milk vs. water

My three boys (10, 8 and 2 =BD) all love milk and rarely drink water.
When they come in from playing hard outside, there's nothing better
to cool them down and quench their thirst as an ice cold glass of milk.

dejablues...

That sentence makes me ill.

Joy...

Geez, that seems a little extreme to me.

Milk is an optional *food,* not a beverage, and their desire for milk was

Joy...

This seems like a matter of opinion. There are people who think of milk as
a beverage with nutritional value.

and their desire for milk was

planted in them by *you*. They love milk because you *taught* them to love
it. They come in from playing and you give them milk.

Joy...

Not necessarily. Maybe they just like it, or maybe their bodies crave
something that is in it.

Milk is for baby cows. Humans do not need it. Water quenches thirst. Water
is free! Milk is extracted from domesticated bovines who are kept pregnant
and lactating , and whose babies are taken from them so their milk can be
sold to people like you.

eliz_reid...

That seems like a weird way to put it. Every human starts out as an
infant, and to infants, milk (human) isn't an optional food, it's the
only food. Therefore, it doesn't seem likely to me that a desire for
milk has to be 'planted' (nor is it nearly as easy as you imply to
'plant' an arbitrary desire for a randomly chosen food in one's
children)! It would be more accurate to say that in households where
cow's milk is availble after weaning from human milk, the desire for
milk is more likely, although not certain, to be transferred from human
milk to cow's milk and to be retained after infancy.

Milk isn't produced by cows for our benefit, but neither is the cow's
own meat, and neither are chicken eggs, and neither is honey, and
neither, for that matter, is grain. Arguably fruit is produced by the
plant to get other animals to propagate the seeds, but eating the
leaves, roots, and seeds of most plants isn't in their best interest
either and not something they're 'for'. If one isn't a fruititarian,
balking at cow's milk because it isn't 'for' us doesn't make a lot of
sense to me. If there are specific health, cost, or ethical concerns
that's one thing, but there's no reason to rule it out as a food
because it's not 'for' us. Ditto not 'needing' it - there are very few
specific foods we couldn't easily do without if the diet remains
balanced, but that's no reason not to include them in a balanced diet
if we wish.

toypup...

Well put.

They just have it in their heads that water doesn't work as well.

dejablues...

Why? Because you made it that way.

Joy...

Not necessarily. Think about people who are exercising at some sport - some
of them will drink water to rehydrate, but others feel they do best with a
sports drink with some electrolyte replacement. Maybe milk does this
somewhat for the OP kids.

Welches...

Not necessarily. I find nothing quenches my thirst better than Cola. Mum
couldn't stand the stuff and we rarely had it as children, but now it would
be my drink of choice if I'm really thirsty.
Debbie

When they have soccer games, I'll bring bottles of water and

dejablues...

they'll drink them, but that's about the only time. We drink only
skim milk, so I don't worry about it causing problems with their
weight, but I wonder if they should be drinking more water. If so, any
ideas on how to encourage them to do so?

Stop giving them milk to drink, stop buying it, and give them water.

they'll drink them, but that's about the only time. We drink only
skim milk, so I don't worry about it causing problems with their
weight, but I wonder if they should be drinking more water. If so, any
ideas on how to encourage them to do so? It sounds odd to tell them
they can't have milk and they must drink water. Especially with how
much advertising there is about the benefits of milk/dairy these days.

Ericka Kammerer...

Well, there can be issues down the line with too
much milk--even though it's skim, it still has a *lot*
more calories than water ;-) If weight's not an issue,
though, I don't see why it would be a huge problem either
way. My kids (roughly the same ages) drink a lot of
water and like it. But, milk or water, they're still
getting fluids.

Banty...

I'd agree basically.

Although, for my 13 year old, I've gotten tired of the expectation that there be
all kinds of yummy thirst quenchers available in great volumes, when water
really should be the choice beverage for the after-exercise and hot-weather
thirsties for adults. I'm getting a bottled water dispenser (we have well
water, not unhealthy but not the best tasting) and weaning him off the pop and
juice and other goodies.

