Q&A: baby who won't drink anything

Before we go on to the question, does anyone know how to get iron drop (like Polyvisol) stains out of fibers like clothes and carpets? A couple of people have written in to ask me, and I have no idea. The only thing I can think of is trying a rust remover, but don't know if that would work (or if it would ruin the carpet).

Now on to the question. Mrs. Gryphon writes:

"I've searched your archives, and I don't see anything that addresses my concern with our almost-10-month-old.  She was breastfed exclusively for the first 6 weeks, then I pumped and/or she had formula on the odd occasions that I was away.  She was great at taking a bottle, and never had any issues that way.  We waited until she was 6 months to start introducing solids, which she loooooves.  She is a great little eater, and eats a wide variety of foods now.  The problem lies in the fact that she started self-weaning at 8 months (pushing me away and crying when I tried to feed during the day - she still breastfed at bedtime and in the morning, sometimes I could sneak one in if she was tired enough before her nap!).  I'm not concerned that she's weaning since she's the one dictating it BUT she refuses to drink anything from a sippy cup, a regular cup or even a bottle now.  She only has 3 heavy wet diapers a day, and I know she's not getting enough fluids!  We've tried cold formula, warm formula, room-temperature formula, water, watered-down juice.  We've tried spooning it into her mouth (works for about a 1/2 ounce and then she sticks her tongue out and we can't get the spoon in there anymore!), have tried several different types of sippy cups, with and without the valve sealed.  We've tried plastic cups, glass cups, plastic water bottles... I'm stumped.  Please help :)"

It is my guess that this is a temporary thing that's got everything to do with developmental spurts and new skills. I predict that she'll be back to drinking within a few weeks.

In the meantime, try two things. The first is letting her drink out of a regular cup/glass with a straw. You'll need 3-4 straws, so she can play with a few and can drink out of one. Try whatever beverage she'll take. Sometimes plain seltzer water will fool kids into drinking because the bubbles are so unnerving and fun. The hope is that she'll be so tricked into thinking she's grown up or so excited by the straw and real glass that she'll forget to refuse to drink.

The other thing is feeding her as many water-rich foods as you can. Cucumber, watermelon, grapes, etc. all day long. The problem is probably either that she doesn't like the sensation of the liquid or she's refusing to drink on principle, and feeding her foods with a lot of water in them should sidestep both those issues.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Comments

[amy]

My tot was on iron drops for anemia for a long time, and the only things I discovered about the stains were that there is no substitute for prevention and that apples makes them worse.

If I had mixed the drops with applesauce to get it in her, then it got on anything, a stain was certain. I tried cold water, warm water, stain treatments, CLR (it or excessive scrubbing did mild damage on an all-cotton bib), but nothing worked. Ever.

Once, I was determined to get a blob of "ironsauce" out of some cute jammies, so I took the jammies to the sink immediately. As the water rinsed the sauce off the fabric, I watched the oval mark turn from apple color to dark, charcoal grey. It was almost instantaneous, and it never left.

Good luck. I'm eager to hear if anyone else had better luck with anything other than stripping a child before administering drops or coating the entire house in plastic during said administration.

[holly]

My guy went through this too at about the same age! (Except that he still nursed. But, he would not drink anything else and when he started on solids he had some constipation issues. The doc said to give him water.) Sometimes he would take water from a spoon, but it was a painfully slow process which gave him very little intake. Our best bet was just as Moxie said, using a straw. At first he did not know/understand the sucking part. We had to use the staw "dropper style." We would put the straw in the water, cover the top with a finger, pull the straw out of the glass, put the open end into his open mouth (we thought he was like a little bird at this time,) and then removed the finger to release the water. We started with very small amounts at first until he could handle more. It was suprising how much more we could get in this way! Moxie is right though, you need to have several straws available for play! He soon began using a straw the "normal" way. He later learned to use a sippy cup, but I prefer the straw. Good luck!
Speaking of Poly-vi-sol...do they make any vitamins for little ones that don't smell and taste so bad? After about 2 days, my guy said, "Hell No!" to that. A crow bar couldn't get that into his mouth! Definitely NOT a little bird with those vitamin drops! And mixing it into food didn't work - he could smell it! :)

[parodie]

Rather random vegetable fact: apparently, the highest water-to-weight ratio in vegetables is found in ... radishes. Yes, higher than watermelon (at least according to my university chemistry prof).

