18 month old - excessive drinking

[usernamepp]

My daughter has been drinking excessive amounts of water over the past few months. We initially thought it was due to teething or possibly comfort. She started wanting several cups of water during the night and soaking through her extra absorbent nappies. We took her to the doctors for a diabetes test which was negative and the Doctor advised it was likely to be a habit rather than a medical problem. The excessive drinking has continued but it's definitely worse recently. 3 large cups during the night and I have to change her nappy twice during those 12 hrs and she's often soaked through after 6. She then wants a big drink in the morning and several cups before lunch time. She eats well and doesn't show any other signs of being unwell. The only change in the past few weeks is she seems to have really hard small poos which I find odd considering how much she's drinking. I'm going to phone the doctor to see if I can get another app ASAP. Can anyone offer any suggestions or experience of this? Can a diabetes blood test be wrong?

Thanks

I (type 1 diabetic) would take her back to the gp to have a further finger prick test.

How much is she actually drinking, in litres, over 24h?

The night time drinking is almost certainly habit or her giving you 'an excuse' to get you up to reassure her a bit. I would stop completely all night time drinks and in turn increase her daytime drinking.

A well hydrated child (or adult) should not be feeling thirst through a 12h night. But an unhydrated child/adult might.

As an aside, both myself and my children drink a lot more than average people do. No diabetes or anything, we just all like being well hydrated!

I've got an appointment for today, thankfully. I'll ask for the test to be redone.

She's having between 1/2 and 3/4 of a litre during the night and then possible a litre during the day, roughly. I think the fact she soaks through everything so quickly during the night and also has such hard small poos makes me worry there's some problem with her retaining the water. Once I get the medical side ruled out I'll definitely start weaning her off the water during the night as I know she is in the habit of reaching for the cup when she wakes

How are you getting on?

Oh wow that's a lot. I wouldn't even think of trying to wean her off any of the water, day or night, until the medical issue is figured out. The hard poo with that much water is very odd so there is surely something going on. Really hope it gets worked out soon...

Doctor retested and said no diabetes and believes the excessive drinking is habitual and needs to be weaned off it ASAP. She said the amount could be dangerous so have to gradually reduce this so she's having a litre a day and nothing during the night. Doctor wasn't concerned about the poo situation- didn't think it was linked and said they would only give something for that if she was showing signs of pain or discomfort (which she isn't)

If we don't see an improvement after following the advice given we've to make another appointment

Thanks for the replies/concern and advice

Gosh! Well obviously it's important to follow professional medical advice but I am surprised the doctor doesn't want to send for further testing! Hope all goes okay!

I'm sorry, but I giggled and snorted at the thread title. Ignore me. When I read it a second time I realised your tot wasn't hitting the whiskey lol.

Hope all better soon.

Not sure if this is helpful, but I had a similar thing for most of my life, seem to have it under control now. I was drinking 7-9 litres of fluid per day. The doctor diagnosed a physiological fear of being thirsty due to childhood treatment (being limited in the number of drinks I was allowed).

I was tested to see if the volume of fluids was negatively affecting my nutrient levels etc and it wasn’t. Have they checked your daughters?

Does she sleep with her mouth slightly open making her thirsty overnight? I do and wake up for water a few times

My 19m old likes to drink too, as in he sees us drink from sports bottles or glasses si thinks its what grown ups do so likes to copy. If we don't cap how much water is in each bottle he will drink LOADS but because he thinks its fun. If we dont have water bottles lying around he doesnt ask for it so i know that is. He also used to need overnight water to be able to resettle (a sleep habit)

The doctor diagnosed a physiological fear of being thirsty

Interesting puds11, I drink excessively too (about 5-7 litres a day) and can trace this back to one specific day, when pregnant, that I got stuck in a traffic jam for 4 hours on a hot day and felt so thirsty I felt panicky. From then on I started getting water with me everywhere and gradually drinking more and more fluids.

Also, as Bibbidybobbitysplated mentions, my children all also drink excessively. That's probably due to watching me and the fact that there are always multiple full drinks beakers all over the house.

It does none of us any harm. We go to the toilet more frequently, that's all.