does my 16 month old "need" milk?

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At 16 months of age, your daughter should be eating fairly well, so formula or milk, isn't as important as it was a few months ago - as long as she is eating well, has some cheese and yogurt, she should be fine (make sure they are not low-fat).

My babies were all breast fed, disliked cow's milk and wouldn't drink it. By the time they were weaned (about 1.5 years of age), they were drinking very weak tea with a little milk, in a sippy cup! They also ate yogurt and cheese.

Both daughters are 5' 9" and my son is 6' 1" all strong and healthy, with never an ear infection or the need for antibiotics in their first ten years of childhood!

I think the Milk Marketing Board are the ones who push Cow's milk on us for our kids, as we are the only mammals to give the milk of another lactating animal, to our young....Show more

Maybe you should have weaned her off the bottle in a sequence
For example if previously she took 8 bottles a day then reduce that to 7 and continue until she was having 3 per day one in the morning and midday meal and night
Then cut that to 2 one in the morning on waking nad one at night before bed
After this she would have stopped taking bottle on her own terms

I was a bottle baby until five
I am all for their bottle as long as they want it
There is too much stress in the world for a child to start so early stressing

I have found
A bottled child is pleasant and less stressed as an adult...Show more

You do not have to feed your child milk. There are plenty of children they do not drink milk(lactose intolerant, vegan, religious reasoning, etc), and they grow up perfectly healthy. It is not the milk that is important, but the calcium.

You could offer milk alternatives(soy milk, hemp milk, rice milk, tempeh milk, etc), or simply add leafy green vegetables(calcium), and make sure her diet is high enough in fat.

There is such a thing as too much dairy. Many parents over feed dairy products. The average toddler only needs about 2 cups of dairy a day. 1 cup of milk equals 1.5 ounces of natural cheese. It is very easy to get dairy into your child's diet without milk....Show more

Well, if she still takes formula or milk (soymilk or whatever type of milk), that's great...if not, you don't need to worry, either as you said that she does eat yoghurt and cheese. If she is not a fussy eater, then really milk is unnecessary as you can get calcium from other foods, too....Show more

YES ! your baby NEEDS milk but she shouldn't be sleeping with a bottle. If she uses a dummy or passifier it will help her sleep much better than a bottle which are incredibly dangerous to sleep with..
My boy is 10 months now and he has a bottle to go to sleep then nothing till the morning.
You'll have to ween her off it. May have a few tantrums but it's safer off in the long run.
Milk is good for teeth it strengthens them along with bones. Children should be drinking milk every day well into their teens.
Good luck....Show more