My 6yo gets really dehydrated and grumpy, BUT WON'T DRINK!

[NameChangerella]

Just wondering if anyone has the same, or has any advice

DS has been like this since I can remember. He's usually so lovely but gets dehydrated really quickly/easily then turns into a cross child who won't do anything you tell him.

He seems to need to drink more than other children, but is never thirsty. He barely drinks at school, I have to bribe him with chocolate to finish his water bottle, and still it rarely happens. He doesn't even get himself a drink with lunch. His eyes look sunken and wrinkled when he's dehydrated, he won't sleep or eat well, then it all becomes a vicious circle. I spend all evenings and weekend trying to pump drink into him, which is no mean feat. He drinks water, squash, milkshake, apple juice etc and I'll often give him ice lollies, jelly, fruit etc

I mentioned it to the Dr but because DS is never 'thirsty' he said it's just behavioural, not medical (i was thinking it could poss be something like diabetes)

It's such a problem that I'm loathed to let him stay with grandparents or go on a sleepover/beavers camp as he'll let himself get dehydrated and be really hard to look after.

I have tried letting him self regulate but he just doesn't. I'm just so fed up of it.

My elder child used to be a bit like this but not to such an extent. He can just about recognise he is grumpy and get himself a drink now at age 10

Let him go
Shopping with you and allow him to choose a water bottle and then give him options of drinks to choose from (obviously only allow the cordial/squash or fruity waters not cola) try to engage him and make it desirable to him. Maybe set him little challenges - if he drinks down to a certain level on the bottle at dinner then he can have a treat/sticker?

Thanks Wilding.

I have been down that path with him, infact my life is constantly full of those sort of challenges/games ('just drink down to the minions eyes' etc) and I'm fed up with it! Especially if one of us is tired, or I have a headache (single parent)

I've tried to talk to him about it like a grown up but that doesn't work

I'm just so annoyed that this cloud is over my child and I'm essentially nagging him to drink all the time.

I have taken him to the GP about this who said it's behavioural and refused to do a blood test.

He is not medically dehydrated, my apologies... I am using the term 'dehydrated' in a non medical way just to mean that he's obviously (to me) not had enough fluids due to his eye bags/bad behaviour which rectify after a good drink.

What you're doing now clearly isn't working so maybe you should try backing off? By going on about it, you're making it more of an issue.

Find something he likes drinking. If he doesn't like plain water then maybe watered down juice or squash.

There's loads of cleverly marketed drinks that are meant to appeal to children. Maybe get some of those?

Then every hour or so, offer him a drink. "DS would you like a drink? I've got x or x or x?"
If he says no, leave it.

With regards to drinking at school, When I was a kid, we didn't take water to school, we maybe had a few gulps from the water fountain. That was it. And we're perfectly healthy.

So try not to worry. I'm sure all will be fine.

Yeah I agree, I’d back off. Have juice/squash available at meal times, make sure you drink it yourself in front of him during eating, have a jug of squash made up in the fridge and mention that it’s in here but that’s it.

Does he tell you why he doesn’t want to drink? Or is I just point blank refusal?

Thanks all. He likes (and I offer) all sorts of drinks. He usually has squash but also has milk, milkshake, juice, and water with meals.

I've got him into a good habit of finishing his water before he leaves the table. It's almost like I need to build in other good drinking habits to take the nagging away which I agree is obviously not working for either of us. On the hour is a good idea, thanks.

Good point about me drinking in front of him , thanks. I tend to only drink tea.

I've tried leaving drink available and putting the onus on him, or letting him help himself like a grown up but he just ignores it. It's like he doesn't recognise or can't be bothered to act on his thirst.

He says he's not thirsty, or his tummy hurts, or he feels sick. He says these so often that unfortunately I just ignore them now. I did mention it to the Dr who checked his tummy and said it seemed fine

DS2 doesn't drink. I don't drink.
And we live somewhere HOT - like it hits 50C hot over the summer, and a winter's day usually sees a high above 20C.
He HAS to finish a cup at every meal. I pack fruit juice into his lunch box, and that usually gets drunk.
More juice with a snack when he gets home, and another cup of water with dinner. Basically, I can guarantee 4 cups a day. Sometimes he gets through half a water bottle. If it comes back full he has to drink some from the bottle in front of me. So about a litre.

I drink from a pint glass breakfast, lunch and dinner. I try to remember to drink elsewhere in the day, but often forget. So I get through 1.5l min a day.

We also have a book about "Sam's Science" that talked about 8 glasses a day - I think it's "I know where my food goes" that made a difference for a few weeks.
And checking the colour of your wee is popular too.....

Thank you all. I agree I will back off. I think a lot of the lack of drinking comes when he is tired, and we've had a run of a few bad days and I'm just exhausted by him being such a devil child, all down to this one issue.

I asked him today if he gets thirsty and he said only if it's really hot.

Coffeecup, sadly this is a child that really needs a lot of fluid so def needs to glug some liquid. I think he has very efficient kidneys or something!

Balloon he has school dinners not packed lunch, but I do try to give him fruit to snack on at school

Last night I gave him a drink when he came in, one after snack and one before bed. I think if I can get into a routine it will help us both

Also today I finally relented and put flavoured water in his school drink bottle (well, I diluted it 50% with plain water). I told him if he doesn't drink it we'll go back to plain water. Fingers crossed.

Tummy hurts - have you checked his poo? My DD was grumpy and kept complaining of tummy ache (to the point we didn't believe her). Turned out she was badly constipated. She went to the loo but just did little poos which disguises the constipation. One Dr checked her and said she was fine but then another said differently and she was a bit blocked up. We are now battling to get her to drink more too.

Thanks for the thought. The Dr checked his tummy and said it's fine, and although hydration noticably affects his poos, he's definitely not constipated (my elder DS suffered constipation so I'm well versed in this!)

My kids always finish juice boxes for some reason so that could help? Also they like to delay going to sleep by asking for a drink after the lights are out so maybe get another cup in then? HtH

My daughter was like this when she was that age... I bought ice lolly moulds and filled them with weak squash and allowed her as many as she wanted throughout the day. They don't take long to freeze so I'd just keep making them as needed

Ridiculously expensive and no doubt OTT but thought I’d mention it

www.amazon.com/Gululu-Interactive-Bottle-Tracker-Bowhead/dp/B06X1BX37R?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Honestly I’d back off completely. Neither of my kids drink much. They have never been badly behaved because of dehydration - maybe something else is going on?

Make jelly and ice lollies, if he likes them. If he prefers flavoured water then let him have that.