Help with 15-Month-old Getting More Liquids

My daughter did the exact same thing around that age. I wasn't ready to stop breast feeding, but my husband insisted she was getting enough liquid. I was not. However I did wean her off and she has slept through the night since the minute we stopped breast feeding. It was amazing. She then started drinking more and taking to her cups better. I don't know if this will help, but honestly reading your story-it sounded exactly like mine with my daughter who is now 2. If he has wet diapers he is doing fine.

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Hi B.,

My daughter was the same way until recently a friend of mine suggested using a cup with a soft nipple, this is the one we are now using:
http://www.nubysippycup.com/ it is the one on the top right, they sale them at target, as well as other brands, same idea - she took to it right away and now drinks a whole cup before her nap!
Good Luck,
R.

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I would have to say that chasing him around with a cup is probably not the best plan. The more anxious you become about his fluid intake the less he will probably take because he is getting a strong reaction from you. Maybe you could just have a sippy cup of water at the table for him to sit and drink whenever he is thirsty and then serve milk at meal times. As long as he is not showing signs of dehydration I wouldn't worry about it. You can drop the mid-night feeding whenever you want, which may actually make him more thirsty during the day. Try to relax. I know it is difficult because you are concerned about your precious little one.

Best wishes!

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Hi, B.,

My son is 3.5 years old now, but my story was similar to yours. I breastfed him exclusively for 6 months. He never took a bottle and resisted a cup so at 12 months his only fluids (still) was breastmilk. I was nursing maybe only 4 times a day. Then I put him with a sitter 2 days a week while I returned to work part-time. He drank only maybe 1 or 2 ounces of water or milk THE WHOLE DAY! I was worried, but he was still peeing, and it was summer so I just gave him a lot of fruit. At 3.5 years old, he still doesn't drink lot of fluids. Just doesn't like to. Maybe 6 ounces of milk a day and 4-6 ounces of juice. And has had no medical problems, bladder, kidney, nothing, so that is good. And on the bright side, potty training was a bit easier because he could hold his pee for longer!

So, don't stress out, just give him more fruits (watermelon is great) and focus on other things.

H.

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I've had a similar concern with my 10 month old. But I've realized that if his urine is clear and he's having enough wet diapers and he looks like he's got enough drool, he's probably fine. One thing we don't take into consideration, is how much they're getting through breastfeeding. It's hard to quantify that. Also, even if he getting enough during they day, he still may wake up to eat or be cuddled. That's super common up until the age of 4 believe it or not!! My 10 month old nurses at night, and gets liquids with his meals, but really, doesn't drink more than an ounce at a time and doesn't spend all that long at the breast. But I forget how much water is actually in food. He gets water with in his cereal, and then there is water in fruit and other foods. You may not realize it, but if you son isn't thirsty, he's getting his liquids. You don't need to chase him around with a cup.

Hope that helps

B.

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An ounce several times a day... he might be getting enough? And I'd say that if you are offering consistently, he'd be taking more if he needed it. I'm not an expert, but my gut says that he wouldn't let himself get dehydrated.

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When I was weaning my 1-year-old from the bottle onto a sippy cup, I expressed my concerns about dehydration to her pediatrician. She said it wasn't even a worry. Take the bottle away and her baby food would give her plenty of liquids. She said she'd learn to drink from the sippy cup. She was right. I can't recall how long, but it may have dragged on for a few weeks. But, as the pediatrician said, there was no dehydration. I'm sure your child isn't dehydrated, either. Nevertheless, the best advice is to call your child's pediatrician, too, and I'm sure he or she or an advice nurse will quickly lay your fears to rest. Good luck!

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Hi B.-
By his age he only needs two small cups of milk in a day... included in this is the milk that may be in cereal, oatmeal, eggs, ect. There is also a fairy large liquid content in fruit. Unlike adults with their 8 glasses of water a day, a toddler just needs to drink when they are thirsty - maybe a little extra when the weather gets hotter. And if you let him be, I'm sure he will. Soup is another alternative for getting him to take in liquids.
If you would like to finish up nursing, this would probably be the best time. He is old enough to be on whole milk - and that comes a lot easier out of a straw cup or sippy, when it's random, rather than your breast. :)
Good luck!!