Besides, I need the refrigerator space for the volume of *food* he needs :)

Best wishes,
Ericka

dejablues...

Huh? Why? I don't know what planet you're from, but I've never seen this
advertising, and I've never seen milk touted as a beverage. If advertising

Joy...

Where do you live? I don't know what planet you're from, but in the US
where I live there is HUGE advertising about milk/dairy. Haven't you seen
anything like these?:

Laura Faussone...

or http://www.3aday.org/3aDay/

If advertising

is that big an influence on what you feed your children, what else do you
feed them? KoolAid? Coca Cola? You let advertising affect your dietary
choices?

Caledonia...

Even some of the most anti-advertising people I know have fallen for
the Archer Daniels Midland campaign to get people to consume more soy
and soy juice.

I dislike cow milk, have never used it as a drink, and I have never offered
it to my children to drink as a beverage. It's not necessary. Your children
will be better off without it.

Joy...

I actually encourage mine to drink at least a glass or two a day.

mbilling...

For years as a runner, start at age 13 and continuing well into my
20s, I would drink 3-4 glasses of chocolate milk after track practice.
I thought it was just my personal preference (and my mom kept thinking
it would "spoil my dinner" -- yet I ate everything on the table, and
then some:-).

Anyway, I recently read an article in a sports magazine about
replacement drinks for after exercising. It said that a mixture
of carbs and protein seemed to be the best for replenishing the
body. They compared some specialty sports drinks on the market

shinypenny...

I was going to say this too. And considering the kids' ages, if they
are otherwise eating well and growing normally, it's likely that they
need the calcium and protein to build healthy bones and muscles. Think
of the milk more like "liquid protein" than mere "fluid replacement."
When I used to weight-lift, I found I craved milk several times a day.
When I was pregnant, same thing. And milk isn't even that great for
me... I'm a tad lactose-intolerant, I suspect!

To the OP: are they destined to be tall?

annie...

Thanks to everyone so far on the comments. I'll confirm with their
doctor at our next visit, but it's good to hear that I probably don't
need to worry about it. I especially like the point about milk
certainly being better than sugary soft drinks, which they drink very
little of.

As for their stature, the older two both wear slims and are tall for
their age. DH is 6'2" and we both have several tall family members, so
we are expecting them to be fairly tall as adults. DS3 is a pretty
chunky 2 1/2 yr old (40 lbs already!), but his doctor isn't worried.
The other boys were similar at that age.

shinypenny...

If they are growing like weeds, then the milk is definetly a good
thing.

I have girls so I don't know when boys have their growth spurts. DD13
had hers a year or so ago: grew 10 inches and several shoe sizes in
just a few short months. Blows my mind!! DD11 recently entered a growth
spurt and is now just one inch shorter than me. I expect she'll pass me
this summer.

dejablues...

My sons are 16 (17 in September) , 13 (on June 10th) , and 8.5.
The 16 year old is 6'2", an inch taller than DH, 50 lbs heavier, two shoe
sizes bigger. He had his growth spurt when he was 14, but is still growing.
I'm 5'2" so he towers over me.
The 13 yr old is 5'3", (an inch taller than me), and has not had his growth
spurt. He's a vegen (as of 3 months ago, very challenging to me, the family
cook!).
The 8.5 yr old is the tallest in his class.
None of them drink, or have ever drank, milk.

Thanks for all the comments,
Annie

(not gatorade, but ones intended for post-sports consumption)
against chocolate milk, and concluded that chocolate milk was
actually better. I'll try to dig up the reference.

Huh, who knew that 30 years ago I was a trend-setter.

Encourage the milk drinking; it won't hurt 'em, and it's a much
better habit than drinking gatorade or soft drinks.

cheers,
- marty (mom to alex & andie, 5)