If your child is already “addicted”*** to the sweet flavor of chocolate milk, there are a couple options for you.
1) Adamantly restrict chocolate milk to one glass at mealtime when it will be mixed with the other foods of the meal. Note: If you can do this you are a committed person (and tougher than me). If children are used to having chocolate milk throughout the day, and they know it is in the house, they will insist on having it as usual and you will have a small war (demands, crying & tantrums) on your hands. My experience with small wars with children is that they win … every time. They don’t understand losing and they will persist until they win.
2) Set a 10-day dilution schedule of diluting the chocolate milk by ½ every other day. After 10 days there is nearly no chocolate milk in the milk and then take all the chocolate milk out of the house permanently. You will still have the demands, crying and tantrums, but only for the last of those 10 days. When it is out of the house, you need only shrug your shoulders and say we don’t have any in the house. The child may cry etc. but you don’t have to get upset and argue because there is no alternative. When the child realizes you are not getting bothered about her/his fuss because there really is none in the house, the fussing will stop.
Of course, this means everyone in the house follows the same rules. It also usually means everyone needs to give up the treat at home. This can be a difficult thing for the family, especially if the problem is juice/soda/sports drinks. Taking those out of the house will provide the family with immense benefits, since they are linked with diabetes, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, degenerative liver disease and a significant list more. However, stopping one dietary bad habit for one person in the family dictates that everyone must support the restriction or it becomes a family feud.
* Once the bacterial balance establishes in the mouth and on the teeth, it is nearly impossible to change over time. Children who develop a very high cavity rate will have an added challenge to prevent that cavity rate from creating multiple cavities as the new permanent teeth emerge. Not impossible, just a bigger challenge.
** Starting children on a high sugar snack pattern will create an aggressive balance of bacteria in their mouths that will be a lifetime problem. See “A Bad Start for Children’s Oral Health.”
*** Sugar is truly addictive. Every bit as addictive as nicotine, caffeine, narcotics, street drugs, etc.
You can verify this with a web search. Start with, “Sugar, The Bitter Truth.”
Want to learn more about dental health, click HERE for Winning With Smiles Children's Dentistry