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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

14 month old not drinking water

28 replies

GlumBear · 11/08/2022 10:14

Hi all - looking for some advice on how to encourage my DD to drink water (or anything) consistently out of a cup.

She has a milk allergy, and following dietician advice are still using Neocate for her milk feeds in the morning and evening. She drinks formula at home with no issue when it is me or DH feeding her.

She is at nursery full time, and the nursery are now making noise (especially with the hot weather) that they do not want her to be there if she is not drinking enough. She sometimes has dry nappies during the day as a result of not drinking any water which is concerning them. She also does not take a bottle from them to top up fluid levels.

They are claiming their duty of care may prevent them from keeping her and say now that they will call us to take her home when she has a dry nappy again (which is probably going to be later this morning).

Our HV recently came out to see us and we talked about this - HV was generally happy given DDdoes drink plenty of formula with us and her totals for the day are fine (~500ml).

Sometimes it feels like the nursery are passing judgement on DH and I all the time now as DD has been a little slow on some things (like drinking water) and getting up and about walking (only starting to walk with help now). I am little sensitive to them saying things like this now and especially due to the fact that they will want to send her home after a dry nappy and also that we pay them more than £1000 a month!

I have tried every single type of cup out there to try and get her to drink with little success so far - any advice would be very welcome on this, and additionally any advice on how to get to a positive conclusion with the nursery would be great.
Anyone else having a similar issue at all?

OP posts:

bloodywhitecat · 11/08/2022 10:22

Have you tried straws? Will she eat jelly? When my little one wouldn't take water from a cup we gave jelly pouches to increase fluid intake.

PritiPatelsMaker · 11/08/2022 10:22

That's rather a lot of formula, she only needs 300ml a day. It might be counter intuitive but have you tried dropping the first bottle?

Have you tried things like diluted fruit juice or a straw?

I'd also be expecting Nursery to offer some high water foods in this weather.

bleachedgusset · 11/08/2022 10:24

Hey, I couldn't just read and leave. It horrible when you feel judged as a parent. You're obviously doing your best. Try to not let them get you down. Will DD take water from a spoon? Or a syringe, as though it's a game? Would she eat watermelon?
Sometimes it takes a while for them to develop the skill to use a straw or a beaker that requires a different sucking action. This probably isn't of much help but I just wanted to say it'll be okay and to not let their judgement get you down. You always feel judged as a parent so start learning and trying to shrug it off now. Nursery should also be doing all they can to get her to drink. They're the 'professionals', surely they've seen this before.

Good luck ♥️

Original poster

GlumBear · 11/08/2022 10:25

Apologies - should have added that she has other allergies in addition to the initial milk allergy, so watery fruits like watermelon etc are a struggle. We have given the nursery some fruit pouches this week for snacks to see how that goes too.

Have tried straws, and all sorts of lovely juices for her but she just either doesn't really to suck them through or is not fussed enough to want more. She LOVES playing with whatever cup we give though - she does chew on whatever bit goes in her mouth and sometimes some liquid ends up going down but we are talking tiny drops.

OP posts:

Youcancallmeirrelevant · 11/08/2022 10:27

Have you tried water in a bottle? My DD has always had the nuby bottles, either with straws, or the aports type ones where she has to tip the whole bottle

dementedpixie · 11/08/2022 10:27

No way would I be dropping the formula when she isn't drinking during the day.

Have you tried an open cup or one with a straw? Ice lollies, well diluted juices, dairy free yoghurt, watery fruits would count towards fluid intake too

bloodywhitecat · 11/08/2022 10:31

We had to use a thickener for water as my little one can't cope with water or juices, it was spotted by his SaLT that he was inhaling fluids thinner than milk rather than swallowing them.

Seeline · 11/08/2022 10:31

Random idea - my 2 used to drink more of their bathwater than anything out of a cup! May be worth trying a bath toy to drink out of as a fun game?

jammiewhammie65 · 11/08/2022 10:34

Whatever she drinks the formula from at home send into nursery with the formula then she is drinking. Not water but they won't need to send her home as she has drink liquid.

Original poster

GlumBear · 11/08/2022 10:35

@Youcancallmeirrelevant We have tried water in a bottle - this was flatly refused after the first taste unfortunately We have also tried coconut milk as well (warm and cold) to see if that would work too but she just rejects it after she tastes it.

