Drinking Tips

[OneInEight]

No, not the alcoholic sort although if I have another day like yesterday I will certainly be having some. ds2 (10 years, AS) appears to have no sense of thirst. If I get in early enough I can persuade him to have a drink of the sugary, rubbish variety - will not touch water but if he goes past it his behaviour deteriorates drastically and he will refuse all offers of a drink. His brother (also AS) was similar but will now drink tea - ds2 will of course not drink tea because his brother does (oppositional to say the least). He uses the not drinking in part as a way of exerting control but also I genuinely think he does not recognise being thirsty. So if anyone has any tips on how to help us get out of this vicious circle I would be very grateful.

Thanks Polter - I try a bit of that already but could increase the frequency. He is very demand avoidant at the moment so if I could find a way to encourage him to drink without me having to ask would be good.

Will he eat ice lollies one??

You could increase the amount of fluid that way, open access the the lolly draw in the freezer maybe!

I was told by the GP not to worry too much about what Dd3 drinks so long as she drinks something. So fizzy rubbish is better than nothing although I think that effects her behaviour so dont generally buy it. Fizzy flavoured water is quite popular in my house.

I agree about dehydration leading to horrid behaviour though, Dd3 is horrid when she is hungry too.

Good luck

Ds is the same as Polter's just didn't recognise the signs of thirst, hunger, toileting.

I never used to ask him if he wanted a drink or food, I would just give it to him, without asking him.

It has now become part of his routine, he doesn't always drink or eat what is given, but it has improved.

If he would feel out of control if you just gave it to him, you could try asking the question, so a 'no' isn't an option. With ds his answer by default is 'no'. Would you like a drink 'no'. Ds is also controlling.

Would you like orange or blackcurrant, gives him some control and 'no' isn't an option.

No personal experience of this but how about a large cup that you could put lines/marks on and every time he drinks down to a certain point he gets a reward or sticker? You could then gradually increase the amount he is expexted to drink for his reward. Obviously you would need to make sure he isn't just tipping the drink away!
Or how about curly straws which may be more fun?
And I was also going to suggest ice lollies in this hot weather or perhaps fruit such as watermelon?

Will try experiment idea Polter but as he regards giving away any information about himself as embarrassing no matter how trivial it might not work.

Lolly's is good idea *Ineed" - I did try it once but they somehow turned to ice-creams on the way home so did not quite do the trick. Actually, he found an ice-cream maker (used only once)at the back of a cupboard and is busy making blackcurrant sorbet at the moment. This mainly involves using every bowl and saucepan in the house as far as I can tell but I shouldn't complain as it is lovely to see him interested in something.

I do try choice but he usually sees past it and refuses all choices. If he is feeling stressed he just can't do choice at all but thanks for suggestion Claw. He seems to recognise hunger (if anything opposite way with this) and toileting O.K. fortunately.

Probably stating the obvious but have you tried telling him why he needs to drink in weather like this and the health implications/risks if he doesn't.

Ds with his limited eating, results in him having to have blood tests to check for anaemia and he really hates having blood tests.

As he has got older, he is now 9 I can explain to him the health risks and that his body needs food and why and the consequences of not eating ie blood tests. This has helped with getting him to at least try eating new foods.

Yay to blackcurrant sorbet!!

So long as he doesnt make it and then want everybody except him to eat it

We have quite alot of that with cake baking!

I agree that telling him about health issues could help but equally he could turn it into even more of a control thing if he knows it is stressing you.

I think polters idea of "drink first, then ......" or just leave favoured drinks around and see if he will drink them if he thinks you are not bothered.

Agree if he knows he is stressing you out, keep it very matter of fact, with no show of emotions.

Would he be able to read something like this (quick google) there are probably lots more available.

sports.yahoo.com/highschool/news?slug=ycn-9817139

No big discussion, just these are the facts.

Thanks for the link Claw. Something like that might work if I print it out and leave it casually about.

I have resorted to buying cartons much to dh's disgust as he will sometimes drink these when other drinks fail.

He will eat fruit luckily so he gets some fluid from that just not enough when its hot.

Ineed there is never any danger of puddings and cakes going uneaten in our house. Main-course unfortunately a totally different story.

Dd2 will very rarely ask for a drink, we have to draw a line on her bottle and just say "drink to the line" quite frequently. It's definitly up to me to remember to give her a drink, she won't ask.

She also eats a lot of watermelon, pears etc very juice fruits.

Jelly and custard - great ideas.

Just realised in this hot weather I have been serving up loads of salads which ds2 will not touch although he is quite good on vegetables so probably missing out on water intake from these too.