Every night 1 year old drinks 1.5 litres of water. Normal?

[MsMorris]

Hi,

I introduced water to wean off my daughter from breastfeeding, hoping she would sleep through the night. It's made things worse. She's constantly waking up for water. She soaks through about 4 nappies every night. Feels like I have a newborn again.

She is well fed solids and has a nutritious, balanced diet.

Is it normal that she goes through this much water every night without fail? I don't know what to do.

@KittenCatcher Oh, really not trying to diagnose on here, sorry if I gave that impression. I've spoken to GP, I've gone A&E and I've tried the pharmacy. I'm just looking for reassurance while I wait for her appointment.

Her blood test will cover:
Urea and electrolytes
Serum ferritin
HbA1c
Full blood count

Prick test came back fine.

Just seeing if anyone had similar experiences, that's all. Really not trying to diagnose on mumsnet.

@Spidey66 @Lindtnotlint That's reassuring. Thank you so much.

@stuckinarut21 I doubt it. My main concern now is why she's not putting on weight despite her appetite, especially if prick test came back fine.

I think maybe all the water is because it's a comfort thing.

I'm not a mother but others have suggested making the bottle teat smaller or giving her a dummy. While I wouldn't like to diagnose online i think the glucose reading is as good indicator as any she doesn't have T1 diabetes.

Give her the water in a cup. If she's actually thirsty she'll drink it. If she's using the bottle for comfort/soothing then she won't.

She's 1 so I wouldn't introduce a dummy as recommended by previous poster!

How long has this been happening for?
Is she also thirsty during the day?
Has she lost weight or always been 9th centile?

Sounds promising for not being diabetes but I wouldn't be comfortable saying for certain and I would also be concerned about other kidney conditions for excessive thirst.

If its something very recent, only at night and no weight loss, it could be a comfort thing too, impossible to judge via here though so my advice would be medical attention to be safe

Not rtft but try switching to a cup. Bottle is def comfort. She will cry about it for a while. Personally we always didna full bottle of milk at night until 2 as they were hungry before bed. Growth spurts esp cause a crazy amount of food. Coukd be you aren't doing enough carbs and protein. Banana and bottle at bed time followed by cups of water at waking.

Just to note I bought my 4 year old a bottle for school which you suck and school says he drinks a crazy amount. Its just because he likes sucking and its only when he has his school water bottle.

Is it because she can't tell you're feeding her with something that has no nutritional value, so is waking hungry and drinking what she is offered, thinking it has some nutritional benefit? And so is not putting on weight because basically, you've tricked her into thinking that water is food? Remember when you used to try and lose weight, and you drank more water to fill your stomach? So you wouldn't be hungry?
Just a suggestion

I really think this stressful whip up a frenzy response on Mumsnet is really unhelpful.

This could behavioural, or medical - and not necessarily type 1 DM.

Also a finger prick Blood glucose doesn't diagnose anything other than the blood glucose at that specific time.

OP I hope that you get some stress free rest and calm. I'm absolutely sure your child is completely fine and will be fine until seen by other HCPs

A&E clearly not indicated. She needs to be referred to an outpatient paediatric department. If the GP thought she was at deaths door and needed intervention they would have sent straight to A&E or called an ambulance.

Well it was a fasting blood by the sounds of it which would’ve given some idea as to whether it was diabetes.

If it's not diabetes, then I wonder if it's just the sucking of the bottle and the water intake is just the by-product. I'd only serve it in a sippy cup or similar, if she needs any overnight at all.

@nadgersbadgers

I really think this stressful whip up a frenzy response on Mumsnet is really unhelpful.

This could behavioural, or medical - and not necessarily type 1 DM.

Also a finger prick Blood glucose doesn't diagnose anything other than the blood glucose at that specific time.

OP I hope that you get some stress free rest and calm. I'm absolutely sure your child is completely fine and will be fine until seen by other HCPs

A&E clearly not indicated. She needs to be referred to an outpatient paediatric department. If the GP thought she was at deaths door and needed intervention they would have sent straight to A&E or called an ambulance.

Years ago I went to a 2 year old at a GP surgery who had been taken there the day before with increased thirst, increased urine output, increased hunger, diarrhea, lethargy. GP toldher mum to "take her home and give her dioryltes. Next morning mum bought her back to the GP, pale, floppy and rapid respiratory rate. The GP still did not do a blood glucose, and arranged for direct admission to paeds ward.

We (ambulance service) arrived, and could see that this child was critically ill, did a BM which was around 20. Rapidly got her on the vehicle. She arrested just as we were arriving at a&e (resus, not the f**king paeds ward). She arrested a further 3 times before she was stable enough for onwards transfer to the children's hospital. She survived and was diagnosised type 1 diabetes.

Paediatric ABCDEFG
Airway
Breathing
Circulation
Don't
Ever
Forget
(Blood) Glucose

Don't ever underestimate the rapidity that a child can deteriorate into shock. They are physiologically different to adults and compensate much better for much longer, before rapidly decompensating.

