My 9 month old daughter is refusing to take liquids and I am of course worried about dehydration. It has been a progressive refusal over the last few weeks, she was taking 6 of the eight ounces and then 4 and now won't even take the bottle into her mouth. I have tried to give it to her in a sippy cup and in a regular cup, she wants neither. She has taken small amounts of formula from her sippy cup in the past.
She also used to love to have water in her sippy cups with her meals, but since she has been having less and less formula from the bottles I began giving her formula with her meals as well. At the moment she won't take either water or formula from the sippy cups with her meals.
She is still having wet diapers and eating her meals very well, but I am concerned that if this keeps up she is going to end up dehydrated. Has anyone else experienced this? Any tricks you could share?
I have a call into the doctor but am wondering if other mom's have gone through this.
It is very possible that she is teething again or perhaps it is a power struggle thing? I am interested in knowing how much the minimum amount of liquid she needs is before she ends up without wet diapers and in the hospital. The nurse at the doctors office wouldn't give me a straight answer, saying that as long as her diapers are wet there is no need for concern.
Try giving her cut up watermellon; it has a high content of water. Does she have Thrush down her throat?
Dear Jennier
I have a sister her kids she had 4 boys some of them didn't want to drink mil or water she would made jello water and that all they would drink,take a package of jello and put 1/2 teasp into a bottle or sippy cup try that. GOOD LUCK C.
She's probably getting plenty of liquid through her food - as she gets older and introduces a greater variety of foods, her need for pure liquid goes down. Most fruits (especially watermelon) have a lot of liquid, and so does applesauce. My son lived on canned pears - they are soft and juicy. Get the kind in pear juice, usually labeled "light" - don't get the ones in heavy syrup, which is all sugar. They make peaches and pineapple and fruit cocktail this way too. Keep the extras in the fridge. It's nutritionally the same as fresh fruit, and it doesn't go bad. Yogurt is good, and so are scrambled eggs. Many vegetables have liquid - if she will eat cucumbers or any pureed baby food (or the next stage chunky foods), she will get plenty. You can try jello and popsicles too - if you make your own popsicles out of juice, or get the fruit juice kind at the store, it's not just empty sugar. This situation could be turning into a power struggle but the truth is, there's nothing much you can do to force-feed! Eating, potty training and sleeping are the 3 things that are in the kid's control. Just keep offering variety. If she becomes a little dehydrated she will probably just choose to drink more fluids - you probably won't have dry diapers unless she is too ill from a flu or something, and you'll know long before she's in any danger. Kids have a strong survival instinct - they will eat if hungry and drink if thirsty. Take the struggle out of it, for both your sakes, and continue to introduce lots of new foods. Good luck!
I breastfed my daughter until she was 11 months, but when I weaned her I had the hardest time getting her take formula (or any other liquids). She just turned one and is still not great at it, but seems to drink when she's thirsty. All to say, I'm not sure what the minimum is, but she's never had any health issues from it-- although I would follow whatever your doctor recommends as a better guideline.
One suggestion I would offer if she's not taking a sippy cup or regular cup is to use a straw. If you plug the top end of the straw to create a suction that pulls the liquid up, she might drink from the bottom end of the straw. My daughter thought it was a fun game and it at least got some liquids into her. Good luck!
As long as she's eating she's fine. You could try getting her to eat soup or another liquid heavy dish if you are really worried. But fruit, etc, should have plenty. I bet if you just keep putting the sippy cup out there and don't make a big deal of it, this phase will pass quickly.
Teething, ear infection could be possible. To ease your concerns get her checked out. I would not advise giving a baby popsicles though. Try taking the plug out of the sippy cup so the liquid flows rather than her having to suck.
Try fruit. Cantalope, watermelon and anything juicy. This may help. Having her suck on a wet washcloth is fun and hydrating. I use this when a little one is sick.
My daughter did the same thing at about the same time. I was very worried about her as well. At that time we are still expecting them to drink 7-8 ounces because we are used to them getting all of their nutrition via the bottle. Now that the food that they are eating is actually nurishing them (not just playing!), they don't need the volume of fluids. I'm not sure what the requirements are for a 9 month old, but I brought it up at my daughter's 1 year old appointment, to my surprise, his response was that she only needed 8-16 ounces per day (as long as she is eating normally). At this point (almost 13 months), she drinks 2-4 ounces in the a.m., and about 6 at night (both from the bottle) with variable amounts from the sippy cup during the day (probably another 4-5 ounces). The other "standard" is that when she cries, is she still crying tears. Good luck.
