9 month old won't drink - any ideas?

[Twinklemegan]

He's had a sickness bug and he's right off his (formula) milk. But he's only drinking tiny amounts of water from his beaker. I'm sure he's not getting enough fluids. I really don't want to resort to syringing it in though. I've tried diluted apple juice just now but he wasn't impressed. Any ideas?

depends how long it's been going on. A few days is fine but if he's still not by monday the see gp. Keep offering water and if he likes his food maybe mashed potato or plain pasta or toast. don't worry about lack of milk it's the last thing most people want when feeling sick.

Has he been off his milk for long? If it has only been a day or two then I would be inclined to just offer him his milk at his usual time and see if he takes it. Has he gone off his solids? You could try giving him food with a high content of water in, like fruit. Obviously, if this has been going on for longer and he isn't producing wet nappies I would see the GP. HTH

Thanks for your replies. He had the sickness for a couple of days but it seems to have eased off, though he's had a couple of runny poos today. He is eating his solids to a point - he really likes his food as a rule. He seems fine in himself most of the time - still smiling and crawling around. But I don't think he's producing many very wet nappies, no.

Your ds sounds like my ds (10 months). Had projectile vomiting for a day and then really runny smelly poo (sorry!). He has gone off his food but is drinking water and taking the boob. Will he eat yogurt? It is about the only thing ds will eat at the moment. Maybe his nappies aren't so wet because his stools are loose and he is loosing fluid that way. If he is happy within himself then I would leave it a little longer before seeing the GP.

DS did this when he had a cold.. as long as you're getting wet nappies off him, i shouldn't worry too much.

DS is also very picky with what he drinks, after much experiementation we tried him on a mix of 1part pure OJ and 10parts "Volvic Touchof fruit Strawberry" water, which he'll drink!

Thanks again everyone. I ended up taking him to the doctors today as he's been sleeping almost all the day, is drinking hardly anything and has very few wet nappies. She thought he is borderline dehydrated which accounts for his sleepiness but said that since his skin isn't too dry it's OK at the moment. I've got some rehydrating solution to give him if I still can't get any fluids into him.