@Seeline She definitely does seem to like water in her mouth when she is in the bath - will definitely give this a try with one of the squirty toys maybe. Mainly she enjoys the splashing though ha

@dementedpixie we have tried all the cups - sippy (with and without vales) miracle cups, straw cups, open cups, bottles with handles/teats, our glass/flasks that we drink from - all unsuccessful. I will try anything anyone can suggest!

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Seeline · 11/08/2022 10:38

Or maybe give her a couple of different cups to play with in the bath and see if that gets her more used to them?

RedRobyn2021 · 11/08/2022 10:39

My daughter only started walking properly at 16 months, she was knee walking before that. And she is now 18 months and runs! So I am sure they are not judging you, all children develop at different rates.

Does your DD have water available with meals? Does she feed herself?

RedRobyn2021 · 11/08/2022 10:45

We always seem to be investing in new cups to encourage my daughter to drink water. She has a milk and an egg allergy so I understand that struggle.

Who often find if she gets a new cup it is a bit of a novelty and she will drink lots from it for a few days. We have loads of tommee tippee free flow cups, open cups, munchkin straw cups (they are silicone so you can clean the inside of the straw) and a nuk bottle.

If she won't drink water I sometimes give her some cold alpro growing up oat milk or we put some ice cubes in the water to make it cold. Also still breastfeeding at night. But we have been struggling with dry nappies some days lately too.

Don't recommend reducing her formula when she isn't drinking enough as it is

hewouldwouldnthe · 11/08/2022 10:48

She should be eating more foods now and relying less on formula. I would,try adding water to the formula making it weaker and weaker, so increasing the amount of water she drinks and slowly weaning away from formula. Surely nursery can give watered down formula?

hewouldwouldnthe · 11/08/2022 10:48

DS still won't touch water so we just give super diluted squash.

PritiPatelsMaker · 11/08/2022 10:49

Have you tried making her ice lollies with her formula as well?

SpaghettiSquash · 11/08/2022 10:59

You may well have tried it already but in case you haven't ...a doidy cup. My children loved them.

Original poster

GlumBear · 11/08/2022 11:52

@RedRobyn2021 she does feed herself yes - either with hands or a spoon. Good to hear your experience on walking - she is a bum shuffler if she is not trying to walk with us and seems quite happy which is probably one reason she has not been so desperate to walk.

@SpaghettiSquash got this one too - usually ends up with water all over her but might be good in the hot weather just now :)

She doesn't seem to love ice lollies - generally views the very cold wet thing with suspicion but I have tried this too. Thanks for all the suggestions so far - will try a few of these for sure.

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Rainbowbaby13 · 17/08/2022 17:29

My son wouldn't drink water so I just added a splash of sugar free squash he drinks plenty now

PritiPatelsMaker · 17/08/2022 17:52

How is your DD getting on now that it's cooled down a little @GlumBear?

Original poster

GlumBear · 17/08/2022 20:50

@PritiPatelsMaker She is happy enough - we have found that she will sip tiny amounts over a long period of time like when she is in the pram out for a walk.
She still struggles at nursery - we are now at risk of them giving her loads of sugar from pouches but she is not dehydrated at all.

@Rainbowbaby13 we tried this - we got a face but no more drank unfortunately :(

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poppet131 · 12/10/2023 10:48

@GlumBear Is your little one better at drinking water now? When did it all change? My one only takes tiny sips of water and often spits it all out. He’s only breastfeeding twice a day and I’m worried about him dehydrated (also a bottle refuser too and hates formula and cows milk)

Original poster

GlumBear · 12/10/2023 11:10

Hi @poppet131 - good news is that DD is much better at drinking now. She will drink throughout the day - I think the turning point was finding a cup she liked (the TUM TUM Koala cup) and she started drinking much better.

I definitely found that some cups flow was much too fast - she would choke sometimes using other cups and I think that definitely put her off drinking too much on that basis alone.

Definitely consider the sugar free squash - DD didn't like it but it may work for you too if the taste is an issue for your little one.

OP posts:

poppet131 · 12/10/2023 11:13

@GlumBear We have the tum tum cup too - again, he takes little sips and then spits it all out. Occasionally swallows the water. Did she suddenly drink lots of water from her new cup or was it a case of persevering? X

Original poster

GlumBear · 12/10/2023 11:19

Definitely just a case of persevering I'm afraid. I think it also helped that when she is at nursery that all the other kids were drinking too - when she started to actively notice she realised it was the done thing.

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