[Mary]

I can't help with the iron drops, but I have two comments on the liquids issue.

My older kid (eight) drinks very little. She doesn't pee very often, either. She's been like this as long as I can remember. And she's fine. She has gorgeous skin. (Her paternal grandmother is not big on liquids, either, so I blame weirdo genes.) Since she seems fine, I try not to push it too hard. I try to get a 1/2 cup of liquid in her before school, and about 1/2 cup in her at dinner, I assume she drinks something at school, and then usually has a small drink of water before bed. Whereas I think I must drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. I loves me some water.

The other comment is that if you're really freaked about the lack of liquids, and not nearly as freaked about junk food, ice cream, jello, pudding and popsicles all have lots of liquid in them!

[sweetisu]

Two nights ago our 3.5 yr old son spilt half a bottle (yep a $5 spill) of his baby sister's polyvisol on my rocking chair. Needless to say, I was upset. I immediately took the cushion cover off and put it into the washer with other laundry. The stain came off. I took a washcloth and rubbed the hell out of the other spots on the chair. And it came off, granted, the fabric is microfiber. In my experiences, I have found that if I put the affected fabric into contact with (warm/hot) water IMMEDIATELY then there is a bigger chance that the iron stain will come off. If I waited for it to dry even a little bit, forget it.

About your little one not wanting any liquid.. could you make ice cubes of whatever it is you want to give her, and then supervise her sucking on the ice. OR put the ice into the little mesh bag thingy (the name of it escapes me) that you can buy at the store. It has a handle and a small mesh bag attached. It is supposedly for strawberries / apples / oranges / meats and whatnots so they can gnaw at it but won't choke. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I will get the name when I think of it.

[Lala]

My eight month old enjoys sucking on a wet facecloth when I wash her face. She does that a few times a day. It's not a lot of water but I guess it's a neat sensation.

[Nancy]

To me it sounds like the kid is rebelling against a mother who is obsessing about her fluid intake. 3 heavy wet diapers a day (which makes it sound like she's got some light wet diapers too) is fine! Her kidneys are dealing, I think the less done the better. People get pretty much enough fluids in their food anyway. This obsession with fluid intake is a very modern thing, and isn't backed up by science.

[Tabetha]

All of my 4 babies went through a time of pushing me away as they neared 9 months. I just tried as often as possible and within a few weeks, they were back to nursing normally again.

Also, it sounds like she is getting plenty of fluids. You said that she is doing 3 heavy wet diapers a day. As long as she is a little wet every 6 hours, she is getting enough. I have been told this by a doctor on several occasions. Just keep offering a cup and trying some of the suggestions from other comments and try to nurse as much as possible if you want to continue breastfeeding. But don't stress over it. It sounds to me like you are doing a great job!! Just hang in there!

[Bobbi]

My son Jack did this at 7 months old. He was a bottle fed baby at the time, and refused to drink ANYTHING from a bottle, cup, whatever. We tried all kinds of cups to no avail. I ended up feeding him a ton of watery stuff - cream of wheat made with milk/formula, watery cereal, watery fruit. It lasted until his first birthday, when he decided that a sippy cup was the coolest thing ever. He was my challenge, let me tell you.

On a maybe unrelated note, we discovered later that he had oral-motor issues that necessitated early intervention for a speech delay. I think one thing had a lot to do with the other, but I'll never be sure. Just something to watch out for in the future...

Good luck! It's frustrating, I know...

