Sick and won't drink!

[amberj]

Peter has a cold and its been getting worse as the day wears on. He just isn't interested in eating (wouldn't even eat an arrowroot- must be unwell!!). Problem is, he also has diahreah <sp?> and he isn't drinking much of his bottles. We have never been successful in getting him to drink water, juice or anything else from either a bottle or a sippy cup so his only liquid is the formula.

If this continues tomorrow, I am going to be worried about dehydration- at what point do I need to be really concerned? Any tips on getting any other liquid into him??

[~clover~]

Could you try water straight out of a cup. There have been times when DS was the same & I would let him drink out of a normal cup, or glass with my help. The novelty helped.
DS was hospitalised before christmas as he was really low on wet nappies. He wasn't vomitting, no diarrhea, just a virus & not feeding. He was off with a fever for about 24 hours when I took him to the ER. He was in hospital for 2 days.
If his nappies drop I'd take him straight in. I think we had 2 in about 12 hours & no feeds.

[Pandora]

hydrolyte - they have icy poles, a liquid drinka nd sachets you can mix up, at the pharmacy

[Visitor7]

Don't worry about the food at the moment, and if he isn't having his bottles, then do what you can to get either water or hydrolyte into him, like the others have suggested.
Keep an eye on his nappies, if he's not having many wet nappies in the next 12-24 hours and refusing water and/or hydrolyte, then get him to a dr or ed.

[Nelle]

Will he drink from a cup? Milk? Chocolate milk? Cordial?

[Kazbah]

maybe teach him to "clink" glasses and have a sip of drink? It works for m son when he won't take liquids normally - we "tink" and sip, "tink" and sip lots.

[Emma1979]

my dd was admitted to hospital for dehydration when she had severe gastro.... she also never really drank anything else other than milk or water....

i have a suggestion... (i'm not sure how old your son is, so not sure how easy this will be...).... get the little 'dropper' thingi you get with baby panadol and the likes, and fill it with water and give it to him every now and then, just as if you were giving him medicine....

now at 2 years old there is no way in hell i can get her to have medicine (unless i was to hold her down) but you might have more luck....

don't worry about him not eating, they don't need to eat.... put the food thing out of your mind completely...

in hospital my dd did let me wet her lips and tongue with an orange elctrolyte icypole, which helped a little..... but she still had to go on a drip....

good luck...

is he moving around and generally responding and pretty right?? its when they are just lying on the floor listless and not really responding and just absolutely miserable and lifeless that is a sign to go to hospital for some help with hydration....

[Chocaholic]

One thing that worked for me was a wet face-washer. DS1 would suck on it as the moisture wet his mouth and at least got a little bit of water down his throat.

Also, just the water icy-poles from the supermarket worked as well. This was as long as he wasn't too dehydrated.

[Mother Goose]

You should become worried about dehydration if he he appears dehydrated (clamy, dry mucous membranes (mouth), lethargic, if he stops having wet nappies).

I am a huge advocate of pedalyte. It is a kids version of hydralyte. It is much sweeter and therefore you have more chance of kids taking it (ever tried hydrolyte???). Even if he likes it, he may not have the energy to drink it - so try to syringe 10-20ml every 15 or so minutes until he picks up and then go half hourly. If he will not tolerate the hydrolyte, water is fine, or some very very diluted flat lemonade. The reason we suggest things like hydrolyte or flat lemonade is that they not only rehydrate but also boost energy levels giving the body a chance to fight the illness as well as making them feel a bit better anyway.

Some foods to try if he is up to it; dry toast or banana are both good for gastro type symptoms.

If you're at all concerned, get him checked out.

HTH

MG

[amberj]

Thank you everyone, these are such great suggestions. He took a bottle overnight and most of one this morning, so he has some fluids in him now, and his diahreah is decreasing in frequency. It seems to be settling into a "normal" cold.

We had an utterly miserable night, though. Up 8 times. 8. That's once an hour. I feel like a zombie.

[ubba82]

What about Jelly? This is also a good source of fluid and the sugar in it gives them an energy boost (as per lemonade etc)