My 2 1/2 year old daughter just this past couple of weeks has really started to drink way more then she usually does. She wakes up early in the morning crying for a cup and I give her milk and she will drink it like she hasnt had anything to drink for months and then turn around and ask for more. I will then give her water and she downs that as well. All through out the day she will keep asking for a drink probably every hour and I give her water unless she is eating then she 90% of the time gets milk. She now wakes up in the middle of the night crying for a drink and she is been peeing so much she has been getting raw down there even though I probably have to change her diaper every 20 mins cuz it gets so full and at night she totally saturates her diaper and her clothes with urine. She also use to be a big eater and now she still eats but its not like it use to be. I dont know if I should be concerned of it being diabetes cuz its not like she asks for juice but you can never be too sure. What should I do should I wait a couple more weeks and see if it calms down or should I take her to the doctor. Please help Thanks
We went to the doctor yesterday and they checked her sugar levels and they were normal at 84 so then we had to check her urine and that came back as she had a severe urinary tract infection the white blood cell counts was so high that there were too many to count they are still going to run cultures on her urine sample to see if there is anything else but as of right now it was a UTI and she is on strong antibiotics....thank you to everyone that replayed on my post you all helped me so much
I don't want to scare you, but it sounds like she may juvenile diabetis.....I'd take her to the doctor as soon as possible.
Get her seen by a doctor now - it could be diabetes, she does not have to be asking for juice, it just makes them very thirsty and want to drink more. Or it could be related to her kidneys in some way, or some other form of endocrine disease. Don't wait. If it is something, better to find out sooner rather than later...if it's nothing, than you have your answer.
Absolutely do not put this off as a "wait and see", get her tested right away, this is not something to delay, with possibility of diabetes. If her blood sugars are high, the risk of complications increases the longer it goes. Infections, wounds that are slow to heal, kidney disfunction is noted in blood testing, eyesight/vision, neuological problems are serious complications. Yeast infections, diaper rash, foul smelling breath, deeper breathing in sleep, fatigue, mental confusion, difficulty waking, irritability are sometimes indicators, besides the ravenous thirst or hunger, excessive urine output. She needs urine and especially blood testing, maybe even blood testing several times a day, before eating and before bedtime. Might require hospitalization for monitoring and diagnostic work up. Best wishes.
Have you been running your heat? I know ours is very drying and we have to keep humidifiers going. This time of the year I get thirsty and need a drink during the night given that you said it started a few weeks ago it could be related to the dry colder air. I'd call the doctor and see what they want to do. Symptoms for diabetes come on quickly and include extreme thirst which leads to peeing a lot, extreme hunger, weight loss even though they are eating more, fatigue, and blurred vision.
edited: I have 3 cousins that have type 1 and they were got very sick very quick the first signs were the extreme thirst and extreme hunger then their weights dropped very quickly.
I'm type one diabetic. Because there was NO family history, I didn't know that my excessive thirst and urination were something to be concerned about. FYI it doesn't have to be juice she's craving. She may be severly dehydrated and will drink ANYTHING to quench her thirst. I sucked down ice cubes like they were going out of style because I was so parched and my throat was so dry. Is she experiencing any heartburn/acid reflux type situations? The fact that she's not eating as well as she used to has me a little concerned because I had acid reflux/heartburn so bad that I could barely eat, no matter how hungry I was. Has she lost any weight?? Because of the dehydration and drinking so much water, she will start to shed pounds for no reason. I had also had more yeast infections than I could count (which may be what she's experiencing right now). Yeast infections are VERY common in diabetics who's sugar is out of control. Because I was dehydrating, it impacted my bowels and I became VERY constipated (painful constipation). I actually initially thought I was experiencing apendicitis because the pain was so bad and THAT was the reason I went to the hospital. Within one month of feeling this way, I landed in the hospital due to ketoacidocis. This is where the body begins to shut down completely due to the over abundance of sugar. I'm not trying to scare you....I just thinks its important you check in with her pediatrician ASAP. Especially in small children who can't properly tell you what's the matter or what they're feeling, it could quickly escalate to a point that it becomes LIFE threatening.
Call her pediatrician and ask them to perform a urine test, to see if she's passing ketones in her urine. Ketones in the urine are the bodys last ditch effort to expel the excess sugar in the system. If she's urinating this much, its likely she's passing ketones. Also, as them for a fasting blood sugar. I hate to say it, but you may want to indicate that there is a family history of diabetes (whether there is or not) because some doctors still believe that without a family history, there is no reason for alarm. In my case, there was NO family history and because one doctor I had didn't think I should be tested without a family history and that nearly killed me. I finally found a terrific doctor who explained to me that I may have had some infection previously that destroyed my pancreas's ability to produce insulin. He also said had I waited even one more additional month, there would have been irreversable damage or possibly death.
Please, call her pediatrician now and keep pestering them until they hear you. It could literally save her life.
If it just started I wouldnt panic just yet, give it a week or two and just see if its a phase. Might be a growth spurt and/or she's just loving a sippy cup with something in it. Sort of chart this so you can tell the doc if it does continue.
What goes in, must come out =)
But seriously, maybe she needs to be checked out by a doctor.
Take her to the doctor just to be sure!
any quick sudden change like this deserves a trip to the doctor for a urine check.
Could be diabetes so better to bring the child to the pediatrician.
I agree with everything Danielle said!! My Daughter had the extreme thirst, frequently going to the bathroom and lost weight. We just thought she was really thirsty and then she started vomiting. That was when it was really bad. We ended up taking her to the hospital and they told us if we waited until the next day she probably would have been in a coma or worse. They told us she had type one diabetes. Please have her blood sugar and ketones checked!!!
Also, I worked in a daycare several years ago in the 1 year old room and one of the babies had the exact same signes as your child is having and she was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic.
Type 1 diabetes is starting to effect more kids now then ever before. I hope this is not what your daughter has, but if it is, it is not something to put off getting checked out!!!
M., please check for diabetes.S.
