Thoughts on chocolate milk?

[Tweakster]

Making your own is better than commercial chocolate milk (which I love BTW, for me it's like a meal though :-D).

Anne once said she has a system of 'sometimes' foods/drinks and this would fall into that category for us.  And even less often would be juice, not even once a day if I can help it.  He's allowed 2% milk or water as 'anytime' drinks.  He's been drinking scads of water lately and saying 'yummy' so that doth please me.

Does anyone know when I can move him to skim milk?  He eats cheese and yogurt so not really worried about his calcium.

[Mom to M&M]

Nicole - my son is like Sara's. Once we took his bottle away, he stopped drinking milk. Some kids really don't like the taste of milk they just like the comfort of the bottle. Plus I've heard milk tastes fairly different from a bottle (it's not on your tongue as much maybe?). My DH actually had one bottle/day until he was six (!) and swears it tasted way different (and better) that way.

Sara, if Matty would I'd happily give him chocolate milk once a day. But he won't accept that either. I'd just do like some others have said and use Ovaltine or the like and use much less than the amount listed on the can. A friend of mine used only 1 tsp for like 8 ounces of milk and it made all the difference!

Wendy mentioned Anne's system above. Kate(Katet) has mentioned one before two, where her kids are allowed two sweet treats a day. So going by that, one sweet treat could be the chocolate milk and one whatever else (a small cookie, ice pop, etc)?

Wendy - skim milk has just as much calcium as whole milk. It's the fats that are less. Here they recommend whole milk until age 2, then 1% or 2% milk after that.

[~*Nicole*~]

Karen-That is so interesting! I actually don't like the taste of milk much myself. I enjoy it to wash down a very chocolatey piece of cake or brownie or cookies, but for some reason I can't stomach it as a beverage to accompany anything else and NEVER just to have a drink on it's own. It really is just gross to me. Not sure why that is....so I guess I can believe the bottle thing.

Wendy-Around here they say whole milk to age 2 and then you can go down. My ped. said whatever I drank was fine for DD so we all drink skim now.

[RachelC]

Karen-That is so interesting! I actually don't like the taste of milk much myself. I enjoy it to wash down a very chocolatey piece of cake or brownie or cookies, but for some reason I can't stomach it as a beverage to accompany anything else and NEVER just to have a drink on it's own.

This is me... milk with chocolate chip cookies (yes, in front of me now) or peanut butter and jelly.

Our dds will usually choose chocolate milk with either lunch OR dinner - once a day.  Otherwise it is milk and water in these parts.

[Nauvoo]

Nesquik makes a low sugar product that we use.  It calls for 2 Tbsp per cup of milk but if I add 1 Tbsp to a cup my DD loves it.  Otherwise she wouldn't drink milk at all either.  You can buy a HUGE tub of the Nesquik mix (low sugar) at Costco for very cheap compared to the price they ask at the local grocery store.

[Lemonthyme]

In the UK they recommend btw that it's whole milk till 24 months then if weight is good, semi skimmed till 5 years, then if weight is good they can have skimmed.  (1% is between our skimmed and semi skimmed so wouldn't be allowed until after 5 years.)

Personally I wouldn't want to give my kid artificial sweeteners either so I'd steer away from low sugar options.  I don't think I'd worry too much.  If you use plenty of milk and cheese in cooking then they'll get the calcium that way.  Maybe make sure they have one milky pudding per day and one milky main course, e.g. cauliflower cheese, fish pie, lasagne made with lots of bechemel?  For pudding, yoghurts, here's a pannacotta recipe btw (not authentic but it works): http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/05/yoghurt-panna-cotta-ok-for-babies-if.html

I think a little bit of sugar is ok in toddlers diets but generally it's a good idea not to give loads of sweet stuff and chocolate milk will become one of those every day things. 

[Tweakster]

My understanding of the low sugar options is that they are just lower sugar not artificially sweetened. 

I use Nesquik syrup - 25% less sugar.  It has 10g of sugar per tablespoon as dissolved in 250ml 1% milk (I use skim). It does not contain artificial sweetener.

I don't believe that choc milk then leads to wanting more sweets and treats - like Liz mentions, they just don't draw the correlation yet.

They are pushing choc milk as a sports drink here, and there are indications that kids who drink choc milk drink less juice, sports drinks ie Gatorade, and soda/pop/soft drinks.  So if your kid is active and/or playing a sport, there is evidence it helps replenish after activity.  I've not researched in detail but the information is out there.

[Katet]

My boys weren't really into milk, DS1 still isn't. They would drink Ovaltine (which has the vitamins & minerals) or Activite (also vitamins & minerals) & we gave it as a "cup of tea" drink with either afternoon tea or morning tea, when DH or I were having one. To this day they occasionally ask for a cup of tea, although more often than not they actually ask for a hot chocolate or ovaltine by name, but for many years it was a "cup of tea" - being their special cup of tea KWIM.
So I think if it becomes a drink at a set time like juice at breakfast then you can just say... that is what you have at X time.

[~Sara~]

So if your kid is active and/or playing a sport, there is evidence it helps replenish after activity.  I've not researched in detail but the information is out there.

Hmm, interesting...could be all the protein in milk, which is like the recommendation to eat lean protein after working out.  But honestly, drinking a big glass of milk after running around and getting hot and sweaty makes my stomach churn :X

Thanks for the additional feedback, ladies.  I do appreciate it!   I haven't made it to the store yet (am going this PM after work).  I was just going to get the Nesquik stuff, but will peruse the shelves to see what else is available.

Also, about milk fat %ages, once Aaron dropped his bottle and wouldn't drink milk at all, we switched to 1%.  I was drinking a glass of milk this AM before work (with my prenatal vitamin, ick!) and Aaron took a sip and said "No more."  Eh, well!  Oh, and yes, we do the "sometimes" food here, too.  DH/MIL started off saying "treat" but as that held no concept of time, he asked for treats all the time.

Thanks again!

[Tweakster]

Sara have you tried him on full fat milk?  DH loves milk but refuses 1% or skim - he's not even happy with 2%, but it's a compromise.  'tastes different' 'tastes like water' 'yuk' just some of DH's comments if he happens to drink it in error.

[~Sara~]

Sara have you tried him on full fat milk?

Yes, he was on whole milk when it was in his bottle, and we kept buying it for a couple of months after we dropped the bottle and were trying to get him to take it from any other kind of cup.  I just really don't think he likes the taste of milk.

[Nauvoo]

We use Nesquik powder low sugar which has about 6g Sugar per Tbsp.  I don't have a problem with it but I also don't have an issue letting my kid eat chocolate in moderation.
Wendy, It's interesting you mention chocolate milk as a sports drink because at a number of larger universities here in the US they use chocolate milk as a sports drink, mainly a replacement drink (for nutrients lost during exercise) following intense practices and games in American football and other sports.  It's believed the nutritional benefits of it are far better than Gatorade or powerade in replacing nutrients.  They do use gatorade and other sports drinks still seeing how not all people like chocolate milk.  They use chocolate to make it more palatable.  Just thought it was interesting that these big offensive lineman are chugging down chocolate milk after practice.

[Tweakster]

In light of this thread I made some for Finn today lol  Just a small Ikea tumbler (if you guys know what I mean, those little plastic jobbies) and he was all smiles 'I like chock-lat milk mommy!'

[Katet]

Just as an aside, take a look at the sugar fat & other additions in processed foods (including yogurt) that your children eat. When you add a small teaspoon of chocoate powder to milk you actually can add less sugar than there is in a yogurt or a fruit bar.

[Lemonthyme]

True but I don't give commercial yoghurt either.