Not drinking enough

[ArizonaGirl]

I posted a little while ago about the amount of water my little guy was drinking and everyone suggested I start him on whole milk and see where that takes us.

Several days later he will drink some whole milk/breast milk mix, but maybe a total of 10 oz and he will drink maybe 4 oz total of water (I even tried to mix like a tablespoon of pear juice in his water to get him to drink more, no dice).

He is having really hard BM and just isn't drinking enough and I don't know where else to go next.

P.S. We have tried Gerber and Nuk sippies and Nuk straw cups and he chokes on the Nuk sippies and straw cups, but seems to do okay with the Gerber. So I don't think it is a cup issue.

Please help.

[jillc]

Hi there,

Just read your post from a couple weeks ago. My kids have never been big water or cow's milk drinkers, either. Two sips here and two sips there, and that's about it. Neither would drink cows' milk at all until over 18 months, no matter what I tried to get them interested after age one. We kept nursing until age two & they were nursing about 5 times/day at age one. Once each of them got to about age three, they began to drink more water and milk.

Are you still nursing twice a day? I'm guessing you're working towards weaning, but you could add another nursing session to increase his fluid intake. Might not be your first choice, but it just might do the trick in relieving his constipation. If he needs the fluids and he'll go for it, I'd be all for it.

Maybe make some kind of popsicle? You can make popsicles with EBM. Or make some kind of smoothie with the EBM (or cows' milk) and a favorite fruit puree to either drink as a smoothie or freeze as a popsicle.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll get some good suggestions.

Best,
Jill

[stillplayswithbarbies]

maybe he would drink more out of a bottle?

my 15 month old drinks out of a straw cup and sippy cup, but not much. She nurses twice a day, sometimes three times. And then we give her a bottle of cow's milk at bedtime and she sucks it all down.

[newg]

what about soy milk or juice? I know juice is normally a no-no, but pear juice or apple juice would provide fluids and help with the constipation.

try putting the water in different types of containers.........DD hated sippy cups, but she loves drinking out of a straw, so we use sippy straw cups and even those take-n-toss cups with straws to get her to drink water...........
she even loves helping me drink my OJ out of an adult glass........

[JBaxter]

Pear juice works wonders for constipation. My 15(almost)month old still uses his bottle way more than a sippy cup.

[scrooks]

My DD took her bottle up until 18 months. Even today she still doesn't drink that much from a sippy. At that age I agree with the OPs...a bottle may be a good idea.

We give her regular cups too at mealtime to try to get her to drink. I was VERY against giving her juice but I started giving her juice more and more because she was constipated along with the not drinking very much. It has helped a bit and she doesn't drink a ton of juice either....I will be watching this thread for suggestions too!

[ArizonaGirl]

I have officially weaned, so adding more nursing sessions really isn't an option. I need to take medication that is not safe for bf.

We ditched the bottle probably 3 weeks ago and I don't want to go back (he has teeth/gum issues already and the ped dentist suggested to get rid of it)

He gets about 1 TBS of pear juice in 8 oz of water and is quite frankly not very impressed.

I'm just at a loss as far as what to do

Thanks for all your thought, keep them coming...

[JBaxter]

Not every baby is ready to give up a bottle / breast at 12 months. You will have go figure out something to get more fluids into him. On 8oz bottle a day will not hurt a child even with extensive dental problems. Did you let his ped dentisit know how little fluids he is taking?

[DrSally]

Have you tried a sippy wo/ a valve. Sometimes it takes a lot of suck power to get the liquid out. I liked the take n toss lil learners. They're short, so easy to tip, have a ridge to hang onto, and no valve. Pretty cheap too.

ETA: I guess if it were me, I would try the bottle. I knew someone who switched from formula to soymilk and her DD wouldn't take it in a cup at 1 year old. The ped told her to go back to the bottle to get her to accept the soymilk and worry about getting back to the cup later. That did the trick. Sometimes you have to go back a bit to accomplish your goals, KWIM? If you're just giving milk and/or water in the bottle, you could always brush his teeth afterward. I can't see how 1-2 bottles a day of milk/water would be a problem. Have you discussed his fluid intake problem with the dentist?

[Jo..]

If my baby was dehydrated, I'd do anything I could to make sure he/she stays healthy. If the bottle does the trick, I'd reintroduce it and just be super vigilant about brushing.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I am surprised that a dentist would prefer a bottle to a sippy. Sippy cups are bad for development and usually you hear doctors saying not to use a sippy.

Babies have a need to suck. It's a soothing mechanism as well as for nutrition. I would go back to the bottle so that your baby gets what he needs. Tell the dentist that is what you need to do until he is old enough to give up the bottle. My 15 month old wouldn't be able to get enough nutrition and hydration out of a sippy cup, she's just not that good at using cups and straws yet. And she emotionally still needs to suck, so she really needs her bottle.

[arivecchi]

Talk to your ped. I had the same concern but my ped said they normally drink less as they eat more solids. Is he having 4 or more diaper changes during the day?