Sip ....ahhh!

My older kids drink milk only at breakfast. I find it sooooo difficult to get them to drink more milk. There stand is: We are no longer babies, so we dont need to be drinking milk all the time.

They do not seem to understand that milk is one of the most nutritionally complete foods available and that they need milk for their growing bodies. The body goes through extreme physical changes during these growing years, including marked increases in height, bone and muscle growth which result in increased demand for energy and specific nutrients. And, the easiest way to way get more of these nutrients to aid their growth is to supplement their everyday diet with milk.

I was at the petrol kiosk the other day, and I stumbled upon these:



It is the "Sipahh straws" that my kids had read about. Sipahh is a milk flavouring straw that contains "beads" which dissolve when milk is sipped through it, thereby flavouring the milk. It does not contain artificial flavours, nor preservatives and has less than half a teaspoon of sugar in each straw. It also comes in a variety of flavours, like strawberry, choc mint, chocolate, banana, and cookies and cream.

I know drinking with sipahh straws is like offering them flavoured milk. But I feel that flavoured milk contains way too much sugar. With these straws they get the necessary nutrients without all that sugar, and for me less of their "hyper-ness", (tho' it adds considerably to the cost of each glass of milk!)

Now, when they drink their milk, they will, sip and then say: "Ahhh" as instructed on the straw wrapper! I just hope this milk drinking can be sustained, and that the novelty of it does not wear out too soon, coz I like them drinking more milk.