I'm new to the whole mother thing. I suddenly found myself full time stepmom to my husband's 4 year old daughter 2 months ago. I'm probably really paranoid about everything, but is chugging drinks normal? We'll give her a cup of juice, water, hot cocoa, anything...and it'll be gone in less than a minute. Then she'll have a stomach ache for the next few hours. I kind-of think that this is because her mom's husband's daughter is a total brat...My kiddo says things like "She's mean," and "She breaks my toys." I'm beginning to think that if she didn't drink her drinks, she wouldn't get them at all.
What's even more strange is that she's a super slow eater. It takes her almost a full half hour to eat apple slices. Almost an hour to eat dinner.
The dinner thing will resolve itself eventually, I'm sure. But in the short term, I'm more worried about the downing her drinks and getting a stomach ache later.
Any ideas? Or am I just over thinking things?
I talked to her about slowing down on how she drinks, and surprisingly, she actually listened. This morning at breakfast, she took a small drink, put her cup down, and said "small drinks are better!" then carried on with her breakfast. She amazes me sometimes. We'll see how well this goes! We also started giving her a cup with some water to keep in her room so she can take a sip when ever she's thirsty. Hopefully, that'll cut down on the meal time chugging.
Some kids are super slow eaters.
As far as the chugging goes, just give her small amounts at a time, so she can't give herself a belly ache. How nice that you are being a concerned stepmom. :)
Give her smaller servings, she should be fine with a 4 oz. cup. Then just give her servings more often.
Yeah my four year old does this. She has this habit that she is too busy for drinking when she plays, so she forgets about it. Then when we sit down for dinner or a snack she is parched and drinks so much so fast that she will end up not being hungry or having a belly ache.
I try to mitigate by giving her small servings of water (half of a small glass, about 3 oz) with the meal at a time and asking her to eat in between refilling her glass. I also try to motivate her to drink more between meals, with only moderate success...
She also takes a long time to eat, mainly because she is just too "busy", chattering along... well being a 4 year old...
My DD doesn't have any sensory/autism or other developmental issues and from what I observe with her same aged friends her mealtime behavior is pretty common.
Since you are newly caring for this child it may be a good idea to accompany her and her dad for a checkup at the pediatrician (you can get one even if she is not "due") and discuss some of your questions as well as getting some pointers to help her adjust to living with.
limit the quantity of the liquid given to your child (i.e. a couple of ounces) and don't give her more for a time lag of about 10 - 15 minutes. Do this until she can drink a little slower. Some adults, NEVER get that and tend to down drinks. It's up to you Mom.
Blessings....
My 4 yr old does this also with his drinks. We put smaller amounts in the cup and make him wait a little before we give him some more.
If he gets his hands on a can of pop ( we don't give hime any, but he will sneak one of ours if we leave it unattended) he will drink the entire can in one drink.
The fuller the cup the faster/ more he chugs.
Sounds normal to me. It takes my kids forever to eat, and they chug their water and milk, too.
Totally normal on both...slow eating and chugging drinks. My 11 yo boy still chugs drinks and get stomach aches. It doesn't matter how much we tell him that's going to happen and he's old enough to know it, but he still does it.
How big are the drinks?
The giant sippy cups (18oz?) my son would knock back the whole thing in a minute or three, and then refill and work on that for about an hour. Then he'd knock one back, and refill and work on it for an hour. At your SDs age, he was drinking about 1/2 gallon of milk a day plus some juice and water.
He was also REALLY active. Ball of energy active.
As a 9yo... he'll down about half a water bottle (the big ones) before even stopping to breathe.
Slow eater, fast drinker.
My son's stomach only hurts when he's hungry. Oy. During growth spurts I SWEAR he's got a hollow leg. I honestly don't see how he FITS that much inside him. We're talking 8,000 calories a day EASY right before he's about to grow. When he was a toddler he'd wake up in the middle of the night, starvin o' the hunger. His stomach only hurts until we feed him, and then he's off doing cartwheels and handstands and it's all my brain can do to make itself believe it's not just going to come right back up again. It doesn't... but it would if *I* ate and then cavorted around like that!!!
Do you think your SD might be that way as well? A lot of people equate hunger with pain.
I actually posted a similar question, my son drinks way too much water, and he eats really slow, well he used to eat a bit and play for a while and eat another bite and so on, so he took ages finishing meals, but he would drink a lot of water a 2 qt pitcher he drinks in a day on his own.
Anyway, we had him tested for diabetes, and he came normal, my son is on the Autism Spectrum so for him is a sensory thing.
I suggest you consult with her pediatrician the most important thing is that her body is processing that water properly.
Maybe offer her drinks more often so she is not so thirsty? My daughter will chug 11 oz of milk (she is 11) and also have a stomach ache afterwards, and she is old enough to know better. She is also an extremely slow eater, but she needs to eat little bits all day. My daughter does not know what it means to be hungry or maybe she is just too busy, but she will not want anything when I ask for hours and then she is STARVING. We have learned to simply fix her a plate and a cup (small amounts) and put them in front of her, and she will eat them even though she would tell us she does not want anything if we ask her.
I would just start handing her smaller snacks and a small drink more frequently and see if that helps her stay filled and avoid tummy aches. For my 11 year old, a half sandwich with 5 oz of milk, or a small bowl of cheezits and 5 oz of juice, or a just some rolled up cold cuts and a few Ritz crackers and a glass of cold water, or a drink yogurt and some potato chips, about every 1-2 hours or so. My daughter is also super skinny so she needs all those calories, not sure about yours. Maybe go with more fresh fruits or carrots and hummus etc.
I would dilute everything by half.
Maybe a sippy cup would help?
