Toddler Won't Drink Her Milk

No juice or milk for kids. Too much sugar!! Also, she did have diarrhea, she may not be feeling well. Give her water. Does she run a fever? Have you given her any rehydrating fluids? If so, she may not be thirsty.

You can give her hydrating foods though. Apples, fruits. But no juice! and no milk!

Sounds like it could be hand, foot and mouth disease. It's little sores in their mouth that make it painful to swallow, but when my dauther had it should eat some solid food.

She could have thrush.

My son did this at 13 months old. Turned out to be his throat. We let him be a 'big boy' and drink his fluids from a real glass. He transitioned back to a sippy cup after a week...never would take a pacifier again!!! Good luck!

If your doctor said to take her to the emergency room, then I suggest you do so! Your pediatrician wouldn't reccomend to do that if they didn't think it was necessary. If your child has not been drinking she could be dehydrated which can also lead to other issues. Only a qualified professional will be able to diagnose her.
Good luck!

I don't know if you have had much experience with them but with both of my kids the first thing that I have learned to look for is an ear infection. If it isn't that then it is probably teeth. I am a mom of a three year old who has had a ton of ear issues and even had tubes put in when he was a little younger than your little one. I know that they say that you can't have an ear infection without a fever or some other symptoms but my son never would run a fever. He really didn't have to many symptoms except he would eat well (and sometimes have bad nights). But I also would rule out teeth. The best thing to do is call you doc and let them know that she is not eating well and anything else you may have noticed and they will probably see her

It is critical that she be hydrated. So, don't hesitate to take her to the ER if you are worried. My baby refused all fluids after a stomach virus last year. I watered down baby food and forced pedialite down with a syringe for days. You could also try popcicles and anything with a high water content. After a week of not drinking, my doctor prescribed something for reflux/heartburn. It worked beautifully. Good luck!

L.,

My daughter is the same age (born on Oct. 5, 2006)! I know it seems a little drastic, but I would guess that your doctor wants your daughter in the ER to make sure she's not dehydrated. Little ones can become dehydrated very quickly, and it can be really dangerous. A friend of mine is really close to a family who's 2-year-old died last Christmas because he had a stomach-virus and became dehydrated. That was an extreme case, but I'm just saying it can happen.

My daughter had a double ear infection a couple months ago and wouldn't drink anything because it hurt to suck/swallow. She was the same as your's... she would eat only a little, but not drink anything. When we put her to bed one night, she had a 102.6 fever and no wet diaper. When she woke up in the morning, her diaper was still not wet. She stayed with my mom while my husband and I went to work, and at noon, my mom called to say Emma still had not had a wet diaper. I called the doctor and she said we needed to get her in right away because she could be dangerously dehydrated. I called my mom to tell her to take her in, and she had just changed a wet diaper, so we ended up being ok.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if your little one isn't taking fluids, she could become dehydrated, which can be very serious. Since your doctor said to take her in, I would, just to be safe. You'd hate to regret it if something happened and you didn't take her in!

Good luck! I hope your little one gets to feeling better!
-S.

Sometimes when a baby has an ear infection it hurts to drink. I would make a same day appt. with your DR. the ER takes to long and so does urgent care. If she is eating, I would assume it's an ear infection. My son just had one a few weeks ago, he never played with his ears but both were infected. As soon as the meds kicked in he was fine.

My guess would be a sore throat. I would take her to urgent care today in case it is strep...especially since she just started day care.

my son who is 17 months old, was going through a phase of not wanting to eat, and it drove me crazy, it only lasted like a week, but i know it can be aweful. sometimes toddlers go through what is called physiologic anorexia, where they don't want to eat and sometimes drink, and its a normal phase. like my mom always says, they will drink or eat when they want to, don't force them. also, diarrhea is not a symptom of teething. sometimes, when the tooth is just breaking through the periodontal membrane, it is irrtating enough for them not to want to eat, and you may see a slight fever, nothing over 102. you can usually tell when your baby doesn't feel good, and i think you are better indicator of how they are feeling because you know how they usually act, and as for daycare, they are going to get sick! my son had a constant ear infection for the first six months he was at daycare, and then he had tubes put in and now hes good. but i hope everything goes well, and goes back to normal soon. good luck!

Emergency room? that seems a bit drastic. Is she sick? Does she have fever? Is she behaving differently? Is she having her usual amount of wet and poopy diapers?

Babies and toddlers go through phases of eating a lot or eating a little. They are able to self-regulate. I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep offering food and drink. She'll take it when she wants it.

She may have needed the diarrhea and, if it was stopped by medication, may still be clogged up. Have you tried putting just water (filterd water) in her bottle and giving her that? Milk will probably worsen the problem because it adds to the congestion.

Just to be on the safe side, since there are many possible reasons for the diarrhea, and your daughter's refusal to eat or drink anything, I would follow your doctor's advice. Teething shouldn't cause the refusal and a sore throat should definitely be looked at. Not to scare you, but undiagnosed strep throat can lead to and cause Rheumatic Fever, which causes damage to the heart muscle. (I had a friend when we were in the 5th grade who developed Rheumatic Fever, and she missed months of school because of it.) Also, since your daughter is in day care now, she could have picked up (at least) one of any number of viruses that can only be diagnosed by a qualified clinician.

Good Luck with her!
~J.~

hi, we live in McKinney and there is a terrbile stomach flu going around. It's in the schools, so you know it's every where else! My 9yo came home from school Wed. when she vomited and she is still not holding much but water down. In your case I would ask about strep throat, she is a little young but could have it. I don't know about the ER - I guess I would taek her if more than 48 hours by b/c you don't want her to dehydrate.

It's teh weekend, any doctor is going to tell you to take to her to the ER. They have to. There could be many reasons why she is doing this. Some things to think about are, how is she acting? Is she tired, pale, not quite acting right? Is she still making urine? Is it dark and concentrated? Does it have a strong odor? If she seems fine you could probably get away with taking her to an urgent care, but if she isn't acting right and isn't making urine (or enough urine) take her to a children's hospital. I would recommend taking her to the pediatric urgent care if at all possible. Kids are resilient, but you don't want to risk kidney damage.

Hello L.
My advice will be get your child to the pediatration who can be able to find the problem. Some child can be untolerance with the regular milk. My suggestions go to another doctor who especialty is kids, take care N.

Strep is going around in her age group. Also, it could be thrush. Both need to be treated by antiobiotics. Usually my 2 yrs. old twins drank more when teething b/c of the loss of saliva. BOL. J.

I would definitely take her to the ER, if you doc suggested it. In our experience the doctor usually tries to give you alternatives, so if they are telling you to go, I would go. Even if she is 100% okay, it is not worth the risk not to have her examined by a doctor to rule out anything. Worse comes to worse they will find something and take care of it before drastic measures would need to be taken. Do you have a Cook's Childrens Urgent Care nearby?