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Obsessive drinking/thirst in 4 year old.

6 replies

Havingkittens · 15/11/2017 10:01

Does anyone have experience of this? I think it may be a sensory thing rather than health, but could be wrong.

My son has always been obsessed with drinking water. Ideally really cold water. When he was tiny it was like an urgent need. He would scream in the car if he couldn't have water immediately. He's calmed down a bit, but still has this urgent craving. He wants to drink water directly from the bath tap, or any random receptacle he sees along the way.

He goes ages without peeing and shows no other symptoms of diabetes, so I don't think that's an issue. I wouldn't worry so much if it was just in the day time, but I have no way of limiting his water intake in the evening, or during the night, without him getting really upset and screaming that he needs water. He chugs it down before bed, and has to have a non spill cup in his bed. If he finishes it during the night, he will wake me up (joy of joys!) in the middle of the night to demand that I replenish it. He says he needs something cold to cool his mouth down.

Obviously, this is making it impossible to train him out of pull ups at night, which is my main issue - along with a niggling worry that there's a problem.

I went to see the psychologist at the children's centre at his nursery, when he was still at nursery and she said that it may be a sensory thing, and that if so perhaps I could replace it with something that fulfilled a similar need, but I'm pretty stumped as to what.

The GP suggested monitoring his intake vs output, but like I say, he hardly pees during the day and at night he wears pull ups, which are usually and unsurprisingly sodden.

If anyone has any similar experience or clues I would love to hear from you!

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MrsOverTheRoad · 15/11/2017 10:20

Has he any other sensory issues? How is his socialisation?

Havingkittens · 15/11/2017 10:42

No other sensory things, no. Very good socially. Friendly and engaging well (apart from when I'm trying to ask him to do something, of course!).

Not concerned with him being on the spectrum, if that's what's crossing your mind. I think kids can have sensory "fetishes" just as a general comfort thing, can't they?

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MrsOverTheRoad · 15/11/2017 10:46

If he hardly pees during the day, then that would possibly indicate that this is a physical need rather than a psychological one. I would see the GP to be honest. Better to be safe than sorry.

Havingkittens · 15/11/2017 11:04

Sorry, I didn't mean he pees infrequently enough to cause concern. I meant that he doesn't pee frequently as to make me think he may be diabetic. I think he pees like a normal person, every few hours.

I asked last time I took him to the GP when he had earache a week or so ago, and they suggested monitoring the intake vs output. I think it's pretty normal, but hard to monitor as the time that he drinks the most water is in the evening and I can't tell what volume is in his pull up pants. On the basis of it being normal, the GP didn't seem to offer any other suggestions.

The last suggestion was that it may be a sensory urge (or fetish, if you like) and I wondered if anyone else had come across this. The psychologist suggested thinking of things that could replace the urge to drink cold water. I'm a bit stumped, so wondered if anyone else had experienced this and could offer any suggestion.

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Mosaic123 · 22/11/2017 01:25

Did the GP do a urine test? Take him back and ask for one if not.

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