Milk and other drinks
Toddlers should be offered around 6–8 drinks each day.
This guards against dehydration and reduces the risk of
constipation. Toddlers need less milk than infants.
About three drinks of milk of 120 ml (4 oz) per day
(maximum 500 ml) are enough, and more than this may
suppress appetite and thereby decrease intake of other
foods. Fluids should be given in beakers or cups (not
baby bottles) from the age of one year, because comfort
sucking on a teat can become a habit difficult to break.
Bottles of juice and squash bathe the gums and sensitive
milk teeth in acid, increasing the risk of dental caries
and enamel erosion.
Although all types of cows’ milk contain the same
amounts of protein, calcium and other nutrients, semiskimmed
milk has less energy, fat and vitamin A than
full-fat milk. Therefore, all toddlers should drink full-fat