Help, ideas to get a (somewhat) sick kid to drink

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Forum -> Children's Health

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WriterMom

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:02 pm

My 18 month old has a low fever and a bit of a rash, but very mild. Fifth disease has been going around our circles, so it might be that. He's in a good mood, no diarrhea, no signs of pain. So I'm not worried about his health in and of itself.

What worries me is that he won't drink. His urine was pretty dark this morning. I'm just really keen to get him well without taking him to a clinic or ER, if I can safely avoid it, because they're so backed up with the flu and heaven knows what he'd be exposed to there. Obviously if he gets dehydrated or something goes wrong I will.

But how can I get him to drink? I've tried everything - water, juice, milk (which I normally don't give when sick) gatorade, flat ginger ale ... he's just not interested. He's eating fairly well, not as much as usual but still not a bad amount. He isn't really verbal yet, so I can't really ask him what he wants to drink, beyond offering him everything, but he says no. He's also too young to reason with yet, or even really to bribe.

Any suggestions? If he were drinking and peeing more I wouldn't really worry at all, because he has no signs of anything serious.

smiley:)

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:07 pm

a special cup/straw

Mimisinger

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:08 pm

Ice pops! The junkier the better.

Mimisinger

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:08 pm

It brings down the fever and is fun. Just put down a dropcloth.

BeershevaBubby

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:13 pm

Jello and ices.

amother

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:26 pm

Try giving fluids in everything from bottle to sippy cup to regular cup. If he really won't take you can put water or fluids in a medicine dropper and give that way.

fiddle

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:27 pm

pedialyte ices

abismommy

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 12:33 pm

pedialyte makes an apple flavor. the only thing my dd drank when she had a stomach virus last year.

MiamiMommy

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 1:19 pm

I give my kids ices when they're sick too. I also make the ones you make yourself from juice.

ruth

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 1:32 pm

think outside the box: the idea is to get the child to have fluids, it doesn't have to be a sweet drink. It can be broth too. (My dd preferred salty to sweet so I gave her miso soup with a little acidophilous powder added.) A gruel made out of rice or oatmeal is good. Make it very watery. This can be made sweet or salty

If the child's bowels aren't on the loose side you can even try melon or othe high water content fruit.

gelatin (jello) is good too.

chaylizi

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 1:36 pm

fiddle wrote:

pedialyte ices

pedialyte ices are gross. I tasted them once because I was trying to get my dd to eat one. I stopped buying them after that. I give them the regular pedialyte & ice pops that they'll actually eat.

anonymom

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 9:57 pm

You did not say if he drinks bottles, but sucking may be painful for whatever reason.

Did you try a drink box with a straw? If he has never used a straw before, you have to squeeze the box so it goes in his mouth till he gets the hang of it.

ShakleeMom

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 10:30 pm

abismommy wrote:

pedialyte makes an apple flavor. the only thing my dd drank when she had a stomach virus last year.

yes, it's like apple juice!!! and dd gulped it last time she was sick. This time though, she has a bug for 11 days now. She drinks very little (like 4 oz a day) and eats nothing, and throws up a few times a day. But she has 2 wet diapers a day (today only 1) and although its terrifying, I'm holding on to my sanity for now.

abismommy

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 11:19 pm

ShakleeMom wrote:

abismommy wrote:

pedialyte makes an apple flavor. the only thing my dd drank when she had a stomach virus last year.

out of curiosity, where did you find it? I found only 1 store near me that had it & they closed recently... Sad

ShakleeMom

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 11:36 pm

abismommy wrote:

ShakleeMom wrote:

abismommy wrote:

pedialyte makes an apple flavor. the only thing my dd drank when she had a stomach virus last year.

out of curiosity, where did you find it? I found only 1 store near me that had it & they closed recently... Sad

2 pharmacies had it.

twerpz

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 11:45 pm

ShakleeMom wrote:

abismommy wrote:

pedialyte makes an apple flavor. the only thing my dd drank when she had a stomach virus last year.

A bug for 11 days? I hope she gets better

ShakleeMom

Tue, Nov 03 2009, 11:48 pm

twerpz wrote:

ShakleeMom wrote:

abismommy wrote:

pedialyte makes an apple flavor. the only thing my dd drank when she had a stomach virus last year.

A bug for 11 days? I hope she gets better

It's absolutely terrifying. She lost a lot of weight, is listless... today she babbbled for like 2 minutes and we celebrated. she's been silent for so long! even her hair has no stamina to curl, I kid you not. I must see a change cuz I'm plotzing.

ShakleeMom

Fri, Nov 06 2009, 10:19 am

B'h my baby got over it, and is now getting back on track. What we did to survive was just constantly pushing the bottle into her mouth (warmed tea with sugar) and in a day she drank total 4 oz. probably. As long as the diaper is wet....

Annie

Fri, Nov 06 2009, 10:59 am

jello, popsicles, I made a powerade slushie for my daughter. if you have to syringes with small amounts work too.

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