milk Archives - Going Dad

As much as I enjoy joking around (hence the title to this post), keeping our family healthy is something I take seriously. Even before I became a stay-at-home dad, I was cooking all of the meals for my wife and I on top of having a full-time job. Yeah, it was hard at times, but to pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to good nutrition.

For this reason, my wife and I knew breast milk was the best source of nutrition for our daughter, Avery, right from the start. And now, at 18 months old, I am extremely proud and supportive of my wife for still nursing our beautiful girl even through so many hardships.

Over the past few months, Kelley has slowly eased up on breastfeeding which meant I needed to find another source of nutrition to fill its place. Luckily, there’s another nutritious beverage to fill the void, and it goes by the name of…..MILK!

Just like the food I bring into our home, I am quite particular on where our milk is sourced and how it’s produced. Avery was a bit hesitant about milk at first….

….but she quickly made peace with her new beverage and, well…..

Yep, she loves her milk and she has it every day with breakfast and as a calming drink before nap time. Having a nutrient-rich beverage packed with 8 grams of high quality protein per 8 ounce serving allows me to rest assured our daughter is getting what she needs for her body to grow strong and healthy and give her the energy to play (or swing kettlebells) with Mommy and Daddy.

Unfortunately, many families are unable to provide their children healthy meals and are missing out on the nutrition milk has to offer. These children are provided breakfast and lunch through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) when in school, but not when school is out.

Here’s the “Legen-Dairy” part…..To raise money and bring milk to families in need this June, Milk Life has created The Great American Milk Drive benefiting Feeding America. Since June is National Dairy Month, what better time than now to help deliver something many of us take for granted; MILK! Did you know…..

Milk is one of the most requested items by food bank clients year-round, and especially during the summer when kids are missing out on nutritious meals provided through school breakfast and lunch programs. But on average, food banks are only able to provide the equivalent of less than one gallon of milk per person per year. That’s because while Americans are generous with canned and dry goods, many don’t think to donate milk because it’s perishable.
More than 22 million children may miss out on milk’s nutrition in the summer months when schools are closed and they lose access to free or reduced-price milk programs.
You can help power the play of children in need in your community all summer long with a small donation by clicking here. A donation of as little as $5 will deliver a gallon of milk to a local family through the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks.

And since we all absorb information better when it’s in cool infographic form, here are the key facts laid out for us all.

As a major advocate of all things health, I know how paramount good nutrition is for kids and adults alike. That’s why I’m honored to join Life of Dad and 24 super awesome dad bloggers to help Milk Life spread the words and raise funds for The Great American Milk Drive. This truly is legen-dairy, and we need YOU to help us keep it that way!

The 25 of us dad bloggers have been divided into 4 teams by region, North, South, East, and West. To make it even more interesting, the team that has received the most donations by 12PM EST on Monday, June 22 will get an additional $500 donation from the awesome guys at Life of Dad. Now I know you want to help my team, The South, win this, so please, hold off on the birthday gifts (it was on the 8th) and Father’s Day presents and please please please donate to this important cause.

Check out my fellow Team South friends and show us all some love by donating today.
Trey Burley – Daddy Mojo

Scotty Schrier – Dads Who Change Diapers

Jack Steiner – The Jack B

Rick Fauquet – Rick on the Rocks

We’re all great fathers wanting the best for kids all over, and this would make the best Father’s Day contribution to all of us.

And be sure to mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 16th at 8PM EST for the #MilkDrive Twitter Party hosted by @LifeofDadShow. Just follow hashtage #MilkDrive and get ready for a chance to win some great prizes and have fun while supporting Milk Life and Feeding America!

Disclosure: I have partnered with Life of Dad and Milk Life for this promotion. I have received compensation for my participation, but my passion and thirst for Milk is my own.

I don’t know where we went wrong, but our toddler simply won’t hold her own bottle.

Okay, let me rephrase; she won’t hold her own milk bottle.

Dammit! Let me re-rephrase; she won’t hold and drink from her milk bottle. There.

Some of our neighbors with kids around the same age said their little ones have been holding their own bottle and drinking without a problem. I don’t know where they all are with breastfeeding and if that matters, but Going Mom is still breastfeeding so maybe that has something to do with it. If that’s the case, so be it, breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for our kids, even as toddlers, and I’ll support my wife as much as possible!

But still, Avery has no problem with holding, grabbing, and throwing things. She’s even becoming a pro at kettlebell swings!

So why won’t she just tilt the bottle up to get what’s inside? We have a sippy cup with a straw that she drinks water out of just fine, but a lot of it ends on the floor too, so we’re reluctant to give her Mommy’s milk that she works so hard to produce.

I’ve tried bottle “training” by just putting water inside and letting her do whatever, but nothing good came of it. Just confusion and spilled water.

If that was milk, we’d have a sticky mess, and I don’t feel like cleaning the floors more than I already have to.

Kelley and I have attempted to let her hold the bottle with milk inside while we stood guard, and she just tried to drink from the nipple as if it were the straw on her sippy cup.

We try and correct her by making a motion of tilting something up and drinking, but that only seems to confuse her.

And then, after several repeated attempts at explaining what to do with the bottle, she gives us this…

I mean, what the crap?! How do you not just smile, hug, and kiss this cute girl? After holding the bottle so she can drink, that is.

Anyway, we’re talking about weaning her from the bottle all together soon, and then she’ll have to use the sippy cup. Our cup has a spill proof nipple or a straw attachment, and she’s kinda getting that nipple down, but still just spits out the water as she drinks. I picture milk being in there and it sends shivers down my spine. Not out of fear, just because I don’t like cleaning, and I know how hard my wife works to make that milk.

The time to nix the bottle is fast approaching, and hopefully she’ll get the “big girl” cup down good enough to have milk in there.

Do you have a special “go to” sippy cup that you use for your kids?

What age did your little one start holding and drinking from their own cup/bottle?