By the first birthday, your twins will be ready to make the switch from breast milk or formula to whole milk.
How can you make this transition an easy and successful one?
Chocolate.
Call it a bribe. Call it cheating. I don’t care.
The way to get your twins to make the move to whole milk is to make it chocolate milk.
Instead of this unfamiliar and different milk, they get a taste of something sweet and yummy, and they will be more willing to drink.
Over time, you can start reducing the amount of chocolate syrup you use in the mix and soon they will be drinking milk straight.
One word of caution: chocolate milk stains clothes. If you were serving just milk, a spill or dribble wouldn’t matter as much. However, with chocolate, you’ll have to take extra caution when cleaning the clothes.
Perhaps a bib will help. However, by our girls’ first birthday, they had long since given up on bibs. Your twins may be different.
Keep in mind that you’ll also need to be patient. Kids need upwards of 15 exposures to new foods before they embrace them.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I work in diabetes at Sutter Memorial. I know the concern to get kids to drink milk – I have 5 and 8 year-old sons. However, the obesity epidemic is a concern now with children. Kids are getting Type 2 diabetes and other weight related issues. Starting a kid on chocolate milk might be a set-up for these diseases. My pediatrician recommends to continue to introduce the food/drink until the child will accept it.
Otherwise, I found all your suggestions very helpful!
Chocolate Milk? Brrrrriliant. Okay, I am no pediatrician. I am the mom of two healthy daughters who were potty trained with bribery. What did I use for the bribe you ask? CHOCOLATE. M&Ms for pee and Hershey Kisses for poop. Worked like a charm. (They are now teenagers and no longer expect chocolate when exiting the bathroom, and they are far from obese.) Wish I had known your trick for whole milk 14 years ago. Genius!