Fortified Rice Milk

[Guest guest]

I have finally almost succeeded in weaning my 20 month old to rice

milk. My concern is that the fortified rice milk might have too

much vitamin D in it. She drinks 20 ounces or more some days (she's a

bit of an insomniac and sometimes it takes that much to get her down).

Does anyone have any information on how much vitamin D (I think

that's the only supplement in the milk that I really need to worry

about) is too much. She takes a multi vitamin almost every day which

contains 200 IU (50% RDA) also. Thanks for any advice!

 

Stephanie and Rhea

[Guest guest]

> " ss6055 " <ss6055

> Fortified Rice Milk

>

> I have finally almost succeeded in weaning my 20 month old to rice

> milk. My concern is that the fortified rice milk might have too

> much vitamin D in it. She drinks 20 ounces or more some days (she's a

> bit of an insomniac and sometimes it takes that much to get her down).

> Does anyone have any information on how much vitamin D (I think

> that's the only supplement in the milk that I really need to worry

> about) is too much. She takes a multi vitamin almost every day which

> contains 200 IU (50% RDA) also. Thanks for any advice!

>

> Stephanie and Rhea

 

Stephanie,

I'm not sure your reasons for weaning her to rice milk, but it sounds like

you might consider giving her less, watering it down, or switching

completely to water (a good way is to water the ricemilk down a little bit

more each night until it's all water). For one thing, 20 oz is a *lot* -

think of it as a whole meal for someone her size, and a whole meal of rice

milk every night is not healthy. In essence, you're giving her a meal to

replace breast milk or formula - and rice milk is in no way suitable for

that. Rice milk is also not very nutritious. It's fine as an occasional

drink, on cereal or in baking, but basically it's high in sugars and nothing

else. Even fortified, it's simply not all that *healthy*. She might as

well be drinking juice.

And if she's drinking herself to sleep, then I'm guessing you're not

brushing her teeth afterwards. The sugars in the ricemilk will sit on her

teeth overnight, which is exactly what causes " bottle rot " (again, she might

as well be drinking juice, and that's the primary cause of bottle rot).

Breastmilk has anti-cariogenic (anti-cavity) properties, whereas rice milk

is the perfect substrate (food environment) for cariogenic bacteria.

I don't mean to criticize you, especially since, like I mentioned, I don't

know your reasons for weaning, but I wanted to point out some concerns i had

when I read your post.

Good luck.

Doh

[Guest guest]

HI,

I think you are probably right about the sugar. I hadn't even thought

of that. I just haven't had any luck getting her to drink soy milk,

and rice is the only thing I can get her to take. 20 oz is the MOST

she would take in a day at naptime and at bedtime combined.

My reason for weaning her is that she still does not sleep through the

night and she is actually up four or five times MOST nights. She will

only fall asleep with milk, and (with nursing) she got to the point

where she would latch on and fall asleep, but as soon as I'd try to

get up she would grab my hair and scream (even though she was still

half asleep). Basically I am just really worn out after almost two

years of this. The reason I have let her get away with this is that

she is a terrible sleeper and most of

the time I really want her to get some sleep once I finally get her

down. Rhea also is a very big girl. She is in the 95th percentile in

height and weight. When I was letting her nurse whenever she wanted,

she was eating less and less solid food. She would nurse for her

entire nap and not let me get up, then do the same thing at night. I

didn't think that was great nutritionally either. Sorry this is a bit

long winded. If anyone has any suggestions on another approach or an

alternative to the rice milk (we're vegan) I would REALLY appreciate

it. Thanks,

 

Stephanie and Rhea

>

> Stephanie,

> I'm not sure your reasons for weaning her to rice milk, but it

sounds like

> you might consider giving her less, watering it down, or switching

> completely to water (a good way is to water the ricemilk down a

little bit

> more each night until it's all water). For one thing, 20 oz is a

*lot* -

> think of it as a whole meal for someone her size, and a whole meal

of rice

> milk every night is not healthy. In essence, you're giving her a

meal to

> replace breast milk or formula - and rice milk is in no way

suitable for

> that. Rice milk is also not very nutritious. It's fine as an

occasional

> drink, on cereal or in baking, but basically it's high in sugars and

nothing

> else. Even fortified, it's simply not all that *healthy*. She

might as

> well be drinking juice.

> And if she's drinking herself to sleep, then I'm guessing you're not

> brushing her teeth afterwards. The sugars in the ricemilk will sit

on her

> teeth overnight, which is exactly what causes " bottle rot " (again,

she might

> as well be drinking juice, and that's the primary cause of bottle

rot).