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Hi B.,

I have a 14 mos old boy and we had pretty much the same problem. He is underweight (18 lbs) and after several blood tests, determined that he is low in iron and micronutrients. Since he has leveled off and dipped in weight gain, the pedi recommended pediasure. I started weaning off one feeding each week and gave the pediasure in place of it. My boy didn't understand to drink it like milk and zipped a little here and there, 1/2 to 1 oz in the beginning. So he was definately not getting much during the cup feeding and not much during nursing either (i have low milk prod.) I was really worried. He seemed to like the banana flavor so I stuck with it for weeks. After a month, I had totally weaned him off, but he was only drinking 4-6 oz total! But I did noticed that he was able to drink a little bit more each day, working up to 2 oz and then one day he just did 4-5 oz! But I would say it took about 2 mos. So maybe you will need to be a bit patient. Perhaps my boy finally got "thirsty" since he wasn't getting much for a while. The pedi suggested that I tried other flavors and it sort of did the trick too. Maybe you can buy the chocolate and strawberry flavor nesquick to add to his milk? The trick with my boy for drinking was to wait about 1 hour after the beginning of a meal and looking out the window for distraction. Maybe you need to find something that will distract him enough to drink?

Hope this helps!
K.

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Hi B.,

Don't panic - kids do not need as much as adults do. From experience, my daughter used to drink 8 ounces of milk, three times a day, after her meals from a bottle. When I took the bottle away and gave her a cup, her intake dropped significantly. Now, she drinks about 6 ounces total of milk a day. She also drinks about 8 ounces of juice in the morning and then water periodically throughout the day. She gets fruit will almost every meal so that helps too. She is doing fine and now lets me know when she is thirsty. Go ahead and drop your night feeding. He will make up for it during the day. Good luck!

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Hi, the rule is that they should pee every six hour, if he does that, you are fine!

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Hi B.,

I found with my older daughter, even after "shutting down" one injured side, she still managed to get alot more than i realized from the other... It wasn't till she was completely weaned (21 months) that she suddenly started pounding down huge volumes of liquid. (I always wondered why they made these huge 8oz bottles, when my kid never drank more than 2oz! Also, are you using cups that are sort of free-flowing like straws or sigg-style? My 18 month old surprised me with how much she drank yesterday when she got her hands on a friends Sigg.

High water content foods - tofu, soup, all the great fruit even frozen for hot days or teething.

But try to relax knowing he is not dehydrated (it seems they resist more when they feel pushed!)

Dont worry!!!

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B.,
Will he eat apples or cantalope? They seemed to be great for hydration, in fact most fruits are. My kids didn't ever just drink an entire cup of liquids, they just sipped as your son is doing now. I used to leave the cup at the end of the table where they could reach it themselves.
If they were thirsty they would drink. They just have tiny tummies, I also remember that when they would feed for 15-20 minutes, If I had pumped instead, there wasn't really that much liquid that came out, even when they were that age.

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Let him pick out a cup at the store. Give it to him whenever he is in his car seat. Foods with lots of fluids are: broccoli, celery, iceberg lettuce, oranges, peaches, pears, squash, tomatoes (good luck!), watermelon, yogurt,
cottage cheese, frozen juice bars, Jello or pudding.

Mostly, relax. If he's thirsty, he will drink if he has a sippy cup of water available. It's hard to break the habit of monitoring their eating when nursing, but toddlers are fickle and appear not to be eating enough. If your doctor isn't worried about his weight gain and he doesn't appear dehydrated, you can relax and marvel at the odd eating habits of toddlers.

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Hi B.!

First of all, DO NOT blame yourself for this! As a first time mom, you will discover that ALL children go through so many changes in their own routines, and we can always feel like it's our fault. Please learn early.....it's probably not your fault that your little one isn't "in the mood" to drink :o)

You didn't mention his appetite. Is he eating well? Because as he gets older, he may simply not "be interested" in bottles, nursing, etc... Some kids actually "let us mom's know" when they're ready to grow up more :o) It took my first child to teach me this lesson :o)

As long as he's getting enough foods, and occassional liquids, I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just changed from "baby stage" to "toddler stage" and so it's not every 2 hours that he needs a bottle (or whatever) anymore.

Just after you feed him in his highchair, give him a sippy cup of water or whatever. He'll drink until he's finished, we may not be alot. Start calling his cup "drink". Everytime you ask him if he wants a drink, show him a cup. He's almost ready to use "fancy words", and will eventually ask for a "drink" when he needs one.

Good luck, B.. He'll be just fine :o)

N.

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Hi there, You can make homemade popsicles out of so many things, even have him help you with little paper cups and sticks and then he can have fun taking the paper part off when they are frozen. Or I'm sure they make cute little ones as well at the store, he could help pick a favorite color or shape. Make it a family thing, you could all have one together!! What's nice about doing this, is you control the ingredients, not a bunch of bad stuff!! You could even puree some fruit and put it in there for texture, flavor and fun. When the kids are involed in the process, it helps. Good Luck...J. (mom of 6)

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