[pnuts mama]

we went through something similar w/ pnut before she figured out the sippy cup, i too was obsessed with getting enough fluids into her as she cut back nursing/increased solids/became somewhat constipated. i drink water out of those poland spring sport bottles (24 oz w/the squirt top) and pnut always wanted what i was drinking, so i decided to give her water that way: i'd hold the bottle, only open the squirt top about 1/3 to 1/2 the way up, and tilt the bottle into her mouth. she loved it! it took a while for her to figure out the swallowing thing, and then the sucking from the top thing.

then i got smart and bought the 1/2 pint version (you can get a pack of 12 at bigger supermarkets) and after running my used tops through the dishwasher, let her start to hold the smaller bottles and do it herself. you have to watch, though, if they squeeze the bottle or tip it it will spill, which is fine in the summer when it's hot but not so much now. i would just hold the bottle for her and help her figure it out. one thing, i don't use those new "kids water with fluoride" bottle b/c you can't remove the tops (fine for older kids but a baby isn't going to screw off the top esp. if you are supervising) and the tops have ridges on them, which i thought was too rough for her to use, i like the regular tops that are smooth, but that of course is your choice. plus then you can re-use the bottles a bunch of times til they get crunchy when you squeeze them, then recycle the bottle. we live in nyc so the tap water is not an issue, but if your tap water is gross you could just buy the water in the bottle.

oh, and we used this system for milk, too, not just water. we also offered the sippy all the time while this was going on as well. we use the playtex first sipster with the rubber handles and rubber top, it's the only sippy i've found so far that doesn't spill. it took maybe a month or two to get her to really get the hang of the sippy, which the occupational therapist said was completely within the range of normal. good luck!

p.s. for the stain thing- we use z-out with pretty good success for blood and red wine. also, when i was in college i had a photo-chemical specific stain remover that was awesome, but again i don't know if it would work for iron-based stains.

[Laura]

RE: Iron stains... maybe try RIT Rust Remover? Or even RIT color remover...

If the issue is not, in fact, the *iron* but rather the suspension fluid it is in, maybe re-activating the dried stain with either more of the same thing or with some WD-40 and THEN trying to remove it might work.

That might sound crazy, but seriously-- I got butter-spots out of several of my daughter's shirts by spraying the spots with WD-40, then using Dawn to remove the grease spot. Completely worked. I have also reactivated stains with the same thing again (notably, dried chocolate syrup) and then addressed the "fresh" stain as usual (cold water, stain spray in that case) and it worked. BUT-- once a stain has been thru the dryer the only thing that has ever worked for me was using RIT color remover or RIT rust remover.

Good luck!

[Kim-Anh]

My son first took to drinking out of a cup by using a Nuby (Luv N Care) Flip 'N Sip cup - it's a cup with a no-drip, silicone straw attached (it flips down for storage, hence the name). The novelty of the cup really helped introduce him to a different way of drinking, and it didn't take much sucking to bring the liquid up the straw.

Here is a photo of the product:
http://www.etoys.com/genProduct.html?PID=4722084&ctid=17

He still loves this sippy cup!

[Leah]

I'm SO glad someone wrote in about this because my son has been doing this for 6 weeks or so. I considered too that I was obsessing about this but everything I read says his 10.5 mo diet should be primarily breastmilk/formula - and he's doing good if he gets 8 ounces of anything in him during the day. But food? You can feed him all day long (anything) and he's fine with that. He'll want a pre-dinner nursing, then a 4 ounce bottle of breastmilk/formula after dinner/bath then nurse to sleep. I change maybe two really soaked diapers a day...he has more changes than that but not really soaked. He starting to have trouble with constipation so I'm having to really push juice/water on him. All the fancy sippies don't make a difference, if he will drink it's from an old fashioned sipper that leaks everywhere when tipped. It's frustrating and worrisome; I'm hoping this is a stage that will pass soon. And for stains - I have good luck with oilbased stains by rubbing a bar of Ivory soap on the spots. Iron spots? I've never had luck w/that. Other baby stains come out if I mix a strong slurry of Oxiclean into a bucket of hot water and let 'em soak.

