Help! He STILL won't drink water :(

I really thought that with time this would resolve itself but, almost 15 months down the track, my little man will still not drink water. It really is bothering me and I was wondering if anyone has had this problem too and am open to any suggestions anyone may have - I am desperate :(

He is still on 4 bottles of formula over a 24 hour period, which is really not where I thought we would be with him at this age (he also refuses meat and is so fussy, which is why we haven't graduated to cow's milk yet - but that is for a whole other thread!). The other reason is that he won't drink anything but his milk. I have tried cutting out a bottle and it doesn't make a difference. I have tried diluted juice and cows milk too. He still won't drink anything and, when he does eventually get his bottle of milk, the poor little dude sucks on it with all his might because he is so thirsty :(

Sippy cups and regular cups don't work. He just plays around with them and may take one occasional sip here and there if I constantly follow him around with water...which is also why he is still on bottles (something that, ideally, he would have graduated from by this age).

As an aside / background, he is a very big boy (15kgs at 15 months), but not at all fat. he looks super healthy and is a very happy boy. He has regular poos and wees and still wakes up once a night for a bottle. He is currently drinking 4x 240mls of milk a day :o.

This is driving me bonkers - please help! Thank you.

Can you let him drink out of your water bottle? My kids were always more keen to drink out of something that I was drinking out of.

Or just a normal cup? Put him outside with a bucket of fresh water and some cups and let him loose with it? LOL

are you in the room when you put the water in front of him?...staring at him anxiously, hoping, praying that he will take that sip?....kids pick up on us parents feelings pretty quickly. Im not saying its your fault, but a lot of kids eating/drinking refusal at this age has to do with us as parents putting the pressure on. Arimehs idea of making it fun sound great. If it me, i would put sippy cups of water in front of him, walk outta the room, but have a sneak peak at what he does...or put him in high chair, then walk out of room....
Maybe try a straw too....make it fun....and try and be chilled out about it...GL....

Thanks so much for your suggestions, AE and mbear. He does drink a bit from my water bottle, but I am thinking of maybe trying a "Pump" bottle which has an easier spout. I do wonder if he is sensing the vibes - I must be showing some level of stress after months of worrying about it :(

From my experience my girls didn't want to drink water until they stopped bottles altogether. It stressed me out until we stopped bottles and my DD1 went on to drink a whole water bottle (400ml) water in a day (up from a few sips). We taught her by giving some of my water from my water bottle and then eventually got her a nuby water bottle with the straw at about 15 months. It took her a while but she got there. Maybe your little man will be similar to the girls? My girls didn't particularly like meat either so I used to put it in the food processor and mix it in with whatever else they were eating and they'd never know. Now they still aren't crazy over meat but will eat it. Good luck x

Your little man sounds a lot like my DS. He initially refused water and meat. We just kept offering. He also wouldn't drink milk during the day unless I held a bottle in a darkened room and he was ready for a nap. He wouldn't even do that for anyone else. Now at 20 months he asks for his water (points and says war-er war-er - so cute :p) He still has two bottles of milk - before bed and one during the night or when he wakes up depending on if he sleeps through or not. He still doesn't eat much meat but has been eating fish and chicken in small amounts. He started eating more meat when his molars were through. For him, persistence was the key. I also second what the others have said about not putting too much pressure on him - when he's ready, he will take it. In the meantime, provided he's not loosing weight and is weeing, then I wouldn't be too worried.