How to Transition My Toddler From Warm Milk to Cold Milk
Once a child celebrates her first birthday, it’s time to begin serving her whole milk, advises the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP recommends whole milk for toddlers between 1 and 2 years of age to ensure that they get sufficient dietary fats for brain and nervous system development. If your toddler has been drinking warm breast milk or formula, she may not appreciate cold milk 2. Help your little one get used to this new beverage with gentle encouragement.
Fill your child’s sippy cup with cold, whole milk. Serve the milk to her to see if she will accept it.
Warm the cold milk just enough to take the edge off the chill if your child won’t drink the cold milk. Fill a small pan with water and heat it on the stovetop until it simmers. Remove the pan from the heat after it simmers.
Place the sippy cup into the pan of hot water and leave it there for about five minutes to warm it slightly.
Serve the slightly warmed milk to your toddler.
Offer your child cold milk every time to encourage her to accept it. Each time your child won’t accept the cold milk, heat it a little less to get her accustomed to cooler milk.
Tips
A young child does not need more than 16 to 24 ounces of milk per day, advised Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, pediatrician with the Fisher-Price website. Offering more milk than this to your child may encourage her to eat less solid food and fill up on milk.
After a week of warming milk slightly for your toddler, you may wish to draw the line and stop warming it. Eventually, your baby will make the adjustment and accept the cold milk.
Don’t give up – even if your child seems stubborn about transitioning from warm milk to cold milk. Keep working at it and encouraging her positively.
Related Articles
- How to Get Air Bubbles Out of an Infant's Bottle
- Glass Baby Bottles & Warming Milk
- How to Get Kids to Drink Pedialyte
- How Much Milk Should a 16 Pound Baby Drink?
- Breastfeeding a Lazy Eater
- Can You Mix Breast Milk From Different Days?
- How to Freeze Cauliflower Puree
- How to Store Baby Formula When Leaving the House
- How Many Ounces of Formula Should a Baby Have When Eating Solid Foods?
- How to Sterilize Medela Bottles
- How to Know If Frozen Breast Milk Has Gone Bad
- How to Boil Baby Bottle Nipples
- How to Keep a Child From Spitting Out Medicine
- How to Switch From a Soy- to Milk-Based Formula
- How to Stop Your Toddler From Spitting Out Juice
- HealthyChildren.org: Question & Answer
- EverydayFamily.com: Switching from Breast Milk or Formula to Cow's Milk
- Fisher-Price: How Should Baby Be Weaned Off Formula?
- Milk, reduced fat (2%). FoodData Central. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published April 1, 2019.
- Månsson HL. Fatty acids in bovine milk fat. Food Nutr Res. 2008;52. doi:10.3402/fnr.v52i0.1821
- Wadolowska L, Sobas K, Szczepanska JW, Slowinska MA, Czlapka-Matyasik M, Niedzwiedzka E. Dairy products, dietary calcium and bone health: possibility of prevention of osteoporosis in women: the Polish experience. Nutrients. 2013;5(7):2684-707. doi:10.3390/nu5072684
- Varenna M, Manara M, Galli L, Binelli L, Zucchi F, Sinigaglia L. The association between osteoporosis and hypertension: The role of a low dairy intake. Calcif Tissue Int. 2013;93(1):86-92. doi:10.1007/s00223-013-9731-9
- Cormick G, Ciapponi A, Cafferata ML, Belizán JM. Calcium supplementation for prevention of primary hypertension. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015;(6):CD010037. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010037.pub2
- National Cancer Institute. Calcium and cancer prevention. Updated May 4, 2009.
- Radavelli-Bagatini S, Zhu K, Lewis JR, Dhaliwal SS, Prince RL. Association of dairy intake with body composition and physical function in older community-dwelling women. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(12):1669-74. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2013.05.019
- Josse AR, Tang JE, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Body composition and strength changes in women with milk and resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010;42(6):1122-30. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181c854f6
- Rautiainen S, Wang L, Lee IM, Manson JE, Buring JE, Sesso HD. Dairy consumption in association with weight change and risk of becoming overweight or obese in middle-aged and older women: a prospective cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;103(4):979-88. doi:10.3945/ajcn.115.118406
- Flom JD, Sicherer SH. Epidemiology of cow's milk allergy. Nutrients. 2019;11(5). doi:10.3390/nu11051051
- A young child does not need more than 16 to 24 ounces of milk per day, advised Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, pediatrician with the Fisher-Price website. Offering more milk than this to your child may encourage her to eat less solid food and fill up on milk.
- After a week of warming milk slightly for your toddler, you may wish to draw the line and stop warming it. Eventually, your baby will make the adjustment and accept the cold milk.
- Don’t give up – even if your child seems stubborn about transitioning from warm milk to cold milk. Keep working at it and encouraging her positively.
Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon.
- Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty Images
