[SummerV]

Hi Everyone!
I know I havn't written a formal "We are home" post. We are home with baby Natali. She is doing pretty good. Everyone is adjusting pretty good, so that is a blessing.
She is 14 months old and was still on a bottle and formula when we went down to pick her up. It was a 1+ formula, so not really infant formula.
Anyway, we got her off the bottle pretty easily. She seems to really enjoy holding a sippy cup. I think she can get more out of it than a little nipple of a bottle.
However we are having a very tough time with milk. She won't drink it at all. We tried infant formula and that is a deffinate no to her.
Her doctor said, "You have to get her to drink milk." I am like how the world are you suppose to MAKE a toddler drink milk?
Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has any ideas. Is milk not that common at the tables in Guatemala. Is it rare for children down there to drink it?
I am at a loss and the poor little thing is getting tired of cheese everyday too.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Also I know a lot of folks like timelines, but to be honest, this being our third adoption I didn't even keep track. I just know we found her picture on Rainbowkids.com in October and went down to get her in June. Everything in between is kind of a jumble of dates mixed with some sadness and loads of happiness.
Thanks in advance for any advice on the milk issue.
Summer

[Amy L 73]

Hi, SummerV Congrats to ya... The only thing I can think of is to try adding some of that strawberry or chocolate mix to her milk.... Its worth a try.... I think a child her age is supposed to drink about 2-3 cups a day... Just my 2 cents

[reneetaylor]

Hi Summer - I suggest trying ice cream, milk shakes or some other form of dairy products that can get calcium into Natali, if she is sick of cheese.

Also, I found out that my son was lactose intolarant a few months after I got him home and so I switched him to Lactose free milk. Maybe you should try that with your daughter....maybe the milk irritates her stomach and she recognizes the white color as something that will hurt her and is avoiding it because of that. Just an idea....

Renee

[PattyR]

My nephew will only drink milk from a bottle. My sister tried taking him off the bottle and also ran into this same issue. She finally decided to give him the bottle with milk only and at certain times of the day only. She would still also offer him milk in a cup at other times of the day. It's worked great and now that he is closer to 2 years old, he is starting to drink milk from a cup as well and is basically about to completely give up the bottle.

You may not want to try this route, but thought I'd let you know another option.

Patty

[Devora]

What's the temperature of her milk versus the temperature of the formula? I know many kids aren't used to the taste/feel of cold milk when they've been having room-temperature formula. It might help to let it warm up a little first.

Devora

Hi Summer,

We had a problem for a while trying to get Tyler to drink milk. I got some chocolate Ovaltine and mixed it with the milk and he drank it fine. I guess it just needed some"flavor" and the Ovaltine gives it flavor along with additional vitamins and minerals.

[elmram]

Hi,
We had the same problem when we brought our Hannah home at 17 months. She was on powdered milk, and switching from that to whole milk was not happening. So I slowly mixed the two together. At first 1/4 whole and 3/4 powdered. She would drink that. Then I kept adding more whole milk over time. If your daughter will drink formula you could try that. It worked great for us.

Rachel

[sak9645]

... into a child in many ways. Yes, getting a child to drink plain milk is best, but you have to do what works with a toddler.

First off, be sure that there is no issue of lactose intolerance, which is fairly common in internationally adopted children. Does your child get any GI problems after drinking milk, such as tummyaches, diarrhea, etc.? Keep a log of dairy intake and symptoms, and if you think you see a pattern, check with your doctor to see if he/she thinks it's truly lactose intolerance. Then, talk to him about options such as lactose-free or lactose-reduced milk, soy milk, Rice Dream, etc.

If there is no problem, try getting milk into your child by:

a) Giving the milk in a new kind of serving device. As an example, see if your child can learn to use a straw. My daughter knew how to use a straw when I adopted her from China at 18.5 months of age, so it's not totally farfetched that a 14 month old may be able to use one.

b) Whipping potatoes with plenty of milk and butter. Many kids love mashed potatoes and will feed themselves, using spoon and/or fingers.

c) Adding powdered milk to all kinds of homemade foods. Your child will never catch on!

d) Serving puddings made with milk for dessert. Kids love to eat puddings, and if you make them yourself, instead of buying the already made ones, you can control the amount of sugar you add.

e) Serving milkshakes made with ice cream or frozen yogurt and fruit for dessert. Don't overdo the ice cream, but an occasional treat is fine. My daughter was seriously underweight when I got her, and the doctor was glad to see us sharing a banana or chocolate milkshake daily. The only problem was that Mom gained 20 lb. the first year Becca was home!

f) Encouraging yogurt consumption. Try plain yogurt mixed with cut up bananas or some all-fruit jam, if you don't want to use the already-flavored kind.

g) Seeing if your child will eat cottage cheese. Some will, some won't.

h) Serving non-dairy calcium-rich foods like broccoli, kale, spinach, tofu and canned salmon.

Also:

a) ELIMINATE (TOTALLY) JUICE from your child's diet or allow no more than one SMALL serving per day of calcium-fortified juice. Many kids fill up on juice, and then refuse milk or water -- or even solid foods that are good for them. The overuse of juice also promotes obesity, without significantly improving nutrition. In addition, lots of kids walk around all day with a cup or bottle of juice, which just pools in the mouth; the sugars in juice promote decay in the emerging teeth.

