My daughter hates the stuff more and more and complains about stomach aches afterwards. I understand there’s no simple test for lactose intolerance.
So, what if we stop making her drink the stuff? What happens to her? Do her bones fail to develop or something awful? Any good substitutes out there? Any personal experiences you can share?
Vegetables and a multivatimin should take care of it.
Is she lactose intolerant?
she’ll be fine without it.
How old is she?
My son couldn’t handle formulas made from milk when a baby, so we got this stuff called Nutramagin.
After he was off formula, I just used soy milk as I use myself.
No problem.
Just keep away from soda pop.
Yogurt is a good substitute for milk. It’s up to you to determine if this is a power struggle or she really can’t tolerate milk.
My son hates milk, but he isn’t lactose intolerant. We do yogurt, cheese, soy milk, and I often let the kids have one of my calcium chews.
I wouldn’t recommend making a power struggle out of it. The nutrients in milk are available in other foods. There are lots of other issues to fight about. 
I wouldn’t worry about it. If you’re worried about his getting dairy, there are lots of other options. I don’t like milk anymore, but I love some cheeses and some yogurt.
If she’ll drink chocolate milk, but not white, it’s a power struggle.
I used to put blue food coloring in my daughter’s milk. Worked every time.
If it’s plain milk, I can’t drink it. If it’s in cereal then for the most part I’m fine. I don’t have a lactose intolerance, at least not one that extends into other dairy products.
I stopped drinking milk very early on. My mother never let me have sodas unless it was on the rare occassion that we went to Burger King (maybe two or three times a year). She made sure I got plenty of vitamins and calcium. Some times she had to trick me into it though. Every time I asked for ice cream or cake she told me to go grab an orange. She’d peel it for me so I could eat it. After I was through she’d make me get another one. By the third one I was either too full for the ice cream or had forgotten about it completely. I took me years to figure out what she was doing.
You don’t say where you live, PlanB, but if you’re in the US there is at least one major dairy that produces a lactose-free milk. Dean’s Easy milk is available in 2% and skim.
I always got stomach aches from milk as a child, and no one believed me. When my younger brother was born ten years later, he had such a violent intolerance to milk that he nearly starved to death - he was never able to keep a milk-based formula down. Up until that point, my mother had never heard of a lactose intolerance, and she was very contrite about my problem after that. We all switched to soy milk, and we were fine. As far as I know, lactose-free cow’s milk wasn’t readily available until a few years ago. When my daughter started complaining a few years ago about stomach aches mid-morning, I switched her to a lactose-free milk on a wild guess, and she hasn’t had any problems since.
Personally, I now prefer the lactose-free cow’s milk with my Oreos to the soy milk - but the soy milk makes better smoothies.
That’s not necessarily true. At least, it wasn’t in my case.
I hate milk. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Always have, probably always will. I like yogurt, and lussi, and there are lots of cheeses I love, but I hate plain old milk. That’s just how it is.
If you add enough chocolate to it that it no longer tastes like milk, I can deal with it. But I didn’t refuse to drink plain milk, but accept drinking chocolate milk, because I was having some sort of power struggle with my mom. It’s just that chocolate milk tasted good enough, while plain milk was completely repulsive.
Chocolate milk tastes very different than plain milk. I like one, the other I can’t imagine drinking at all - it’s simply not good.
My brother stopped drinking milk at a young age, but would still do cheese, yogurt, vegetables with calcium, etc. And he’s fine. Or well, his bones aren’t the problem.
I’m lactose intolerant and I hate milk. I do however LOVE dairy products.
I recommend lactaid. it’s pretty expensive though. 90 pills/15 dollars at costco. Significantly more at a supermarket. I personally buy the costco brand lactaid(125/10 dollars) for at home usage(comes in a bottle.) and lactaid(individually wrapped and sealed) for when i’m out
the lactaid should help with the stomache aches if taste isn’t a problem.
That is the COOLEST! I wish I had had blue milk as a kid.
I hated milk as a child. I still can’t drink it on it’s own. My mum never made me drink it and I’m perfectly healthy.
Vitamins and maybe be a little liberal about ice cream (if it doesn’t hurt her tummy).
I don’t see any sense in making a kid consume something that they have tried but still hate. As long as she’s getting calcium from other sources she’ll be fine.
There are other sources for calcium that your daughter could tolerate a bit easier.
Milk, yogurt, cheese
Leafy green vegetables Broccoli, kale, spinach
Oranges
Tofu, peanuts, peas, black beans, baked beans
Salmon, sardines
Sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, corn tortillas, almonds, brown sugar
Vitamin D is also necessary to allow the body to absorb the calcium. In the US, milk is fortified with Vitamin D, and a few other foods are sometimes also vitamin D-fortified (such as some types of cereal and bread). This vitamin occurs naturally in only a few foods, such as fatty fish (salmon, sardines) and egg yolks. In addition to dietary sources, sunlight can provide the body with Vitamin D as it is synthesized through the skin.
I haven’t drank milk in decades, absolutely hate the stuff, and my bones are just fine.
Our kiddo hated milk (except breast milk, which we had just weaned him from). But he loved “green milk” which was just a little Hershey’s chocolate syrup that was marketed in green color after that Hulk movie came out. Eventually with less and less green in his green milk he started really enjoying plain milk. The other think he loved more than milk at the time was fortified rice milk. I believe they make something similar in soy as well. Good luck!
I haven’t drank milk since I spat out my bottle for the last time. No lactose intolerance ( well, not much - my physiology seems to be edging in that direction slightly as I age ) - I just don’t like it. However, I’ll cook with it, I am happy with all other forms of dairy and I liked green vegetables, especially broccoli, from a young age. So far my bones are just jim-dandy.
I see no need to force something as egregiously nasty as milk ( ) on a young child that dislikes it. It’s not that essential once she’s of a certain age and can switch to other sources of calcium. If it was most the world’s kids would be screwed, since most start losing their tolerance between ages 2-6.
Most good ideas here, for extra calcium I’d suggest a calcium supplement like Viactive if her ped is okay with it, as well.
I was very oddly food intolerant as a child and baby, they put me on meds and goats milk and eventually after a couple of years of the BRAT and similarly bland diet I could eat real food mostly.
Then when I hit gradeschool eggs started making me barf, and it was a struggle to get my parents to realise I wasn’t faking. Then I stopped liking milk. To this day I don’t really like it; and if I drink too much in cereal or ice cream, I have a “lactose intolerant” reaction, but lactaid (and lactaid milk) doesn’t prevent it.
But I do what the other dopers do … fortified cheeses, yoghurt, and supplements. My son (who I am in the process of switching to milk-based formula) has started showing raised bumps on his skin, so I’m trying to watch for that kind of probelm in him as well (it might also be his flame-retardant pajamas I put on him w/o washing first).
As for ice cream … you might want to get an ice cream machine and have her help you make ice cream and shakes? Might get her interested in milk again if it’s not a physiological problem.