Help! My DD is refusing to drink ANYTHING from ANY kind of cup/bottle

[suzyj]

I'm really at my wits end about this. She's 8 months old and has been a hearty eater/drinker up til now. At the moment all I can get into her are fromage frais or banana porridge. Every bottle is a battle and the average intake of fluids has been about 6 oz a day for the last 3 days, mostly as formula in her cereal. She's seen the GP on Friday and I'm going again today but I suspect my nice but busy doctor will make sure she's not actually dehydrated but be of no help about coping with this on-going problem. I'm new to mumsnet and I think it's a top idea. Any tips/shared experiences VERY gratefully received...

Is she teething? I've heard of some kids going off their bottles when new teeth are breaking through, though my DS was the opposite and went off any solid food.

A friend of mine gave her son milk jelly when he went off his bottle. I can't find a recipe at the moment, but I think you just make up jelly with formula/breastmilk instead of water. Maybe someone here knows. Sugar free gelatine made with water is also another way of getting liquid into kids.

Otherwise, what about foods that are high in water content, like melon or grapes?

Oh poor you, how worrying. How about liquidising some banana and formula/ebm and seeing if she'll take that if she will take banana? Or watering down the from frais? With it being so hot it's very difficult.

Or try taking her swimming. My dd swallows half the pool when we go!

Just seen the teething msg, my dd did go off hers when she was teething, so a good rub of Calgel about 5 mins before the bottle seemed to do the trick. Or putting calgel on a dummy and letting her suck on that for 5 mins. It really did work for me.

You could try giving her lots of fruit puree's for the time being which has a high water content.Could she have sore gums and the bottle/cup are hurting her at the moment and fromage frais/porridge are easy for he to manage.One of mine had something like this and it turned out he had thrush in his mouth which made drinking and eating hard.What did your GP say on Friday?

I agree with all these, it is really worrying. None of mine drink a large amount but I try and make all their food very 'wet' loads of things with sauces and loads of soups and loads of milk in weetabix which can absorb a ridiculous amount of milk. Also playing 'cuppateaforyou cuppateaforme' in the bath wiht the cold tap trickling was quite good fun and reassuring that they were going to bed wiht a bit of fluid in them. Good Luck.

Oh thanks so much for your responses! As I said, I'm new to mumsnet and, for some reason, thought no one had answered me or I couldn't find any answers anyway. Was feeling very lonely and stupid!! But then - tah daaahhh! - here you all are.

The GP thought I was being TOTALLY paranoid as, amazingly, she is showing no signs of dehydration. He showed me how to check for this as DD sat chuckling on my lap as if to say, "Yeah, my mum is cr@p, isn't she?".

Thanks for these suggestions, I'll try them and let you know how I'm getting on. The weetabix one is good as I made only one bix soak up 6 oz of milk and she ate it nice as pie this morning. For some reason, I've never thought of giving her soup - good with dippy-in things I 'spect? And grapes - do you have to peel these?? A milk jelly recipe would be very useful too - we are veggie and have veg-gel instead but I think this is okay for babies.

She is teething but doesn't have thrush as GP checked her mouth and throat, so it might all just stop soon and she'll be back to her guzzling self. Oh well, it's all fun, eh?

Thanks, cyberstars!

Suzyj

My dd has often gone through phases like this and has also always been a good eater. When she was about 11 months she ate virtually nothing except the odd yoghurt for a week but she was fine. Drinking is hard. My dd drinks well when we play tea party things but your dd is probably too young for that. How about ice lollies ? You can make your own with fruit juice and water and it may also help if she has sore gums.

I wouldn't worry about dehydrating. As long as she's got a wet mouth and she has wet nappies she's not dehydrated or so they tell me.

Just a thought as I had this problem. Turns out that dd had problems with Anyway Up Cup as it is really really hard to suck from (try it!). Switched to Tommee Tippee cheapie one where liquid comes at 'em fast and problem solved.

suzyj-it's weird the first few times you post I know that feeling of wondering whether there is anyone out there. I'm glad the weetabix thing worked as far as the grapes go (as I am paranoid about choking ) I usually bite them flat myself and then hand them over (much quicker). Sounds horrible but if you think abut what seagulls do for their offspring not so bad really.

Also another thing that worked for my dd was giving her fluids on a spoon.

Didn't bother peeling grapes but cut them in half for DS at that age (partly fear of choking, partly because they just rolled out of his mouth otherwise).

Agree with Tillysmummy - fluids from the spoon. My nephew went through this exact same stage, and he had to take the fluids from the spoon for one week or so. We also let him sip from a normal adult cup, and just let the liquid spill down the sides of his face. At least he was getting some of the liquids! Good luck!

My 7 month dd goes through phases too, I also do the weetabix trick if she is fussy in the am. She won't have a cup though, will try the Tommee Tippee tip, bit worried when the weather is hot that she is not drinking enough.

You could always just try her on a normal cup. I picked up some good plastic ones cheap from Ikea before I thought ds was ready to try one but he took to it straight away. Yes, he does manage to tip it all over himself but this is only after he has had enough to drink. He manages to never spill any when he is drinking because he is thirsty. It's always easier in the summer as I don't mind him getting a bit wet if he wants to play with it at the end.

The nursery have reported that she'll drink water from a spoon, especially a yoghurty spoon and if the water has been tipped into the nearly-scraped-clean yoghurt pot. This has been the only way she'll drink water up til now although we are still persevering with the avent magic cup which looks like it might work at some point.

Managed to get her to drink nearly 4oz of milk when she woke up thirsty in the middle of the night last night - which was a great relief. Thought we were over it and then all milk was refused again this morning... Still, some slight positive progress I guess.

I've bought her some grapes and found a recipe for juicy jellies in my veggie baby cookbook. I think icepops are out cos she winces at too-cold yoghurts even, but we'll give it a go. Thanks, mums!!

ulcers?

suzyj my DS had a magic cup and struggled with it at first. What I did was to take the little valve out so he didn't have to suck so hard. When he got the hang of it or if I was packing it in a bag (to prevent leaks) I put the valve back in. Might be worth at try.

Also have you got the white spout, which is softer, or the green spout?

codswallop - No sign of ulcers, according to GP at last visit. They are aways visible, aren't they?

Bozza - great idea re the valve! Do you mean the hard clear plastic bit or the soft clear rubbery bit that goes onto it, or both? DD chews on the spout (yep, the white rather than the green) with great gusto but this doesn't seem to make any liquid come out. If the valve is gone then this might make the difference.

Have discovered that she adores toothpaste and bobs up and down on my lap with her tongue out, panting with excitement, when I rub some on her two tiny teeth. Perhaps I should try flavouring some water with that??