How much milk does your toddler really need?

When your child hits one year old, you may be worried about how much less milk she’s willing to take. Solids will dominate her diet now, but milk still has to be a major part of her daily food intake. However, do expect changes in food versus milk needs. Experts clarify exactly how much milk your toddler should be having.

Don’t worry if your child wants to take less milk now that she’s a toddler. Other foods now figure in her daily meals, so of course she’s not going to drink as much as when she was a baby.

Still, milk matters in the toddler diet. It provides calcium and vitamin D which are crucial to bone development. Toddlers need 500 milligrams of calcium and 400 IU (international units) of vitamin D every day. The vitamin D is essential since it makes the body absorb calcium.

If your child gets just two servings of dairy foods in a day, this provides only half of their vitamin D requirement. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that toddlers drink about 1 liter or 4 cups of milk a day. If your child takes less milk than that, the AAP suggests vitamin D supplements. This is something you should discuss first with the pediatrician.

In general, kids ages 12 to 24 months should drink whole milk to help provide the dietary fats they need for normal growth and brain development. Yes, fats are essential for them. Toddlers still need fat, unlike adults who have to control fat intake.

Reduced fat (2%) milk may be given if being overweight is a concern, or if there is a family history of obesity, high cholesterol, of heart disease. After age 2, most kids can switch to low-fat (1%) or non-fat milk. Your doctor will help you decide which kind of milk to serve your toddler.

So despite increasing solid foods, milk is still important for your toddler. Unfortunately, some kids are not too fond of milk. In this case, yogurt or cheese can be served to supply the much needed calcium. Aside from dairy products, other good calcium sources are fortified cereals, calcium-fortified soy beverages, broccoli, and calcium-fortified orange juice.

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