S.
It might be the sucking that pulls at her gums that make her not want to drink. What about a popsicle, supervised of course. Maybe you can make one with the type of liquid you give her. that she can gnaw at, sooth her gums and satisfy your worry too.
J.,
A very large percentage of our fluid needs are actually met in the foods we eat. If your daughter is still wetting frequently then she is not dehydrated. Have you tried soups, jello, popsicles, and fruits? They have considerable water content. Provide her with plenty of these and she will probably drink when she is thirsty. Just keep offering her a little liquid with each meal. It is normal for baby's eating habits to change at this time. They are taking in more solid foods, so are less hungry for bottles and they are more mobile and more curious so are less interested in eating which was their primary waking activity before. I know it's scary but I don't know of any babies who actually caused themselves to be dehydrated by refusing liquids unless they were sick. Just wait until she is about two when physical growth slows considerably; then it will seem like she is starving herself because she will seem to subsist on practically nothing and will want to eat the same thing meal after meal! Just keep offering frequent healthy snacks and meals and she will listen to her body. Good Luck
J. L.
Hi J.,
I went through similar with my little one. He stopped formula and didn't like milk from the bottle at all. I went to yogurt sometimes 2-3 per day for dairy and for the liquid. Try the drinkable yobaby or one thing we would play with the blender with 1/4cup of juice and water after pushing the buttons he couldn't wait to see what he made. Hope I could help, M.
As for the formula, has she always taken that or did she nurse beforehand? She could have a sensitivity to it and so doesn't like the way it makes her feel after she drinks it. Meaning it could be giving her belly aches or something. Personally, I never used bottles so not sure how to help you there. I just leave a sippy cup with water where my kids can reach it and they can drink any time they want.
The wet diapers, as long as she doesn't have a major decrease in the amount of wet diapers, she is getting enough liquid. Also, color of the wet diapers, watch out for it turning a dark yellow. As long as she is still eating and not throwing up or having diarrhea, you should be fine. I know it is frightening as my 3.5 year old landed in the hospital with severe dehydration last year when he got sick. He wasn't eating or drinking anything that he would keep down and eventually stopped altogether trying.
This time, I agree with the doctors...as long as her diaper is wet she is getting enough. This is one of many stages she will go through...wait until she won't eat anything at all! Just keep watching her like you have.
Good luck!
My daughter went through this when she was weaning herself. We went straight to a regular cup or a straw cup. I find she'll drink more if it has a straw in it. I bought things like watermelon and other foods with high water content, added extra water to foods when I could, but soon it passed and she started drinking again....but was all done with breast and bottle!
As long as she has a good amount of wet diapers she is processing fluid. One thing I was told which was very helpful was to check for dehydration by gently pinching a bit of her skin in a fatty area, like a wrist roll or thigh roll. If the skin pinches easily and doesnt spring back its a sign of dehydration, if it bounces back and/or is difficult to pinch shes fine. She really could be teething, or possibly has an ear thing going on. My daughter would refuse the bottle at that age when teething or with an ear infection. Someone suggested watermelon and thats a great idea, if you dont already have one try one of those mesh feeders. We had several and they worked great. Soft fruit or crushed ice work great in them, and they have the added bonus of being soothing for teething. I think you can find them at any babies r us and target.
The nurse is right. As long as she's eating moist foods, she's getting water.
I've read that as long as the baby has at least five to six wet diapers a day everything is fine. Also, the color and odor of the urine will increase with dehydration. Since she is still eating normally it doesn't sound like any kind of teething or infection issue, but I would certainly take her to the doctor just to make sure. I agree with the other moms about trying new ways of giving it to her...my 20 month old has started doing the same thing, not as severe, but she will definitely drink more when she gets a "big girl cup" instead of her sippy. Best of luck!
J.,
It sounds like she should see the doctor. In the meantime, I would suggest popsicles.
Best regards,
Jacque