[Jan]

There's a product out there called "iron out" -- maybe that would work on the spots?

No idea about the fluids except that if your kid doesn't seem to be experiencing any negative effects from it, maybe don't worry about it too much?

Jan

[Jen]

My kiddo is doing the same thing, and has been for awhile. The only difference is that she will actually take a sippy cup, but getting her to willingly drink is another story. Same with a bottle. And nursing only goes over well in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.

In any case, the way I got her to handle the sippy cup (A Gerber 2 handled cup) was to give her the sippy with water ALL THE TIME. Think of it as a toy. She played around with it and got LOTS of praise when she successfully managed to get something out of it. We tried a ton of different cups until we found one that she liked.

I did find that her knowing how to use it was almost like a switch being flipped. One day, no idea... the next? She was a pro.

The three heavy wet diapers sounds like she's doing fine. There's a possibility that she's just getting plenty in the times that she nurses, or even from her food.

As long as she's not lethargic, with a dry mouth, or dry eyes, and she keeps making wet diapers, I think she's fine. Keep monitoring her diapers and know that she'll get the hang of the sippy soon!

Apparently, some kids don't drink a lot. Maybe we have some of those?

[Kristina]

OXICLEAN! My daughter (7 months on thursday) was on the Iron drops until recently and I spilled it on EVERYTHING. I pretreat everything with Oxiclean and then wash it. For reallyy bad stains I pretreat with oxiclean and tide then wash it asap.

Good luck.

[T]

Damn, I thought I was finally going to be able to contribute something, but Kristina beat me to it - yes, oxi clean (spray) gets everything out.

[amy]

As I re-read this, I'm considering the idea about the difference in suspension liquids. Maybe the brand of the iron drops matters more than I previously thought it did. Our pediatrician had us using Fer In Sol (sp?) by Enfamil, not Polyvisol.

[mrsgryphon]

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! I have a few new ideas to try ... and, although I really do think of myself as pretty relaxed for a new mom, I'll try not to get to the 'obsessive' point about the fluids!! :)

[hedra]

Just another note on the fluids - color is another cue to dehydration. If the urine is pale or clear, odds are good things are just fine. One of my twins only soaked 2-3 diapers at that age, and it seems that she tends toward her mommy's bladder (noted for volume, LOL!). She doesn't pee often, but she pees plenty when she does, and her diapers only rarely have a color shift. If she pees outside the diaper, it generally looks like a water spill, not like cheap apple juice.

If the urine is a definite yellow or yellow-brown, that's when it is too concentrated and more fluids are needed. The same is true for adults. Pale yellow is fine, dark yellow and you need to get more fluids in. Better than counting ounces, as far as I know!

You can also try adding a little water to pureed foods. They will be sloppier, but if it is just fluid content you're looking for, that may help.

[cagey]

My son would never take a botte, so we tried to move to sippy cups with limited success. However, straws have been our savior. Regular straws work well and I have invested in the Playtex strawed sippy cups as well. Also, I use Rubbermaid sippy cups, but they have to be used with supervision because they are not spill proof. However, watching my son chug-a-lug water is worth it because I've had the same concerns as the reader who wrote in.

I like the suggestion of the seltzer water because it made me feel less silly for the fact that our 13 month old son LOVES Perrier. I thought that was strange, but apparently not! :-)

[Sarah]

I can't be grateful enough for this blog. Although I haven't tried any of the recommendations, it is nice to know that we aren't the only ones with this problem!

Our 11 month old just started her drinking strike and we are just freaking out. It's pretty bad that we are so obsessed over her intake when she is eating well and happy as usual.

So far the sippy cup is just a toy to her and she loves it when I drip liquids into her mouth with a straw. I guess I haven't really given her straw trying enough patience...she just puts the straw in her mouth with a pouty look of "now what?" I am sure that it will all work out - as it somehow always does.

