Is My 15 Month Old Son Drinking Too Much?

Hi B.,

I went though this with my kids. Still going through it actually. It started with my oldest who is now 5. We started to notice right around when he was 15 months that he drank a lot. He never liked milk only juice. The juice we give is about 60% water with the rest apple juice. I started looking things up on the issue and could only find things related to diabetes and kidney issues. Most of the time we could distract him and hold him off on drinking. Before his 18 month WBV I decided to give him one day where I would give him juice whenever he asked for it all day long in order to see exactly how much he was drinking. From the time he woke up until the time he went to bed he drank over 106 ounces! When then had his WBV and I talked to the Dr. about it. He agreed that was quite a bit he was drinking. He was then tested for diabetes and had his urine and blood tested. Everything checked out fine and the doctor said as long as he's not replacing the juice for meals to just let him drink. At his 2 year visit we saw a different doctor and since he was still drinking so much I wanted a second opinion. He didn't see the need to do more tests since he just got them done 6 months prior. After talking with him about everything he concurred with the first doctor. He was growing and developing fine so I was happy with the diagnosis of him just being a thirsty kid. We now have a new doctor that we started going to when he was around 4. He was still drinking a lot so I told the new doctor about everything and the testing we did. The new doctor thought it would be a good idea to redo the urine and blood tests just to be sure since it was a few years since we first did the tests. That all checked out fine too. After having all the information the 3rd doctor agreed that he's just a thirsty kid and to let him drink. I now have two other kids, an almost 3 year old and an 18 month old. They too are excessive drinkers. I haven't felt the need to get them tested for anything, and neither has the doctor because of their brother's history. We go through a 96oz bottle of juice in 2 days, and we still mix their cups with mostly water. So, in my case the bottom line is, I just have thirsty kids!

70 oz. is a lot for a little one like that considering he was probably only drinking around 30 oz. of BM or formula a few months before. Definitely should check with a doctor. Since it is water and not caloric drinks which he could be using to replace solid food I would think that is telling as well. Does he eat well even with all that water in him?

Call your doctor about that one.

You don't mention if he still takes a bottle. If he does, get rid of it. He is nursing himself to death to self calm. His teeth will decay. A 15 month can drink out of a regular plastic cup with no sippy top. If he does drink from cup only then look into the reasons why he is using drinking to self regulate. Stress is at the top of the list for kids who like to do this.

http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/advicedetail.cfm?id=3309

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

I know, there is a ratio of how much water a child should drink, per their weight etc. Maybe if you Google Search it.
Then, if drinking too much, it can sometimes lead to water intoxication or leaching of nutrients etc.

If the water is cold, it could be that it's soothing to the gums, but that is still a lot of fluid. You said it's mostly water (which is good -- I've known a few young kids who were "juice junkies" and drank so much apple and other fruit juice that they were not eating properly). Does he seem truly thirsty or does the drinking seem more like a habit -- in other words, can he be distracted from it (a habit) or does he act like he must drink to meet a real physical need (thirst)? Do you let him have sippy cups available where he can grab them for himself or does he get drinks only whn you provide them -- at meals, and maybe once for a few ounces in between meals? If it's the former situation, it could be that he's drinking just because it's there and something he's grown used to having right at hand.

I know you said you had him tested for diabetes but you might want to have that looked into again. An adult or teen would have a "fasting blood sugar" test where the person did not eat for a certain period prior to the test. If he didn't have that it might require another or a different test. We have Type 1 ("juvenile") diabetes in our family so I always advise folks to get that ruled out, by a specialist if needed. But I'd see the doctor anyway -- this is a lot of water for so young a child.

both of my kids drank a TON of fluids each day. It was mostly milk for my older and for my younger it was mostly water. I never checked to see how much exactly it was so I don't know if it was 70oz or more, but I know it was a lot. There was nothing wrong with them at all. And they have grown out of it as they have gotten older. The only concern that I had was that maybe they weren't getting the nutrition they needed as they were full quite often from the drinking.