Very thirsty 20 month old

[RalphGnu]

My 20 month old DS has always been a thirsty baby but over the last week he has been drinking loads, to the point where a couple of people have mentioned it. He eats well and healthily, is active and isn't ill, but this morning so far has had 4 cups of water and a cup of milk. His dad said yesterday he was constantly demanding a drink. I know he's not hungry and he doesn't eat salty or sugary food.

Is it anything to worry about or am I being daft?

Has he only recently learned to say that he's thirsty/ask for a drink? If so he may be enjoying the novelty. Plus you say he always drinks a lot - how much does he usually have?

Sounds like he IS drinking a lot,..... no harm in going to see the GP to see if any tests need done to exclude (or diagnose) any problems.... if there is a problem, the sooner it is diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin, and this could help limit the damage that can be caused by an undiagnosed problem.

If it was my DC, I'd be concerned about Type 1 Diabetes - if you DS has developed this condition (or is in the process of developing it, as it takes time for all the insulin producing cells to be destroyed), increasing thirst would be a typical symptom - then it's very important that he gets diagnosis and treatment sooner, rather than later.

Hopefully it's nothing at all, maybe he's just a normal but thirstier than average boy - but better safe than sorry - your GP would be able to do basic test (pee on a stick), and refer him for further test if needed. The GP will certainly not think you are being "daft" or overreacting, he/she would happily test 99 thirsty babies who are normal, to find the 100th one who is developing a problem!

Get thee to the GP
Rule out DM1 as oldmum said

Thanks for your replies! He has been able to tell me he needs a drink for ages so I guess it's not the novelty, will book him at at the docs tomorrow.

Hope it all goes well x

Hi Ralph. Can you let us know how you get on at the Docs? My DS (2.5) has always been a big drinker and have never thought there might be anything wrong like diabetes .