To drink or not to drink.... Milk?

Question

OK, so My doctor encourages us to give our 18 month old 24 ounces of whole milk a day. Most homeopathic docs (and my chiropractor) I talk to (and many other people) think that people drinking cows milk is very unhealthy. I never drink milk, my husband doesn't and neither do most of our families.

It hasn't been an issue for me until now - my son wouldn't drink milk after we weaned him, until 2 days ago - now he wants it all of a sudden. He still doesn't like whole milk, so we are doing 2% and he's drinking about 18 ounces a day.

He eats yogurt and cheese and that's how I was getting his "minimum 3 a day" in.

So my question is this:

What do you think about the milk issue? Do you think children drinking it is healthy or not?

Answer 1

I believe that a person who is eating a strong diet of fruits, veggies, and appropriate fats and getting some time in the sun doesn't need milk.  My son was the same way.  He didn't ever like milk until just recently.  Doing some research, here is what I found.

We drink milk for really only 4 things: vitamin A, vitamin D, calcium, and fat.

Good food sources of vitamin A include carrots, mangoes, fortified cereals and oatmeals, apricots, cantaloupe, mandarin oranges, nectarines, plums, watermelon, broccoli, pumpkin, sweet potato, squash, spinach, and tons more. http://www.hoptechno.com/book29a.htm

Our bodies can process sunlight to make vitamin D, and can do so with about 30 minutes of sun exposure a day. Food sources of vitamin D include fortified juices and grains, egg yolks, and fish.

http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles...

Calcium can be obtained through other diary products, but also from beans (lentil beans, not vegetable beans), almonds, sesame seeds, oats, cabbage, broccoli, oranges, and even brown sugar

http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles...

Sources of fats, well, are butter and margarine, olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oil, not so lean meats, and avocados. Fat is the biggest reason milk is suggested for toddlers since 8 ounces of whole cows milk provides about 8 grams of fat. That's great, but 1 tbsp of vegetable oil provides 14 grams and 1 tbsp of margerin provides 11 grams. That means you can sautee some veggies and grille chicken in half a table spoon of either and get the same amount of fat.

There isn't a reason that a healthy child needs milk. Make sure that your 1 year old is getting a balanced diet of a variety of foods and she won't need any milk at all.

Personally if your child is drinking 18 ounces a day I think that's more than great.  Toddlers only need about 1/4-1/2 of an adult portion of foods and liquids.  Adults need about 64 ounces/day of liquids, which means that toddlers only need somewhere between 16-32 ounces a day.  24 ounces of fluid in any form (milk or not) may be too much for some toddlers.  For a lot of toddlers 24 ounces of milk a day would make milk the only liquid they drink.

I don't think that drinking milk is inherently unhealthy.  It's the dietary changes that are made that make it become unhealthy.  If you're comfortable with your son drinking milk that's great.  If you aren't, don't worry about it and find other food sources to get his essentials from.

Answer 2

My kids and i do not drink milk.  gross stuff.  My doc actually told me one of the worst things i could do was give my kids pasteurized cows milk.  We don't do any dairy products either though.

Answer 3

The MILK issue, I do daycare and at each meal I have to give each child about 1 cup of milk, whole milk for children under 2 and older then 2 doesn't matter what type of milk.  They have us give children that much because of the calcium that it provides.  If your child wants milk I would let him have it because it is better for him then juice or sugar drinks

Milk in my house is different, I do not drink milk unless it is with cereal or I am eating chili, or chow mein, some sort of really hot dish.  My husband can drink milk with no problem.  My 2 year old son is allergic to dairy, he does not drink milk, he will not drink soy milk, he eat's SILK LIVE SOY YOGURT, he will eat 4 a day if I will let him sometimes more.  He is doing just fine he is 35 pounds and healthy (besides the allergies)

Answer 4

yes its very healthy. its what is added to the milk during processing and packaging that should concern us more.

Answer 5

No person *needs* milk. What is needed are the nutrients that can be obtained from milk  (that is, calcium, vitamin D, and good fats). You can get all of these in other dairy products or even non dairy products (e.g., broccoli is high in calcium, avocado is a good fat).

Check out this site

http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com

It will give you some great ideas on feeding a toddler. Plus it shows the daily dairy intake a toddler should have. A toddler needs 2-3 servings of dairy a day (or equivalent nutrients). In liquid form, one serving is 4oz. Therefore, if drinking milk was the *only* source of dairy, 12 ounces max would be just fine. If your son is eating other dairy and getting "good fats" during the day, then I wouldn't worry that he's not drinking any milk.

Answer 6

Absolutely!  That is what milk was given to us for.  It's good you are using the 2%, though, because whole milk can be fattening. My 6-year-old has never liked juice or water. Strictly milk since he was one. He's a little pudgy now, but has never had any broken bones!  We just switched to 2%.

Answer 7

I'm glad you asked this question -- my son (now 4) did not like cow's milk, let alone 24 ounces per day!  Because of my circumstances, I let him drink breastmilk until I felt comfortable switching him to soy milk with calcium.

I know a lot of pediatricians promote cows milk.  I think that's what they were taught in medical school.  Along those lines, I think many of us raised in America associate cows milk with wholesome-ness.  That's why we drink so much of it.  But many cultures don't feed their kids cows milk, let alone dairy.  I feed my kids cheese and yogurt, but I know to be truly healthy, I should probably cut it out.

So stick to your guns and don't give your kid milk if you don't want.  If it's calcium the doctors are concerned about, there are plenty of foods that provide calcium.  If anyone gives you a hard time, ask them why is it that humans are the only living creatures that drink milk once they're grown?  In the animal kingdom, isn't milk meant for babies?

Answer 8

Milk is a healthy food. It contains a wide range of nutrients in a very efficient package.  However, nobody ever needs to drink milk, and if he is getting other dairy products, there is even less *need* for him to drink it.  However, if he likes it, it's fine for him to have it.

Answer 9

My family all drink whole milk, and we are healthy as....COWS.