Thanks everyone!

[Renana]

My 8th month baby did the same thing a few weeks after we started on solids. the only solution I found was giving her a bottle right before she went to sleep at night or took a nap. I even tried feeding her while she was already asleep, which worked sometimes (my doctor said there is no problem doing that as long as the baby is not lying down). This improved somewhat at this stage, but she still takes a bottle only before naps. I was very worried for a few weeks, but hearing about other babies that react in the same way really reasured me that it's just a stage! if the baby's doing good and happy, it's really OK!

[Jennifer]

I'm so glad I found this blog. After lots of searching it seems as though my problem is not uncommon. In the past 5 days my DS, who is 9 months old, is refusing all liquids. He would much prefer food. When he cries it's for food. The only way I can get formula into him is to mix his cereal with it in the morning. The Dr said not to worry, he'll get his required liquids from fruits & veggies & if he's eating dairy & meat he'll be fine (he eats everything & anything lol). His food intake has skyrocketed just lately & for the first time in 9 months he is sleeping thru the night without a bottle. Seems my DS just can't have a liquid diet. Now I guess I shouldn't worry. Even though he's not having a bottle at all, even before bed, his diaper is still soaked in the morning so he must be peeing out something.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one.

Oh ya, & sippys are ok for us, but he'll only drink a max of 1 oz at a time from it. I'm not sure if this is a bottle strike or a formula strike, he's never been into formula really, right from day 1.

[Jennifer]

I'm so glad I found this blog. After lots of searching it seems as though my problem is not uncommon. In the past 5 days my DS, who is 9 months old, is refusing all liquids. He would much prefer food. When he cries it's for food. The only way I can get formula into him is to mix his cereal with it in the morning. The Dr said not to worry, he'll get his required liquids from fruits & veggies & if he's eating dairy & meat he'll be fine (he eats everything & anything lol). His food intake has skyrocketed just lately & for the first time in 9 months he is sleeping thru the night without a bottle. Seems my DS just can't have a liquid diet. Now I guess I shouldn't worry. Even though he's not having a bottle at all, even before bed, his diaper is still soaked in the morning so he must be peeing out something.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one.

Oh ya, & sippys are ok for us, but he'll only drink a max of 1 oz at a time from it. I'm not sure if this is a bottle strike or a formula strike, he's never been into formula really, right from day 1.

[Aditi]

I have a 6month old who is not drinking much liquids. I breastfed him for 4 months and he never took the bottle with expressed milk or formula. At 4 months I stopped nursing and started feeding him with a sippy cup. He will drink 1 or 2 oz. and then prefers food. He does not even seem to like cereal made with formula, but will eat fruits and other sweet things just fine. We introduced solids at 4 month because he seemed to sleep better with solids, but even at that age he would not eat the vegetables an only ate the sweet foods. I manage to get 16oz of formula via cereal in a day. Now that he has begun refusing cereal I am not sure how I will get the formula in him. He also has a milk protein allergy, so I am not sure what other ways to supplement his nutrition.

I am really very concerned and am taking him to see a G.I doctor soon.

[shoobu]

So glad to know i'm not alone. My 1 yr old has been on a liquid strike since her 1 yr. birthday. She went from drinking tons of water and formula to maybe getting in 2 or 3 oz. of water a day. She won't take it from a bottle, cup, straw, sports bottle nothing.... She is still pooping and giving me barely wet diapers. I hope this stage passes soon...

[Karinda]

My 9 month old will not drink anything but water. I messed up and gave her a few drinks out of a water bottle and now she won't take formula from a bottle, a sippy cup (with and w/o the inserts) or a regular cup. All she will take other than breastfeeding is water from a regular cup. I am worried that her not taking in additional nutrition from the formula. Does anything else have this problem? About the stain in the carpet, try shaving cream and a scrubber, or try a mixture of 1 part non colored Mr Clean and 1 part hot water and a real stiff bristle brush.

