Preschoolers&milk

I serve only milk and water here(no juice)
All of my over 2's get offered about 5oz of milk at each sitting, as I use child sized open cups as I don't want them spilled everywhere. They can have their cups refilled if they request more. Water is always available to all.
I have a parent wondering why her 3.5 yr old is only drinking a total of 15oz of milk a day here(he can ask for more whenever he likes, but doesn't)
This parent feels that I am depriving her child of adequate milk for his needs(we eat tons of dairy and leafy greens in addition as far as calcium goes.
I'm at a loss, as all of my other parents, are asking me to cut back on milk and use more water as they don't want the calories/sugar that milk provides.
I don't think I'm out of line here, and he drinks milk morning and night as well while in his parent's care. Any thoughts??

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Originally Posted by Busy ECE mommy

I serve only milk and water here(no juice)
All of my over 2's get offered about 5oz of milk at each sitting, as I use child sized open cups as I don't want them spilled everywhere. They can have their cups refilled if they request more. Water is always available to all.
I have a parent wondering why her 3.5 yr old is only drinking a total of 15oz of milk a day here(he can ask for more whenever he likes, but doesn't)
This parent feels that I am depriving her child of adequate milk for his needs(we eat tons of dairy and leafy greens in addition as far as calcium goes.
I'm at a loss, as all of my other parents, are asking me to cut back on milk and use more water as they don't want the calories/sugar that milk provides.
I don't think I'm out of line here, and he drinks milk morning and night as well while in his parent's care. Any thoughts??

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Sadly, a lot of people are (in my opinion) mistaken into thinking kids NEED an exorbitant amount of milk to be healthy. If only they realized the amount of sugar their child is ingesting.

I don't offer any milk to drink (during or outside of childcare hours). We have milk in cereal, in recipes and we have other sources of dairy (plain greek yogurt, cheese etc). We are outside daily for long periods for vitamin D. There is no need for milk. All it does is fill little tummies making them not NEED to eat food that they think looks suspicious.

Odds are you will not be able to convince them that you provide enough. All you can do is continue to repeat what you have noted. Milk is provided, they can request more if they so choose. At 3.5yrs of age a child is old enough to know if they want more. You could send home resources about other sources of calcium, vitamin D and what ever else they think milk is magically providing.

I dont serve milk either .....if a parent wants to supply it then I will give it to their child .... I only serve water here ....

I don't serve milk here, either. Also, the worst picky eaters I have had were all huge milk drinkers! When their tummies are full of milk, they don't feel the *need* to eat, so will only choose their absolute favourites.

I don't serve milk here either, I find it just goes down the sink. we drink water, and on rare occasions herbal tea.

Remind the parent that the child gets extra milk whenever he asks for it

Does your province have food guidelines for child care? In the NS manual I recall it saying to only offer half a cup of milk at a time so they would have room for eating their food. I only offer milk at breakfast and lunch, water only for snacks. So the average preschooler is only getting 4oz of milk from me (here for lunch and 2 snacks).