All the advice to OP to contact 111 or attend a&e and not leave this situation unchecked over the Xmas period was absolutely correct.

I'm just glad that so far it is good news.

@nadgersbadgers

I really think this stressful whip up a frenzy response on Mumsnet is really unhelpful.

This could behavioural, or medical - and not necessarily type 1 DM.

Also a finger prick Blood glucose doesn't diagnose anything other than the blood glucose at that specific time.

OP I hope that you get some stress free rest and calm. I'm absolutely sure your child is completely fine and will be fine until seen by other HCPs

A&E clearly not indicated. She needs to be referred to an outpatient paediatric department. If the GP thought she was at deaths door and needed intervention they would have sent straight to A&E or called an ambulance.

While I desperately hope that it is behavioural and not medical, there is absolutely no way you can be certain and the most dangerous advice is the post quoted.

I have spent most of my medical career working with children - they can deteriorate extremely rapidly. This child has warning symptoms, very possible they are not diabetic (and as I have touched on above, a lot more questions need to be asked) but they certainly need a proper check by a medical professional to rule out anything sinister, not to be fobbed off and sent home

I would be calling out of hours Dr now.

Getting a blood glucose test half an hour after she has eaten would be interesting. Don't listen to people on here ruling out T1. Push for an appointment.

Just to be clear on my previous post - I do NOT think this thread was an over reaction, it is extremely important that kids with suspected T1D are seen promptly. But a blood glucose of 5 pretty much rules out acute ketoacidosis and I think it is v v v unlikely there is diabetes going on here. Of course that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be something else causing the drinking and it is great that OP is going to get a proper appointment.

Thirst, excessive urine, weight loss: get diabetes ruled out. It is not “creating a frenzy” to suggest A&E in those circumstances. But in this case with a glucose of 5 confirmed OP can afford to relax a bit - and try some behavioural stuff like a cup rather than bottle while waiting for test.

Source: Type 1 diabetic of 30+ years with three young kids!

My daughter was exactly like this (she's 20 months now). We offered her water in a bottle and she'd guzzle the whole thing. Every wake up she wanted it. As soon as I switched to her munchkin sippy cup at night then she'd refuse sometimes and drink only a few sips at others (I guess when she was actually thirsty). Her night wakes have lessened too. I think it's the comfort of the bottle she was seeking at every night wake.

@JustWonderingIfYou

Give her the water in a cup. If she's actually thirsty she'll drink it. If she's using the bottle for comfort/soothing then she won't.

She's 1 so I wouldn't introduce a dummy as recommended by previous poster!

Like I said, I'm not a mum, just reiterating what other mums had suggested. It's up to the OP whether she acted on that or not.

I was only trying to be helpful.

I know introducing a dummy now isn't ideal but it's exactly what I had to do with DS. Nothing would soothe him except breastfeeding or bottle. He wasn't eating much as drinking so much milk at night. If all is fine with diabetes I would move the water to a cup and see how you go. I was back at work and used a dummy so I could get some sleep / stay sane / keep my job! He gave it up easily 18 months later - would have been sooner but kept it through lockdown 1. Teeth are fine and I don't regret it. We just used it for naps / bed / the odd day of illness.

I’m glad it sounds as though your dd doesn’t have diabetes and hope you get some answers soon. Idk how old she is exactly. Have you thought about giving her a bottle of toddler formula (rather than cows milk) at bed time? I know bottle fed babies sleep longer than breastfed so I’m thinking this may help her to sleep through and give her extra calories. I don’t have experience if this as i breastfed dd until she was 2 1/2. Just she was feeding a fair amount right up til a few months until then.

I would also test for coeliac if you have t1 diabetes in the family, both autoimmune conditions. Sibling is type 1 diabetic but I am coeliac along with several other family members.

Assuming all is well in terms of diabetes.. try not to panic about weight. My DD dropped to the 2nd centile in her first year from 25th and stayed there till she was 2, now back up at 25th. This despite having the appetite of a horse!! At the time I found it v stressful. She's just got a small frame.

Ridiculous frenzy from some posters. Sounds like habit and a need to suck / soothe to me . Try a dummy for goodness sake and giving water in a cup

Of course you get this looked at which you're doing . But some posters are just ridiculous

The water is a comfort thing. Our 1 year old was the same. He’s now in high school!

Used to soak thru nappies at a huge rate. We had to go cold turkey on the bottles and offer a sippy cup. He was livid! After a few days he slept thru the night as he wasn’t bothered about the water just wanted to suckle.

He was 20 months. Offer a dummy instead

Also want to comfort mother… skin prick test was good. Kids can deteriorate quickly, but it does sound like this child is comfort drinking. Would also recommend switching to a cup. (Or thickening the water). Maybe a kidney function test not a bad idea, but suspect the child would be thirsty all day too if health was connected.