10 mth old how much fluids!!?? seems dehydrated!!

[lilsmum]

dd id almost 10 mth and is on 3 x 7 oz bottles of milk a day... since dropping one of her bottles i have noticed she isnt doing many wet nappies and her fontinelle (sp?) is slightly sunken saying that she is dribbling lots at mo because she has just cut another tooth... my main question is how much fluids (juice or water) does she need? she doesnt like any juice (i have tried lots of different ones) and will have a very small amount of water but will have more out of a bottle (which i dont want to make a habit) than a beaker.
pls help as i obviously dont want her getting dehydrated and have no idea of how much fluids she should be having? any advice is very much appreciated xx

DS has a 9oz & a 5oz bottle a day and very little water. HV said that was ok he would take what he needed. I do give juicy fruits - mango, melon etc to up fluid intake.

oooggs.... so i guess i shouldnt be worrying then as she is having 21 oz just in her bottles of milk (one of them she has on weetabix tho at breaky)

thanks
xx

Yeah Ds having 14 oz plus milk on breaky so they are on about the same. Just make sure you offer her a drink at all mealtimes and after each daytime sleep (HV advice, not mine, I'm clueless ) Does she like her beaker - DS couldn't be bothered with non spill so he is on a tommee tippee free flow which he likes to shake around and wash the carpet. Lucky he only has water

yes she doesnt really tolerate beakers.. i got one from boots that she will have sometimes but all the others she thinks are toys (does a water fountain with her mouth!!lol) she will take it more from a bottle (i kno this because she had the runs once and i got the most water down her with bottle) the thing i am concerned about is the lack of wet nappies.. xx

Lack of wet nappies and a sunken fontanelle are definitely signs of dehydration, sounds like you should try and get some water or diluted juice into her somehow. I would be inclined to give her a couple of bottles of water in the next day or so and see if there is any improvement. Having it in a bottle shouldn't be a problem, she's used to bottles for milk and you can wean her off having a bottle for both at the same time when you're ready to.

Another thing I would do is ring your health visitor for advice on how much extra fluid your daughter should be having.

wigwambam, don't terrify lilsmum

lilsmum - 10-month-old babies do not dehydrate themselves unless they are ill (eg have diarrhoea or other obvious illness), and your baby is fine. Naturally she wees less if she is having less fluid. If you are offering her water and she's not bothered about it that much, you can be reassured she doesn't need it. If you are still concerned, give her watery solid foods and extra fruit. Your HV will reassure you, I am sure.

Ask her to look at the fontanelle, too - I bet she says it's normal.

I'm not trying to terrify anyone, but if Lilsmum does suspect that her dd is dehydrated, surely getting a lttle more water into her and checking it out with a HV is better than ignoring it?

Don't suppose any of that would harm her, WWB, no

I always worried that dd didn't drink enough. Once she started on solids she really wasn't fussed about milk, and I used to have to make sure she got enough by mixing it into her food. She didn't drink much else either - water, squash, fruit juice - I tried them all. I used to watch others at mums and babies group drain whole bottles of milk or beakers of water, which didn't help.

My HV told me that she would drink what she needed, and that she was probably getting a lot of fluid from her food.

I tried different beakers and she always seemed better with the ones that weren't non spill. Hurrah for old carpets! One of her first words has been wet!!

I discovered that she would drink loads if I offered it in a normal cup, and also that she drinks really well through a straw. There's no way though I can get her to drink any more than she wants as she too does the fountain thingy and ends up soaked. Usually as we're about to go out.

Now she is 18m it's a lot better, she's drinking more and she will bring me the squash bottle to tell me she's thirsty!

It's natural to worry, and if I was you I would speak to the HV to put my mind at rest.