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Parenting

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Original poster

Should a 7 (nearly 8yr) old be expected to remember/think to drink during the day??

27 replies

FAQ · 30/07/2008 17:05

and I'm not talking beer and wine.

DS1 will be 8 in the middle of September and even on hot days today unless I really nag at him he rarely drinks more than 2/3 glasses of water (or juice or squash - I'm not really bothered at the moment - just want liquid in him!) a day.

DS2 (4 1/2) will stand and nag at me (or more recently go and get himself a drink) regularly during the day but I just feel like I'm spending my whole day trying to remind DS1 to drink!

He's always been like this and tbh it's really winding me up now. He's learned at school this year that his body is mostly made up of water and that when he sweats it's water coming out. He understands that it needs replacing, he's been going to the bed wetting clinic and first thing she said to do was to drink more during the day - he managed it (with a LOT of prompting from me) for about 2 weeks. But now he's lapsed again.

We have a bed wetting alarm on loan from them at the moment, but there's no point in using it until he's drinking properly again.

Perhaps I'm being unreasonable and should expect to be constantly reminding him - but he gets fed up of it, and with 2 other younger DS's to look after don't feel I can constantly be reminding him - and it gets me worked up too.

We just had a chat about it in the garden, he said he'd not had a drink since we came back from town nearly 2hrs ago..........came back inside and then had to be told to get himself a drink!!!

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Set a reminder

Original poster

FAQ · 30/07/2008 17:19

anyone?

OP posts:

NotQuiteCockney · 30/07/2008 17:20

Does he get ill from not drinking?

My 6-year-old does fine at remembering to drink, he gets thirsty, he drinks.

copingvquietly · 30/07/2008 17:21

no.im 23 and even i forget

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SSSandy2 · 30/07/2008 17:21

Mine is the same FAQ, same age, same problem. Never occurs to her to drink anything

Original poster

FAQ · 30/07/2008 17:22

not really - although he was sick the other day when it was really hot - and I@m sure that was partly down to not having drunk enough.

I'm worried he will make himself ill from not drinking. And the bed wetting isn't really going to have any chance of improving if he's not drinking enough for his bladder to get used to holding more

I rarely hear DS1 say he's thirsty - he'll complain he's hot, tired, sweaty, etc etc - but very rare for him to say he's thirsty.

OP posts:

Notanexcitingname · 31/07/2008 11:52

Our (by our I mean us humans) thirst mechanism is poorly developed. By the time we are thirsty we're already dehydrated (not badly, but less than optimal). So I'd say it's not suprising a 6 yo has mroe exciting things to think about, even if he "knows" it.

I'm in my 30s. I know all this, and I still forget some days

Could you get him a bottle, with his name on, which he has around him to get through during the day? My friend does this with her DS, and it works really well

Original poster

FAQ · 31/07/2008 15:55

we've tried bottles and they just get left on the side. I have to confess they've been stickers with his name on - as you can't find bottles in the shop with his name on it.

I explained to him yesterday how feeling thirsty was actually a sign that our body already didn't have enough water in it......

DS2 seems to have grasped it beautifully (every time he's got himself a drink today he's said "I feel thirsty, I haven't had enough to drink so my body is telling me it's already not got enough water"........

DS1 I've been prompting (again) (and btw he's nearly 8 not 6 )

OP posts:

Twinkie1 · 31/07/2008 16:01

We have to remind DD who is 8 to have a drink she will go all day otherwise drinking nothing and I have to really nag her to drink her bottle of water throughout the day at school as well as her juice with her lunch!

DS is 3 and wants a drink about every 5 minutes at the moment though!

charliecat · 31/07/2008 16:01

Bottle from the freezer maybe an incentive?
My dds dont drink very much at all. But they do go thru hases of having bottles of ice to sup at.

Shitehawk · 31/07/2008 16:04

Dd is 7, and very rarely asks for a drink off her own bat.

I don't wait for her to ask; I bring her a drink every so often, and remind her that it's there once, fifteen or so minutes later. Even if she only drinks a little bit of it when I bring it to her, it's better than nothing.

Liqid intake can come from food too, there's lots of liquid in juicy fruits, if he will eat them - things like melons, strawberries, peaches. Even cucumber and celery will help, if he'll have those.

