11 month old DD not drinking

[mckenzie]

DD has about 1 maybe 2 ozs of milk in the morning, sips probably about 4 times froma beaker of water all day and then has about 3 or 4 ozs of milk at bedtime. She's never been a good drinker but these last few weeks it's got worse. Now of course, she is constipated.
She has a good amount of fruit and veg. Thsi week i have increased the amount of fruits and also gone for the water based ones as much as possible. Yesterday i also resorted to well diltued fresh fruit juice to try and tempt her but to no avail. She has been crying and screaming in pain today to try and do a poo and it's breaking my heart.

Any ideas please? I've tried three types of beaker and an open cup. If she's teething could that be making a difference? Should I try offering a good old teat? Juts bought some figs even to try and help the little mite.

TIA

try to get her to have more liquid based foods, such as soups and yoghurts. all fruit and vegetables are good, especially prunes. avoid bananas. try different juices, milkshakes, fennel tea, etc. maybe put her on lactulose for the time being (available from chemists or on perscription).how old is she? my dd was put on lactulose from 6 months, she had 5-10mls twice a day at that stage. speak to a doctor or health visitor about this.

thanks kreamkrackers. she'd need to drink the lactulose huh? I'm sure if she would only drink more water she'd be okay.

yeah she would need to drink it but from a syringe or medicine spoon. it's high in sugar (no sugar free version available) but it does work at helping to get things moving. it acts like fibre. you could also include whole grain foods in her diet, weetabix are very good. depending on her age maybe try to reward her when she drinks an ounce she gets a sticker on a chart and then a reward after so many stickers.

she's only 11 months so too young for the stickers. I gave her weetabix this morning and have jyst made some bran muffins for tomorrow morning which i'm pretty sure she'll eat. She does have about as much fruit and veg as it's possible for a child her age to have so I really think it's the water that's the answer. Hopefully at tea time when she sees her brother drinking she might be tempted. I'm starting to worry though as not only are her nappies not soiled these last few days but they are hardly even wet either.

i would speak to a doctor if i was you. she should have at least four good wet nappies a day. if she's on all this fruit and having whole grain foods then lactulose might not work as that requires a certain amount of water. she might need glycerine supposeteries to help her pooh but this might also dehydrate her as it will require extra water from her body to soften things up. i would definetly speak to a health proffesional about this. my dd is peg fed and although she is allowed to have liquids now (used to aspirate which means some goes into the lungs) she still doesn't like to drink. your dd might (but still unlikely) need to be referred to a speech therapist as they have techniques on encouraging children to drink.

thanks Kreamkrackers. Perhaps I'll call NSH direct tonight as first port of call. She has now done one poo, thank goodness, but the nappy was hardly even damp.

thanks Kreamkrackers. Perhaps I'll call NSH direct tonight as first port of call. She has now done one poo, thank goodness, but the nappy was hardly even damp.

thanks Kreamkrackers. Perhaps I'll call NSH direct tonight as first port of call. She has now done one poo, thank goodness, but the nappy was hardly even damp.

did you call nhs direct? what did they say?

just wondering again did you call nhs direct?

Ice lollies, straw if she can use it, have you tried apple juice? It's very sweet and slightly laxative.

sorry kreamkrackers, I somehow missed that postings had been added to this thread.
I didn't call NHS in the end but instead spoke to our practice nurse. Luckily, I think I mentioned that DD finaly did fill her nappy on friday night and since then she has been once each day over the weekend. Her milk intake also has gone up slightly. Hre fluid intake is still not enough for my liking but apparently as she is in general good health, now pooing and weeing a bit then i shouldn't worry. They said that i should just keep offering her water, try different cups/beakers etc (which i do) and lots of water based fruit and veg (which I do).
Thanks for thinking of us.