> Breastmilk has anti-cariogenic (anti-cavity) properties, whereas

rice milk

> is the perfect substrate (food environment) for cariogenic bacteria.

> I don't mean to criticize you, especially since, like I mentioned, I

don't

> know your reasons for weaning, but I wanted to point out some

concerns i had

> when I read your post.

> Good luck.

> Doh

[Guest guest]

Stephanie, I weaned my youngest daughter at 22 months because of

health problems (mine, not hers) and she was used to nursing to sleep

too. I gave her baby bottles of purified water so she'd still have

something to suckle on and would still be held to get to sleep. She

didn't like it nearly as much (duh! LOL) but after a few days she

understood that at nighttime she could only have bottles of water.

 

She has fortified chocolate soy milk during the day and loves it. I

have a friend whose child already has fake teeth in front from going

to sleep with bottles of juice because it was the only way she'd sleep

and I felt I had to insist on water for her dental health. She's a

strong-willed child but there are some things she knows she's not

going to win, like having to stay in a car seat while we're driving.

I know it can be really tough to argue with a toddler, especially when

you know it's tough on her not to have her mama milk. I just used a

lot of love, sympathy and distraction to sympathetically say sorry,

chickadee.

 

I also use calcium fortified OJ, veggie/fruit juices, water and other

sources of protein, calcium and nutrients because if she had her

choice her diet would be 75% chocolate soy milk. My Annalee also

nursed a lot like Rhea, and even now she'd prefer to drink her lunch.

<G> Foods that she likes are (some of these are choking hazards so

obviously use care) cashews, frozen blueberries, cooked broccoli

florets, tortilla chips dipped in refried beans, bean and rice

burritos, pasta with soy parmesan, canteloupe, wheat bread with

margarine, bagels, cold rinsed kidney beans, raw peas, french toast,

spaghetti, spinach, raspberries, grape tomatoes from the garden, pan

fried potatoes, and dry cereal in a baggie. She gets most of her

calcium from fortified drinks and most of her protein from whole

grains, beans and soy milk. HTH. I always like to hear what other

kids like to try with mine.

 

Sorry this got so long!

 

--

Alicia

 

A Magical Childhood

http://www.magicalchildhood.com

 

" The best way to make children good is to make them happy. "

- Oscar Wilde

[Guest guest]

I don't know if this is encouraging but I had a similar problem with my son

who is now 21 months. I decided one night that the middle-of-the-night

nursings were going to end and comforted him in other ways for about an hour

until he went to sleep when he woke up during the night. I think I did this

for the next 3 nights and to make a long story short, he no longer wakes up

for " midnight snacks! "

 

My son also refused to drink anything other than breastmilk until little

over a month ago but I kept on offering him soy milk and sneaking it in his

hot cereals. Over time, he began to drink more and more and now he begs for

soy milk!

 

 

-

" ss6055 " <ss6055

 

Thursday, August 15, 2002 10:39 PM

Re: Fortified Rice Milk

 

 

> HI,

> I think you are probably right about the sugar. I hadn't even thought

> of that. I just haven't had any luck getting her to drink soy milk,

> and rice is the only thing I can get her to take. 20 oz is the MOST

> she would take in a day at naptime and at bedtime combined.

> My reason for weaning her is that she still does not sleep through the

> night and she is actually up four or five times MOST nights. She will

> only fall asleep with milk, and (with nursing) she got to the point

> where she would latch on and fall asleep, but as soon as I'd try to

> get up she would grab my hair and scream (even though she was still

> half asleep). Basically I am just really worn out after almost two

> years of this. The reason I have let her get away with this is that

> she is a terrible sleeper and most of

> the time I really want her to get some sleep once I finally get her

> down. Rhea also is a very big girl. She is in the 95th percentile in

> height and weight. When I was letting her nurse whenever she wanted,

> she was eating less and less solid food. She would nurse for her

> entire nap and not let me get up, then do the same thing at night. I

> didn't think that was great nutritionally either. Sorry this is a bit

> long winded. If anyone has any suggestions on another approach or an

> alternative to the rice milk (we're vegan) I would REALLY appreciate

> it. Thanks,

>

> Stephanie and Rhea

> >

> > Stephanie,

> > I'm not sure your reasons for weaning her to rice milk, but it

> sounds like

> > you might consider giving her less, watering it down, or switching

> > completely to water (a good way is to water the ricemilk down a

> little bit

> > more each night until it's all water). For one thing, 20 oz is a

> *lot* -

> > think of it as a whole meal for someone her size, and a whole meal

> of rice

> > milk every night is not healthy. In essence, you're giving her a

> meal to

> > replace breast milk or formula - and rice milk is in no way

> suitable for

> > that. Rice milk is also not very nutritious. It's fine as an

> occasional

> > drink, on cereal or in baking, but basically it's high in sugars and

> nothing

> > else. Even fortified, it's simply not all that *healthy*. She

> might as

> > well be drinking juice.

