How can I get dd to drink?

[silverfrog]

I am at my wits end trying to get dd (2.10 and ASD) to drink anything. She will not drink at all. Ever.

I use a few different strategies to get liquid into her (lots of milk on her weetabix, has soup nearly every day for lunch, and at the moment she will eat satsumas so has 3/4 of those every day) but she absolutely refuses to drink anything.

I have tried various different cups (lidded/not lidded) straws etc, and if I'm lucky then they work for a while but then she just goes off drinking again. It is a real worry, especially with the summer coming up again.

There have been times when she has barely wee-d in 24hrs, and her nappies often smell awful as her wee is so concentrated.

Any ideas as to how I can get her to drink anything?

[Malaleche]

does she eat the soup with a spoon or drink it from a cup?
could you make a very weak juice or non-caffeinated tea and call it soup? Sorry have no idea what having ASD entails, maybe it wouldnt work for her...

[Malaleche]

FWIW as a child i hardly drank anything, as a bfeeding adult there are still days when it is the afetrnoon before i drink anything...

[gess]

god what a nightmare. Is there anything she really really likes, she might be a bit young but how about getting her favourite thing, holding it in front of her and saying "drink first then X" As soon as she takes a sip- even the tiniest one- giver her X. Then build up.

DS1 (severely autistic) understands "first X, then Y" now but I can't remember when he started to get it.

[magsi]

Try Jelly, its great being mainly water and you could get some silly moulds or something to encourage her.

[silverfrog]

THanks for replies. It is a total nightmare.

Malaleche - she eats her soup with a spoon as I put ripped up bread into it so it becomes semi-soid (well, mush anyway!). She won't entertain the idea of any liquid from a cup at all. I know what you mean about the not drinking thing - I'm the same (and also bfeeding!) but trying to make more of an effort so that dd at least sees me drinking...

Gess - she is getting there with the concept of "first X, then Y" and I used it to limited success with blueberries (one of her favourite things) but she just ended up putting the cup to her lips without drinking and expecting the blueberry - we just reached a total impasse as she is stubborn enough to just give up blueberries (or chocolate, or banana...)

I have tried most things - she used to drink water (not loads, but at least some), but have tried squash, milk (not a hope except on her weetabix) and smoothies (was ok for a while but now not again). Tbh I would very happily let her drink Coke if she wanted it! Maybe I should just try a Fruitshoot?

[silverfrog]

X-posted - have tried jelly, magsi, but she won't eat it

[popsycal]

I have no experience of ASD but - would she 'drink' with a spoon?

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Wil she have lollies silverfrog? You could make your own.

[magsi]

Lollies are a great idea, you could get some of those plastic ones you do yourself and make them with her or even fruit icecubes. I used to make lolly things by filling plastic bags with lemonade etc. and freezing them. Great fun and really messy for the kids.

[kreamkrackers]

ice lollies, a special cup that she picks herself in the shop, fancy straws, could the temperature of the drink be changed? slightly warm or cool water? do you go to any mums and tots groups that do a snack time? (my dd1 always tries to drink at these, she has a gastrostomy in).

[magsi]

p.s. nothing wrong with fruitshoots!! and they love them because you get them in McDonalds aswell

[silverfrog]

We're working on lollies, but she's not keen at the moment. The point I really want to get to is to have her drinking "real" liquids as she is doing ok-ish on the getting liquids form foods route.

I'll probably have to stick with the "drink first, then X" plan but I am wary of overuse, as she is so stubborn that she will just eliminate "X" from her diet rather than drink. She was doing ok (well, at least having an extra few sips of water) with that method but it is so long-winded and time consuming that its not so easy with a new baby.

Ho hum, back to the drawing board...

[silverfrog]

kreamkrackers - I could open a cup shop the number of different ones I've tried! If anything works, it does ofr a day or two and then the novelty wears off. This is the longest that she has gone without drinking though, and its now coming up to 2 months...

I had high hopes of the general "peer pressure" at toddler groups or nursery, but no, she's adament that she doesn't want to drink. If it weren't for the nearly dry nappies, I'd think that she just didn't want one...

[gess]

the 'x first then y" ime doesn't work for things they really really hate- because it's so hard to find something they like more than they hate the thing they're avoiding (for us it won't work to get ds1 to take fishoils or food supplements for example).

Ds1 won;t have ice lollies or jelly either (funny temps/textures). Would she drink from a flannel? I know it's not ideal but ds1 loves sucking on flannels and it would at least be a start.

[silverfrog]

I haven't actually tried sports bottles - tried straws and they failed so didn't bother, but she does seem to be becoming a "chewer" so she might take to it. Will have to get her to chew it without her realising it's a drink at first I reckon.

I like the flannel idea - if allowed, she would chew her comforter all day (restricted as when she has it permanently in her mouth I can't understand a word she says) so could well be worth trying.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions - always brilliant to get other people's lateral takes on tricky issues!

[essbeehindyou]

Message withdrawn

[Woooozle100]

We have this problem with our dd. She'll drink small amounts from a bottle but struggling with cups. Sometimes she will have bits of ice lolly when all else fails. I think you're doing all the right stuff in giving her liquidy foods.

We sometimes resort to syringing fluid into her. This is cack and only ever a last resort (she has hypoglycaemic episodes)

[r3dh3d]

I'd second the sports bottles - tried every cup on the planet (or so it seems) and DD1 won't drink out of anything else. We have the KOTG (Kids on the go) brand which you can get in Boots, big supermarkets etc. and comes in a small enough size for your DD. Even better for a "chewer", it has a very tough spout.

Other than that - I've found it goes in definite phases with DD1. When it's hot, she suddenly realises she is thirsty and goes from drinking virtually nothing to drinking pints and pints. So I guess keep offering at times she might normally refuse - just on the off chance.

[Jenkeywoo]

We have the same problem with dd2 who is 14 months - she drinks no more than two sips all day, has the same stinky wee nappies, could wear the same nappy for 24 hours in truth. Like you we've tried everything.. last week I noticed that after not drinking all day she was lapping up the dirty bath water out of the hair washing cup like a little doggie! so i have taken to filling up the hair washing cup with fresh water and lo and behold she pours down her throat whilst in the bath. I do really feel for you, I know how stressful it is spending all your time trying to get someone to drink.