Ice-lollies are another good way of getting liquid in which he might like - especially in the hot weather.

Original poster

FAQ · 31/07/2008 16:46

I just find it so stressful having to constantly remind him - when I've got DS2 and 3 to sort as well it drives me totally potty having to remind him constantly to drink.

Melons, strawberries and peaches are out of my budget at the moment, so we're stuck with bananas and apples (the latter of which he won't eat ).

Of course him not drinking is probably a major contributing factor to him still bed wetting, and I@m having to really bite my lip not to keep making it an issue because of that.

I'm sorely tempted to send the bed wetting alarm back to the clinic and cancel the appointments until he starts drinking more. There's no way his bladder is going to get used to holding more wee, and therefore him have any chance of getting dry at night until he's drinking enough.

OP posts:

Mhamai · 31/07/2008 16:55

FAQ, how long is ds bedwetting? I'm going to throw something into the mix, could there b a chance that some of this is behavioural? Is is possible that your ds is testing you for some attention? I could be way off the mark btw, what do you think?

Mhamai · 31/07/2008 17:03

My ds 7.5 is the same btw but in relation to food. So I completely understand your frustration, while I have never or would ever force my son to eat I have learned some invaluable advice from MN in relation to encouragement and education re healthy eating.

So maybe instead of frustration and you having to bite your lip so much Perhaps tell him of the great athelets [sp?] How hard they have to train and need to drink plenty of water.

Your doing a fab job btw, I haven't had a chance to say it until now but you have come through so much when your back has been to the wall. I filled up a couple of times reading some of your posts on TWR's deleted thread.

Well done FAQ, well done girl!

BettySpaghetti · 31/07/2008 17:04

DD (8) is hopeless at remembering to drink. Unless I stand over her and make her drink she probably wouldn't ask for a drink at all.

On school days its not unusual for her water bottle to come back untouched even on a boiling hot day which worries me.

In reception/Yr 1 they did Brain Gym which involves them having bottles of water on the table and drinking in between activities but even then she drank a minimal amount.

The only limited success we have is giving her a bottle of frozen water to take to school -she seems to like drinking the icy cold bits as it melts.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 31/07/2008 17:14

dd so far has had a banana milkshake this morning (banana and milk whizzed up). Thats it. Am hoping that if I don't keep telling her to drink then her thirst mechanism will kick in. So far its not

Original poster

FAQ · 31/07/2008 17:52

Mhamai - he's been bed wetting since he was potty trained at 3yrs old - think we've had 2/3 dry nights in the last 5yrs......

OP posts:

Blandmum · 31/07/2008 17:54

If he isn't thirsty, he doesn't 'need' to drink.

If he is becoming dehydrated, he'll ask for something to drink

Brain Gym has very little scientific testing behind it btw

unfitmother · 31/07/2008 18:03

DD 7 needs constant nagging to drink anything. DS drinks like a fish but he's still not dry at night, he's 11!

Original poster

FAQ · 31/07/2008 18:06

but MB - surely if he's drinking one (or less!) a day that can't be healthy???

OP posts:

Blandmum · 31/07/2008 18:13

There is water in the food that we eat. people drink , and are sttimulated to drink when they are thirsty. the human body is very good at regulating water levels.

Unless you've been told that he needs to drink more to fill up his bladder, I wouldn't sweat about it (no pun intended)

Blandmum · 31/07/2008 18:16

and the 8 glasses of water a day is bollocks

snopes on the 8 glasses of water thing

Issy · 31/07/2008 18:30

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request

Original poster

FAQ · 31/07/2008 18:53

and yes - unfortuantely I have been told he needs to drink more during the day to incrase bladder capacity, and for the 2 weeks that we did manage a decent amount of fluids into him each day we did see a small improvement

OP posts:

Blandmum · 31/07/2008 18:59

sadly , then, you just need to plug away.

Could you have a drawing of a bottle on the wall, and 'fill it up' as he drinks so that he can see how much he needs to drink?

motherinferior · 31/07/2008 19:02

Actually, Issy and MB, that point was stated quite clearly in an excellent article on water a while back in a most splendid wimmin's mag, i think you'll find

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