Our little one hasn't been drinking much over the past few days. Neither out of the bottle nor out of the sippy. Any suggestions on how to coax him to drink more? He's 10 months old. We've tried formula, water, and diluted juice. He seems otherwise healthy and alert and is eating and sleeping well. He used to drink as much as 4 oz before bed now it's less than half an ounce. Same upon waking. He's getting constipated as a result.
How is it possible that this baby is 10 months old already?!?!?!?! OMG how time flies.
I'd say to up his fruit intake to help with the constipation and see about including things like cuke slices and melon that have a higher water content. If he's teething maybe try tylenol to see if that'll give him enough pain free time to eat and drink better.
I would offer hydrating foods such as melon, peeled cucumbers, tomatoes, cooked carrots, cauliflower, strawberries, etc. to help with the fluid intake and constipation. And just keep offering fluids, as well.
Added: I would also add yogurt that you sweeten yourself with pureed fruit.
If truly in need don't forget about trying a juice popsicle? Stick him in his highchair or even in the bath and hand him one & let him go to town. Has he had many or even tried one before, if not, he might still be excited by its newness? Easy way to push fluids, you can even make your own uber healthy ones & if he is teething, bonus!
He's at the right age for teething - and that can throw them off if their gums are itchy.
Try some Anbesol on his gums a few times a day and see if that helps any.
Maybe an ice cube wrapped in a washcloth so he can suck on it will help.
It's so tough when they can't talk and give you a clue what's going on!
Hope he feels better soon!
Doesn't have a sore throat does he? Maybe just shine a light in his mouth and see if it looks red.
I would just offer his drinks before meals or snacks. When he's hungry.
I used the baby food prunes for my eldest because he used to get constipated at times. Worked well. I agree with the moms below - try upping the fruit.
Can you add in watery fruits? He can get his liquids in other ways. If he's eating more, he may be getting a lot more nutrition through solids and just not be interested in a bottle or cup.
Fruits would add the fiber as well as the liquid. Watermelon (I know, hard to get now), kiwi, berries (even frozen) come to mind. Popsicles are good too - get the fruity ones, but even if you don't, a little sugar now would give him a ton of water and help his innards.
Maybe a weird growth thing that will pass in a week?
My third child worries me daily but is a happy, joyful child. She goes pee 3x a day. That's it. She doesn't poop everyday, but has a reasonable movement every other day. Doctor told me last year she should go pee more often. I tried pushing liquids -including juice-but she wasn't much interested. I decided to trust her on this one, and like I said, she poops every other day, but seems happy and joyful. Is your LO in pain? If not, I would try to push the worry aside and just trust him. They change every minute, I swear.
if baby is eating more solids then theres less room for the drinks. like others have said, up the fruit intake, and try not to worry.
i am another one for ice. my kids loved ice in a teething mesh. they would suck till the ice was gone and then whine for more. this could go on for about an hour or so with me adding ice as needed.
Make a smoothie of blueberries and ice. Lots of ice. You can use some orange juice to 'soften' the mixture, make it less chunky and a little more liquid. The blueberries will help with the constipation.
It may be that your child wants new textures. You could freeze this in ice cube trays and put it in one of those 'fruit strainer' bags they can chew on. I've included a link so you know what I'm talking about:
http://www.target.com/p/munchkin-fresh-food-feeder-2pk/-/...
Is your child teething, perhaps? This will feel good and give pressure while allowing the baby to have something which will encourage bowel movements and the ice will get the water in there without the actual act of drinking. Also, mix in more water with the baby food you are feeding. Back off on any rice cereal, too, or empty 'rice' carbs, which can be constipating. (Including those 'num num' things or grain-based treats). Just fruits, veggies, water and formula.
IF you decide to do prunes, be sure to do baby food ones. They need water added to them, to rehydrate them, or they will absorb that water from baby's colon, continuing the problem.
Get him to drink some prune juice (cut it with water) so that you can deal with the constipation. Him not drinking may not have been caused by lack of fluids, but constipation can make him feel like not drinking.
When mine were little, I made a game of it. We'd play "3 more sips", "4 more bites" etc. It helped with their learning to count and I was able to get more food and drink down them They're both competitive so it worked really well.
I think at age 10 months he'd be drinking several 8 ounce bottles per day, about 6-8 bottles. Then adding in table food to try new things. He'd also get about 4 ounces of 100% juice per day, that's the maximum serving per day.
If he's not doing any of that then you need to see the doc. He could have a blockage in his bowels that is keeping him from being hungry. It could be why he's not wanting anything.
The doc could do an X-ray or ultrasound to see if they can find any physical reason why kiddo isn't eating.
B.,
Will he suck on a popsicle?
Does he have a fever?
How many wet diapers does he have a day?
while he's eating okay? He might be teething too.
Are you still breast feeding? Does he take to the breast or has that changed too?
Make sure you are offering breastmilk/formula when he's really hungry, not just as a beverage alongside solids. I always nursed (change to bottle of formula if you are not breastfeeding) before meals so that I made sure the baby got his nutrition first. After filling his tummy with breastmilk/formula, I would sit him at the table with us for meals and offer solids. He wouldn't eat a lot of them but that's ok since the solids are just for practice until he's a year old.
