tue, Apr 17 2012, 12:01 am; edited 1 time in total

ra_mom

Mon, Apr 16 2012, 11:57 pm

when we weaned dd off her bottle at night, we slowly watered down the bottle each night. think 2 ounces water with the rest milk the first 2 nights. then 4 oz. water the next couple of nights. etc.

and when we needed her to drink water, all other liquids were banished from the house. it was hard. I thought she would become dehydrated. but pediatrician said thirst is almost like a reflex, and as long as the water was available within easy reach for her (on the table in sippy cups), she would eventually cave. which she did after a couple of days.

IMHopinion

Mon, Apr 16 2012, 11:58 pm

No wonder he's got so much energy. Milk has tons of sugar. You should try to cut down on it. and on liquids in general.
Maybe water it down a bit? Or give him a glass of milk for every glass of water he drinks?

elf123

Mon, Apr 16 2012, 11:59 pm

I have no real experience in the matter, but I would try to establish whether this is a thirst issue or a milk-specific issue...not sure if you could actually determine the answer, or how this might help you, but maybe it's a start?

IMHopinion

Mon, Apr 16 2012, 11:59 pm

Btw, the more he drinks, the more he fills up on sugar, the less he eats.

bigsis144

Tue, Apr 17 2012, 12:07 am

IMHopinion wrote:

Btw, the more he drinks, the more he fills up on sugar, the less he eats.

Obviously. At 90 to 140 calories for 8 ounces (depending on fat %), that's between 700 and 1100 calories a day just from drinking half a gallon of milk. No wonder he doesn't need or want to eat anything else!

I don't need convincing that this is not healthy, maybe I just want some hand-holding for the nightmare that awaits me when I try to break DS's habit for the zillionth time. I'm stressing out just thinking about it.

IMHopinion

Tue, Apr 17 2012, 12:11 am

Sorry op! I thought I was being helpful! I totally understand you.

bigsis144

Tue, Apr 17 2012, 12:14 am

IMHopinion wrote:

Sorry op! I thought I was being helpful! I totally understand you.

Sure thing. Didn't mean to snap at you. Smile

Oy, it's happening already!! I'm going into cold-turkey crazy-mode...

Annie

Tue, Apr 17 2012, 12:34 am

I think you have to get rid of the bottles first. My dd (about the same age as your ds), drank way more when it was in bottles than in a sippy cup. Once we got rid of bottles (letting her pick out sippy cups and lots of "big girl" talk), we switched to 2% milk, then started watering that down, and then we moved (about 4 months ago after a warning from pediatrician about too much milk) to cups only before bedtime and nap time. Any other time it's a "big kid" (ie - plastic dixie) cup with a smidge of milk, or start with water. However, no one in my house drinks anything other than water or milk, so she wouldn't think that she could have juice.

Good luck, it's not fun, and these two year olds are very obstinate, I agree with you and you have my unqualified support.

Stick to your guns and eventually they realize you're serious. It might take a long while though.

saw50st8

Tue, Apr 17 2012, 9:11 am

Get rid of all liquid in the house except for water. Get two individual sized grape juice for shabbos and hide them.

I feel your pain. My son was like that too.

CherryBerry

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 2:12 pm

does he ask for milk only when he's at home or otherwise in close proximity to a fridge?
can you spend all day at the park, and not bring milk with you? or just one bottle?
bring lots of snacks and food and water. hopefully he'll be busy playing and will only come to ask for something when he's really hungry and thirsty, at which time you can offer him what you brought with you.

flowerpower

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 2:30 pm

Get rid of the bottles and sippy cups!!! My dd was a juice addict ( I only had grape juice left from shabbos and orange juice) and would bring me the bottle the whole afternoon. I stopped getting juice for a while and showed her that I have only seltzer and water in the fridge. She saw that there is no point fighting and drank what there was. It can be from addiction or boredom....

bigsis144

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 3:03 pm

CherryBerry wrote:

Yes, he mostly asks for bottles when we're at home. I try to spend as much time out of the house as possible (especially because he's such a bundle of energy! Cold and wet days are just EXHAUSTING keeping him cooped up in our sunless little basement apartment), and he does tend to eat better then. But I gotta go home eventually. Smile

B"H, here's a status update since I started this thread: I bought one of those Nuk bottle-sippy cup hybrids and have successfully convinced DS that that's his daytime bottle. He can only drink from a regular bottle before he goes to bed.
The Nuk bottle holds only 5 ounces while the regular bottles hold 8 ounces, so this has led him to drink less milk overall during the day at least, and so far he hasn't eaten a LOT more food during the day, he's still nibbled a bit more and sipped a bit less, without ANY screaming or tension. Yay!
Hopefully this will keep up to the point that he starts to feel HUNGRY during the day time and eat more food, thereby not wanting as much milk before bed to fill up.

Wish me luck!!

Sherri

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 9:38 pm

Can you link to the sippy cup?

spring13

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 10:00 pm

Definitely lose the bottles as soon as possible - 2.5 is way too old for that.

Frenchfry

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 10:08 pm

I had this with one of my kids and my pediatrician told me that he's getting everything but iron from milk, and if I give iron suplements I shouldn't worry too much. In the end I did the watering down of the bottle each day 1/2 ounce more water, it was so gradual, he barely noticed

September June

Thu, Apr 19 2012, 10:13 pm

Sherri wrote:

Can you link to the sippy cup?

I think it's this one.

One of my sisters uses it to wean her kids off their bottles.

mommyof2boys

Sun, Apr 29 2012, 7:54 am

I know Im a bit late for this thread but my son was drinking two full 8oz bottles of milk at morning and at night until he was 2 years old. He was addicted and would scream for it! He woke up every morning soaked because he drank so much before bed. Just before his 2nd birthday I cut his bottle. I was so so scared. I find that these transitions are actually delayed more due to fear of the parent. I threw out the bottles completely and never looked back. He had the option of drinking his milk from a small sippy cup. He drank less from there and eventually I was nervous he wasnt drinking enough milk but at 2 they dont need that much. He ets other dairy. It sounds like your son is filling up on fluids, which you already know. I think your first step is to get rid of the bottles. Offer milk in the morning and maybe with dinner. The resst of the day hide the milk at the back of the fridge in a plastic bag and offer water in a sippy cup. or you can try 3/4water and 1/4 apple juice. It will be a tough few days but as the parent you have to be consistent. it was the same thing when I got rid of my sons pacifier at 2.5 yo. it will be the same when you sleep train and when you potty train. a 2.5 yo should not need milk at night. stay strong and be consistent! good luck

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