3 year old - how much milk?

[ENMS]

DD will be 3 years old tomorrow.  How much milk should she be taking in a day?

Back when she was smaller, she wouldn't drink a lot of milk, and she was low on the weight curve. So we always encouraged her to drink lots of milk so that she would gain.  Also always offfered water but she was never a big fan.

Now she loves her milk - too much.  I haven't counted how much she drinks but I'm pretty sure it's too much - I'm going to count it this week-end.  How much should she be having? She's also still on 3.25% - I'm guessing I should change to 2% at 3 yo?  She eats very well, balanced diet, meat, veggies, fruits, grains, etc. I haven't weighed her in a while but I'd say she's still low weight for her age but taller than most.

Any tips on getting her to favor water instead of milk?

TIA! 

[*Kara*]

You can keep her on homo milk as long as you want to... if you think she is small for her age, it's not gonna hurt to keep her on it for a while.  You could move her to 2% with no ill effects though

As for volume - the recs are 16-24 ozs a day in Canada.  16 ozs will ensure she gets a good dose of Vit D

As for getting her to drink water - I offered it at waking with a splash of juice to entice DD to give it a try   I had the most success offering when she would be hungry... so wake up in the AM and after nap... or after playing with other kids etc.

[ENMS]

Thanks Kara! I'll definitely check how much she's drinking, but I doubt it is more than 24 oz so I think we should be ok

I'll also start offering water more often when she wakes, that is a good idea!

[mickey44]

We switched to 2% when DD was 2 but like pp no harm in keeping her on homo milk!  DD1 is also a huge fan of milk and drinks lots...although probably within the 16-24 oz range.  At home she doesn't drink much water but I know at daycare she does and they offer it everytime they come in from outside or go back to their room after playing in the gym.  Milk is given at snack and meals times at daycare.  Anyways that is what we try to do too is limit milk to snack and meal times as we know she is getting enough milk and if she is thirsty other times we give water.  Sometimes she takes it other times she doesn't.  Also we always have a glass of water on the table for her where she can reach it at anytime.  I often walk by and notice it is empty so I fill it up again!!

[ENMS]

So I understand I can keep her on 3.25% without any harm done, but is there any reason why I should switch to 2% at her age?

She's not overweight, far from it actually I just tried last summer's clothes and they all still fit... she doesn't seem to be growing much in the past year although in length she has gained a good 2 inches since last summer.

[mickey44]

Yeah if it wasn't for the fact that DD1 has shot up in height we would still be wearing the same clothes!  I don't know of any reason why you should switch to 2%.  We did it because DH drinks 2% so this way we didn't have to have 3 different kinds of milk.

[*Kara*]

No reason to switch her from homo if there isn't a weight problem

I would keep her on it IIWM simply because she is on the small side (same as my DD).