[Lea]

My five month old has always been a fussy feeder. She has never taken to a bottle and when she was about three months old she started to refuse to suck feed. She is a very petite baby (on the bottom third percentile). She is gaining weight each week but the doctors would like to see her gain much more. We now have to feed her expressed breast milk with a spoon. She is growing but am concerned that she is only getting half of the fluid intake she requires.

Does anyone else have a small baby that refuses to suck feed?

[Angela]

Thank goodness, I am not alone. My son is eight months old and he only breastfeeds at his nap and before he goes to bed. a couple of days ago he quit wanting to nurse at those times too. I pumped and gave him breastmilk in a sippy cu (he hates bottles and just chews on the nipple). He drank some of it, but was only about six ounces.

I see on all the charts that he is supposed to have 6 ounces at each meal are any of your babies drinking that much? My little one does not.

[Lakshmi]

Hi

I am having similar problems with my 5 month old. From the time he turned 3 months old, he has refused to breast feed. He only feeds from me when he is sleeping in the night. Also he refuses take the bottle. We used to spoon feed him. But now he has started to refuse that also. We have tried to start him on the veggies so that we can get something into him. But he refuses that also. Anything we try to feed, he closes his mouth. He is constantly crying. He has about one heavy diaper a day. I am really worried. Can anyone please help.

[S]

I'M SO glad I found this too! I'm not alone! My baby stopped wanting the bottle/sippy/cup/you name it at about 6.5 months. He is now almost 8 months and still refuses to drink. On a 'good' day I'm able to get into his system 18 oz. The only time he would take milk from the bottle is in the first feeding int he morning...but even that has been a struggle lately. I worry about him being dehydrated...but he eats solids (an avg eater)...so I guess nothing to worry about?

For those who had gone through this before...does it end!???

[Jen]

My 10-month old's interest in drinking has never been great - the max he ever drank was about 25 oz a day, then around 6 months it dropped to about 20 oz...but now we're lucky if we can get 12 oz in him per day. He seems to really dislike formula. I've started to mix half whole milk with the formula.. it seems to help a little. But the ped said not to worry - he's growing and he likes to eat...guess some kids just aren't big drinkers.

[Rachel]

My 9 mth kiddo has bunch of food issues. He is breastfed and eats #2 baby food very well so I am not worried about nutrition. But he will not drink any liquids at all. At 6 mths old he drank from a cup very well, then one day he just said No! No formula, water or juice. I have tried every cup imaginable: regular cups, every variety of sippy, bottles, and yes even straws. He just hates liquids unless he is nursing. He loves to play with his cups and prefers to bang them on the table than to take a sip. But if I try to hold it up to his lips for him to drink he throws a fit, so I try every now and then but I don't want to force him because I think it will just make the situation worse. He is a very sensitive child and the smallest thing launches a fit of crying so I am very frustrated, but I try to keep a happy attitude when we are feeding him with lots of praise and goofy songs. Nothing seems to work. On top of all of that he has a really bad gag reflex. I have been trying to feed him some stage 3 foods but they always end up gagging him, he throws up and ends up in tears. The only finger foods he will eat are bread based. Ex: cheerios, biter biscuits & puffs. I continue to offer a variety of other finger foods at every meal Ex: steamed veggies and soft fruits. But now he won't even put them in his mouth. I don't know what to do. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Heidi]

My 10-month old son has barely been drinking any formaul anymore either. He's been doing this for almost a month now. The big problem is, he won't drink during the day and then wants to drink in the middle of the night or extremyl eraly in the morning. He won't let us get him on a sort fo a schedule and he used to do just fine. He'd sleep 12 hours a night. We just can't seem to get him to drink during the day and don't want to deprive him and have him scream all night long from hunger/thirst. We've been going out of our minds and don't know how to fix it.