Kids do NOT need juice. Pieces of whole fruit are better options, as the kids get not only the vitamins, but some fiber, which helps regular elimination. If your child is already a "juice addict", you're going to have to get tough about insisting on water or milk instead -- and if your child has a babysitter or goes to day care, you're going to have to get the caregiver to go along with the program. Too many day care providers serve a nonstop snack of Juicy Juice, etc., thinking they're giving something healthy to the child, when they definitely aren't. I had a heck of a time convincing the caregivers at my daughter's first cay care center about this.

b) Don't become obsessive about the milk issue. Toddlers are notorious for loving one food one day, and hating it the next. Your child may well decide, next week, that she LOVES milk -- unless you make such a huge issue of it that she decides to see how much she can resist you! Resistance to pressure is a toddler thing, too.

c) If your child is an overall poor eater, supplement with a can or so of Pediasure every day. It's frightfully expensive, but really helps get calories and nutrients into a child. Originally designed as a complete food for children who were being weaned back onto oral feedings after being tube-fed for medical reasons, it can also be used as a supplement. I used it for several years with my daughter, to get weight onto her. It comes in several flavors; my super-picky daughter loved vanilla.


Sharon

[Laura7542]

My son has refused milk everyday, everytime we try it. He is 2.5 years old now. We brought him home at 8.5 months old. He refused the bottle all together. When I couldn't get milk in him, I asked the doctor. Ours told us not to worry, just to get the calcium in other ways. Sharon had some great suggestions. The powdered milk is the best. I slipped it in everything. Gerber has cookies that have lots of vitamins, including calcium. There are also chocolate chews that have 50% of the calcium. Sometimes Jacob will eat them, sometimes not. Between the powdered milk, broccoli, spinach, yogurt, cheese sticks, and cookies, he gets plenty of calcium. If your doctor's only suggestion was just to get your child to drink milk, then see how he/she handles other things but that isn't very realistic in my opinion. However, if they know how to "make" a toddler do something, please share it with me (HAHA).

Hope that helps, Laura

[Pamsko]

I know this is going to sound weird...especially since I just started the process...but I've been reading a couple of books on raising adopted kids. One of them mentioned that in some Latin American communities, they put a little coffee in the children's milk....and that the children get used to drinking it that way...thus our milk doesn't taste right.

My bio daughter (10-y-o) has NEVER been a milk drinker...but she loves those drinkable yogurts (danimals) as well as the ones you squeeze out of a tube into your mouth (gogurts)...those might be something to try...

I figure any calcium is good enough...I'd just experiment with different things until you find something they like...

[SummerV]

I love all the ideas and will give them all a try until I find what works. I also forgot to add that the reason she will not take formula here is that her foster mom mixed sugar into each and every bottle of formula as she was growing up. So of course she wound't like our formula...nothing beats sugar.LOL!
Hopefully something works for her. Thanks again for all the great ideas
Summer

[sak9645]

... also tend to "sugar" bottles in some orphanages, probably to get kids to drink them quickly so they can move on to other children in need of feeding. Many adoptive families have to wean children from the overly sweet bottles by gradually decreasing the amount of sugar mixed in.

If worse comes to worse, use sugar or chocolate syrup or something, gradually reducing how much you add until you've got plain milk. You'll feel like a terrible Mom if you do use a little sugar or syrup, but if you use it only as a short term solution while decreasing the amount steadily, you may be able to get your child to adjust more easily.

Your pediatrician won't understand, unless he's/she's seen a lot of internationally adopted children or parented one himself/herself.

Sharon

[snshaner]

is also a suggestion to add to the milk - may also help avoid some of the problems that too much cheese can cause - if you get my drift. Abigail at 20 months still takes 3 bottles a day as it is a comfort thing for her and sometimes about a tsp of dark karo syrup sweetens but also helps things move along as she likes cheese too!

[sak9645]

The temperature of the milk IS an important consideration, if not with Guatemalan children, than with Chinese children. While my Chinese daughter preferred her milk cold, she was in a very modern orphanage in a very Westernized city.

Many, many adoptive families report being utterly shocked at how HOT their new Chinese babies liked their formula. New parents worried about scalding little throats were seeing lukewarm bottles totally rejected in favor of ones that would never pass muster in parenting class.

So try to find out whether your child was served formula or milk cold, warm, or hot. You may be surprised to find that your milk-hating child simply wants it at a different temperature.


Sharon

[BEBE]

I gradually switched Savanna's Nestle Nido 1 milk to Carnation Good Start 2. She wouldnt drink any other formula or milk. She is on Good Start 2 still. Loves the drinkable yogurt (like Danimals) loves yogurt, cheese etc. She will NOT drink chocolate milk still. In fact she eats just about everything EXCEPT green vegetables. SHe will eat green salad with tomatoes and ranch dressing. (couldn't beleive that one!) The only thing green she will eat is guacamole and lettuce.

I also agree with the temperature issue. At 18 months old she still likes her bottle room temp. So I have to warm them or either mix one up at a time. (I use distilled water) with her powder type formula. She hates cold bottles.

Then again it may just be a stage they all go thru. My sisters 22 mo. old bio son is a very picky eater, wont drink milk either. I would try the pedisure too.

Good luck