My 4 year old has been drinking a lot of water and his mouth smells like acid like a battery acid what could this be?

Blood sugars can often appear normal at the beginning of T1 diabetes as the pancreas keeps working erratically (honeymoon phase). My ds was going into ketoacidosis when he was diagnosed at age 3. A child I know was turned away from the GP several times and mum told to 'stop fussing' as bg showed ok. In the end she was diagnosed at a&e & admitted.
You can buy urine ketone testing strips at the pharmacy if the GP won't test. But I would go to a&e.
Hopefully it's not T1 & just a urine infection but ketoacidosis is very dangerous (the blood turns acidic) so it's essential to have it tested. Unfortunately many GPs don't understand T1 as they mainly deal with T2 which is a completely different condition. Undiagnosed T1 is dangerously fast in children.

Get him tested. The acidic smell and drinking lots could be type 1 diabetes.

Possibly diabetes but that’s a long way down the line. UTI or just nothing. Just ask for an appointment tomorrow and try not to worry too much xx

What did they say it might be?

THIS ^

And* *you can click on any of OP's posts to click on 'see all'.

There is no need to "spend all day" trawling through Mumsnet.

All you need to do is click on See all on the bottom right of the OP's initial post and her updates will display.

When I was diagnosed with Type 1, my finger prick bloods were normal at my appointment but had been over 30 mmol a few days before...

What was really telling was the amount of ketones in my urine.

Sadly it could be the first signs of Type 1 as the pancreas doesn't die off completely at first and you can still produce insulin intermittently to begin with.

If they've done blood tests then it should come back with a better picture. Keep an eye on his weight, thirst and fatigue for now.

It could also be an oral yeast infection (which is also a very early symptom of T1 but kids get them without T1 too).

Another thought as well as diabetes
had he got anything stuck up his nose?
that can create a rotten smell as well

Get him tested as soon as you can. My granddaughter was randomly getting a test for something else and my daughter got a call to bring her to the ER as her sugarswere so high. She was drinking a lot of water. It's been 2 years and she's adapted well and teaching me a lot about healthy eating!

Yeah. Bye.

Just in case, @alpop - diluting juice is squash, isn't it? You're not giving him some experimental new flavour, by any chance??

Interesting about your DC, @MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic. Haven't heard of normal childhood illnesses causing the acetone smell - though I did look after one little boy who gave off a 'medical' smell when he was coming down with something, which I suppose is like the smell of alcohol. Kids are weird!

Hey, I've seen that the tests have come back okay - I don't know if it helps but just to share that when my kids were young, that 'acetone' smelling breath was always an indicator (for them) that they were going down with something, usually a virus of some sort and usually with a temperature. It was one of those handy first indicators that meant grumpy was ill rather than the million other reasons they could be grumpy. We don't have an history of diabetes though, so it was never something that would have struck me to worry about. It was just 'one of those kid things'

Hope they're better soon x

CANCEL THE CHEQUE, OP!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Definitely get him tested if diabetes is in your family

Battery fluid smells:
• Lead batteries: sulphur, like rotten eggs and bad farts;
• Lithium: alcohol, fruity / sharp, like solvents.

The solvent-like smell coming from a human body is diabetic ketosis.

The sulphurous smell can be an infected nose, ear, mouth or wound, a blocked bowel, a gut infection or even liver disease.

Kidney disease can smell like ammonia (urine smell).

If the GP could smell DS, she would surely have an idea of probable causes. She's getting more tests done so it seems she also thought diabetes most likely?

Hardly a trawl! For a post which has 9 pages worth of responses, you didn't think there would be any update from the OP???
All you do is click on 'see all' and it will show you ALL updates from the OP. Hardly a trawl!

Has your son had tummy bug recently?

Oh, I'm sorry I don't have ALL DAY to trawl through MUMSNET like you 100% obviously do.

Diabetes. The smell could be coz he’s in ketosis

Has he got anything stuck up a nostril that could be rotting ?

No, you don't know that it is "100% Type 1 diabetes".

If you had taken the time to click on the OP's updates, you would 100% know that she had already taken her son to the GP.

In the summer holidays, when DS2 was six, every time we went out for the day he'd get desperately thirsty and need a wee. We spent a crazy amount of time in garages.

Eventually the penny dropped and I took him to the GP. But he didn't have diabetes.

He continued weeing and drinking for months. Then finally, just before Christmas, he emerged as diabetic (and very unwell). The diabetic nurse said she'd seen it happen before, though not often.

So it can turn up after you've had tests that suggest it's not an issue.

@alpop get him tested. Generally if it is ketones it normally smells like pear drops. Is there any other symptoms other than thirst? Is his urine output matching his increased intake? How is his appetite? I would ring your gp if he appears otherwise well if he deteriorates ring 111 unless it’s an emergency obviously. Explain about family history and ask if he can be seen and say his breath smells and other people have commented too.

100% Type 1 diabetes. Book an appointment as soon as possible.