[mrsgryphon]

Just thought I would update... our daughter (subject of the original question!) finally learned to drink from a Nuby sports bottle at about 14 months. That means she went 6 months drinking virtually nothing (most days only breastfeeding for a couple of minutes in the morning, and maybe once for a few minutes in the night). She was 100% weaned just after her 1st birthday, and we spent a lot of time and money trying different cups/straws/bottles. Nothing worked until we went to visit a friend who's little girl was drinking milk from a bottle. Our girl thought it was sooooo funny, and started pretending to drink out of an empty bottle, laughing the whole time. When we got home, we gave her a Nuby "sport" bottle with a silicone straw, and she tipped it up and drank 6-8 oz right away. We haven't had a problem since.

Now she's 2 and loves apple juice, milk and chocolate milk, and even eats almost anything as long as she can "dip-dip" it in ketchup! I've also learned to trust her a little more - some days she'll eat 3 solid meals, the next day I can barely convince her to eat a cracker. She knows when she's hungry/thirsty and will eat or drink when she needs to. I guess for those 6 months back then, she just wasn't thirsty, and there's not really anything else that we could have done.

I so appreciate you, Moxie, and this community of commenters. I know that having my question posted here gave me some peace and perspective, and I appreciated all of the comments (even the one that implied I was obsessing!). I also wanted to respond to Bobbi's comment about the relation to oral-motor skills and speech delay. I can't say that the two are related for sure in our case either, but our girl just turned 2 and has really only started "talking" in the last month. She would probably be considered mildly delayed in terms of the number of words she has in her vocabulary, but she's catching up quickly now. She's always been very expressive and eager to communicate, but she just couldn't seem to make the words or sounds until very recently. Is there a connection? I don't know, but something to think about, anyway!

[Belinda]

Well I thought it was just my baby with drinking problems, she has just turned 1. My baby was not very good on the breast & has been a small drinker on the bottle & due to her having reflux & a few other probs she is on a special formula. Since the 29th of Jan 08 & was sick with a sore throat she has refused to drink, she ended up in hospital on a drip & almost 2 weeks later at home she is barely drinking, her main sorce of liquid is from food, fruit & lots of fruit gels. I have tried cups, straws, bottle, milk, cordial, juice, water, I have even emptied out a fizzy can & put liquid in that. My Dr said just keep an eye on her nappies & she should be ok & it will pass. I find it very annoying that I can't get her to drink, I thought maybe she could be linking it with a sore throat or her reflux as she does choke & cough alot. I don't know it's just a big frustrating waiting game. Any suggestions would be great & I'm glad I'm not the only one with a non drinking baby. My email is bel.2381@yahoo.com.au

[Nancy]

I am so glad I found this blog as well. It has made me feel like my 9.5 month old is normal even when all my girlfriends kids did not seem to have this problem. My little girl breastfeeds for only a few minutes at wake up and then again before bed and won't have anything during the day. I had tried (same as the person who originated this question) every sippy cup, bottle, temperature, formula, breastmilk, cow's milk, water, juice, etc. etc. and was feeling really frustrated. It would seem like something might work for a day or two and then she would go on strike again. She seems happy and healthy but when you read books telling you they should be drinking 17 to 30 oz a day and your little one is maybe getting 8oz., it will freak you out. I even read that they need specifically milk for their brain development and that got me real nervous but if all your little ones seem to be doing fine, then I will finally relax a little. The multiple straws in a cup thing has worked for today. I hope it continues. Thank you for posting that suggestion!!

[Shauna]

This is such a reassuring blog site for me. I have a daughter that just turned a yr old. She is literally not drinking anything right now! I weaned her from breastfeeding a couple of weeks ago. She never took a bottle, so she is resistant to any cups, bottles, etc. But I was getting her to drink from a straw for awhile. But for some reason the last week or two she just pushes any sort of drink away. Luckily, she is still having wet diapers, but I don't know what to do. I am glad to read that this is more common of a problem than I thought. It makes me not feel so alone with my frustration & worry as a parent.