> > And if she's drinking herself to sleep, then I'm guessing you're not

> > brushing her teeth afterwards. The sugars in the ricemilk will sit

> on her

> > teeth overnight, which is exactly what causes " bottle rot " (again,

> she might

> > as well be drinking juice, and that's the primary cause of bottle

> rot).

> > Breastmilk has anti-cariogenic (anti-cavity) properties, whereas

> rice milk

> > is the perfect substrate (food environment) for cariogenic bacteria.

> > I don't mean to criticize you, especially since, like I mentioned, I

> don't

> > know your reasons for weaning, but I wanted to point out some

> concerns i had

> > when I read your post.

> > Good luck.

> > Doh

>

>

>

>

> For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at

http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to

http://www.vrg.org/family.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Stephanie...

Perhaps the solution to help Rhea sleep through the

night may be to wean her off any nap(s), instead of

off nursing. Sounds like she's getting plenty of

nourishment... so she may not be tired enough to stay

asleep long when you put her down.

 

If she is physically active during the day & omits all

naps... chances are you'll have a satisfied & tired

child who will sleep a lot longer after you nurse her

to sleep.

Good luck!

M

 

<< " ss6055 " <ss6055

20 oz is the MOST she would take in a day at naptime

and at bedtime combined... My reason for weaning her

is that she still does not sleep through the night and

she is actually up four or five times MOST nights...

Rhea also is a very big girl. She is in the 95th

percentile in height and weight. >>

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I don't have any suggesions about milk, but wanted to tell you that The No

Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley is an EXCELLENT book. I wish I had

been able to read this when my daughter was little! She's SO young to wean,

maybe give this book a try instead?

 

Sandra

[Guest guest]

> " Sandra Mort " <sandra.mort

> Re: Re: Fortified Rice Milk

>

> I don't have any suggesions about milk, but wanted to tell you that The No

> Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley is an EXCELLENT book.

 

Oh good, i got the name right - didn't know the author. Also glad someone

else here read it and can recommend it, since I was going on others'

recommendations.

 

I'm not sure, as someone suggested, that Rhea can skip naps, but I also

thought you (Stephanie) might try giving ehr something filling to eat before

bed, then brushing her teeth and giving her rice milk in her bottle - before

weaning from rice milk to water. If she feels full, she may be more sleepy,

plus she might not be able to drink as much rice milk if her tummy is full.

~Doh

[Guest guest]

Thanks to everyone that gave me suggestions about Rhea's milk problem.

I ordered the No Cry Sleep Solution book. It should be here today.

I have tried the no nap approach, and it helps her fall asleep (by

about 6:30pm) but when she goes to sleep that early, she seems to be

even more restless at night and is up every one to two hours until at

least midnight. I have gone back to nursing her the last few nights

and she has reverted right back to hardly eating anything in the day.

I plan to try the water only at night approach starting tonight. I

have to get this sleep thing under control. I am getting pressure

from all sides (her grandma, her doctor, even her dad) to just let her

cry it out. I will not do that, but I do agree that something has to

happen. Thanks again, and wish me luck!

 

Stephanie and Rhea

[Guest guest]

Stephanie, good luck. It's hard when people keep trying to tell you

how to parent your child, especially when it goes against what you

know in your heart is right. Listen to your heart and listen to your

daughter. She knows what she needs, even if it's not what

well-meaning others want her to need.

 

--

Alicia

 

A Magical Childhood

http://www.magicalchildhood.com

 

" The best way to make children good is to make them happy. "

- Oscar Wilde

[Guest guest]

, " ss6055 " <ss6055@c...> wrote:

> I plan to try the water only at night approach starting tonight. I

> have to get this sleep thing under control. I am getting pressure

> from all sides (her grandma, her doctor, even her dad) to just let

her

> cry it out. I will not do that, but I do agree that something has

to

> happen. Thanks again, and wish me luck!

 

Good luck, Stephanie! It is hard, balancing your needs and hers.

 

What worked for us when it came to night weaning (and I think my son

was much the same age as Rhea - 20 months, right?), was to tell him

that he could nurse as soon as the sun came up. He could cuddle (I

wore a shirt that didn't open easily in the front!), and I would give

him water if he wanted, but we would only nurse when it was daylight.

 

FWIW.

 

Be well, Hadass in Winnipeg.