[Wombat]

We also have a huge problem with my 5 and a half months old baby. He is refusing bottle at all (it started about 3 weeks ago, and went from bad to worse). Basically, he isnt having anything liquid. Not only milk, but also water, prine juice, just juice, anything what is in the bottle. He pushes the bottle away, and if you are trying to force it on him he starts screaming. The only time when you can make him have at least something is when he is asleep or half asleep.

He is on solids, and I had to get from one meal a day to 3 meals, because otherwise he would starve. By the way, he is absolutely fine with solids and loves them!

We tried everything, not giving any food at all, hoping he will get hungry and just eat eat whatever we will give him (didnt work, he went 6 hours with no food, when we offered him bottle, and he was really hungry, I could see it, he did his usual stuff, so I had to give him puree), he was on Avent bottles all the time, since he started doing this we tried Tommee Tippee, Breastflow from Mothercare, ans a cheap one from Tesco, made no difference, still refusing, tried 2 different baby cups (one avent, one tommee tippee with silicone top), result-none. I also tried another formula (He was on C&G comfort 1, tried Comfort 2, C&G just one, Aptamil)-no result.

I am getting really desperate. As I said, it started about 3 weeks ago, but then he was having at least some formula and I could trick him in having liquids, but the last 2 days was a complete nightmare. Yesterday he had 2 solid meals and at most! 9oz of milk, today-since 5am at most 7oz!(he had 4 solid meals though, in the morning porrige with baby fromage frais (i had to get it because I am simply worried he is not getting enought calcium just from purees), in the lunchtime-broccoli puree, as a tea-apple puree, and before going to bed-fromage frais. Before each meal I offered milk-result was screaming, so I just had to give up!

As a note, he is absolutely healthy, no fever, we were thinking it is teething, so we put some teething jel on-still nothing. He seems to be very happy with himself and isnt bothered about anything. Isnt constipated and hasnt got diarreah.

I am just so worried he will get dihydrated. And that he is not having enought minerals without formula (or any liquids).

By the way, last night he was waking up every hour, and my guess is that he was hungry, but when I offered milk he refused up untill 5 am, when he evetually had 3oz

[Carla]

My just turned a year old and went on the drinking strike!!!! I keep telling myself that since he doesn't act any different that he is fine, but you know us moms - we worry!!!! He does like to drink from a real cup and a regular straw - he was drinking fine from a sippy cup w and w/o a straw, but no longer. I think he wants to not have to suck as hard to get the drink??? And he wants to show mom that he doesn't have to do what she wants him to do - drink!!! I will keep trying the straw thing but use multiple ones this time. Thanks everyone for letting me know I'm not alone!

Also, if our kids aren't big drinkers now, maybe they won't be when they turn 21- hahaha

[Jacquie]

Just wanted to let you know I have found the solution to my 10mth old's fluid strike. Everyday at lunch time he gets a big bowl of homemade jelly. I make this with watered down fruit juice or just plain boiled water. Its mixed with a little bit of yogurt (for taste) and he loves it. I'll also give him jelly with crushed fruit for snacks. I even make it up in screw top jars and take it with us when we go out through the day. Jelly IS a godsend !! Just a hint- serve it at room temp, its more likely to be gobbled up !

[Anna]

My daughter was freaking me out when she fell into the 5th percentile for weight at 9 months and would barely eat, hardly drink formula and only want to nurse. I knew my milk supply was waning and I was tired of nursing but wary of weaning completely if that was the only thing she gladly consumed. Turns out she has acid reflux! We started giving her liquid Zantac twice a day in addition to finding Born Free bottles. These bottles saved the day and are easy for her to drink formula out of since she doesn't have to strain with the no-spill vacuum that most sippys have. She is consistently drinking 20 oz. of formula a day now; it is my top priority now get her to finish them, and it's not easy! But she seems to be gaining again which is a HUGE relief. Now if only she'd eat more!