How long can they go without liquid?

DD2 is teething - quite horribly. yesterday she had a temp but was still drinking water.

3 days ago she started being totally off her bottles - except for the one at 7pm and 3am ones - where she would drink about 150ml if we were lucky.

Now - she has refused to drink all bottles for the past 2 days - except for the 3am one. She mostly drinks all of it, so about 200ml.

Today - she won't drink it in a bottle or sippy cup. She won't drink water now out of a sippy cup. We managed to get a tiny bit of water into her today by feeding her it in a cup, and then just tried to get her formula into her the same way. She took about 3 sips and didn't want any more.

Her nappies are already half dry when we take them off (cloth ones). She still has moisture on the inside of her mouth but the way she keeps drooling, and crying, I'm worried she'll start drying up!

So - how long can they actually go without fluids before some damage is done to them? She's nearly 11 months old.

I'd be a little concerned it's not just teething but rather something like perhaps a sore throat or tonsils?
Have you tried her on cows milk or even watered down juice? Is she still eating OK?
The fact she is drinking her 3am bottle she should be alright..I would persist with sippy cup water and have her checked out for a sore throat.
I would be really concerned if DD didn't have fluids within a 24hr period.
Hope she improves soon for you, it is really stressful when they don't drink :hug:
Perhaps try syringing water in to see if that helps.

Mine managed to drink half a cup of water a day plus incidental liquids in foods for gawd knows how long before I noticed. Weeks, maybe? So I wouldn't stress over a day or two.

By this point she was complaining it hurt to go to the toilet (on the rare occasions she went), had dry, wrinkly hands, cracked lips, headaches and a sore tummy. To which most of these complaints I told her to go drink some water but didn't MAKE her drink so .. she didn't. When it came to a head (after arguing until I was blue in the face that just because desert animals don't need water, doesn't mean that human girls don't) I was standing over her MAKING her drink until she got better. Grrrrrrr @ kids who don't feel thirst and can do this to themselves.

Poor darling, sounds like something else to me too Mel. Maybe try a cold frozen face washer for her to suck on of it's teething or get some hydrate icy piles to rehydrated her hun. If her nappies are dryish I would be watching her intake really closely and getting her seen if she won't take anything tonight.

I think you would need to watch her fairly carefully, if her nappies have already changed to being dryer than normal, even though she's having some fluids, then it's obviously affecting her. If she has any less fluids, I would take her to the doctor. She might have more than just teething issues, like a sore throat. Will she have ice? Maybe freeze some apple juice or something to make it something sweet for her. Or try hydrolite or icy poles or something like that. Maybe give her juicy foods like watermelon and oranges?? Or just have a bottle of milk handy and try to give her a sip every hour or so, like just put it in her gob and hope she takes a few sucks, lol.
Hope she improves soon.

Lemonade icy poles of ydralyte icy poles, only thing Charlotte will go near if she is really sick.
Keep persisting, even a teaspoon of liquid is better than none.

Hope she is feeling better soon poor poppet! xox

How is she today Melski?

She drank about 100ml of her bottle at 4am, and her nappy this morning wasn't very wet :s

We have managed to get a little bit of water and some apple juice diluted in water into her (not much though) and just about to try another bottle.

Good to hear, every little bit counts. Hope she is on the up now babe xox

No go on the bottle. So starts day 4 without any formula/milk of any sort....

I give ours plain ice to munch on if I'm concerned, they love it.

OK, Day 4...if that was my child I would be taking her to the drs to get assessed.

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OK, Day 4...if that was my child I would be taking her to the drs to get assessed.

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If the gp system down here wasn't so screwed I would have already taken her. Our only option is taking her to the hospital, and its so backed up and busy (cos of the screwed up gp system) that we will be there all day, and probably most the night, just waiting for a doc to see her. And if it turns out to be nothing, they get a little cranky at you for wasting their time!!

She hasn't done a poo though - not her normal type of ones for a few days now. She did 1 poo yesterday that was just like paste, and this is a kid who poops up to 5 times a day normally.

I would call 13 HEALTH, to give you confidence that she needs to see a doctor. Personally i would be going to the hospital, you've persisted for four days, with no improvement. In the mean time try some hydralite iceblocks. Good luck, let us know how she goes.

Honestly, I wouldn't give a rats about 'wasting' their time. I would be taking her and waiting.

DH isn't too concerned yet, thinks its just teething and once her big tooth has broken through she will be back to normal. She's not dehydrated yet - still drooling, so still has excess fluid in her somehow. Last time we went to the hospital because her fontanelle was sunken, and the doc there told him not to worry about dehydration unless the inside of her mouth is dry - which its definitely not.

Some signs of dehydration in young children/baby's:

• More than six hours without a wet nappy
• Urine that looks darker in his nappyand smells stronger than usual
• Lethargy
• A dry, parched mouth and lips
• No tears while crying
• Sunken eyes
• Hands and feet that feel cold and look splotchy
• Excessive sleepiness or fussiness
• Sunken fontanels (the soft spots on your baby's head) baby should be seen by a medical professional in this case.
• Their capillary refill (briefly press on your child's nail bed so that it blanches or turns white, and see how long it takes to return to normal) Minimal dehydration is when capillary refill is less than 2 seconds. Moderate (and should be seen by a medical professional) is when capillary refill greater than 2 seconds.
• Skin fold recall or skin turgor test (gently pinch your child's skin on their abdomen, hold it for a few seconds and then let it go to see how long it takes to return to the normal position) Minimal dehydration is when there is instant recoil on skin turgor test. Moderate dehydration (and should be seen by medical professional) is whenrecoil on skin turgor test in less than 2 seconds.
HTH :)


ETA
Mel, have you tried giving her a pain reliever (ie, paracetomol/ibuprofen) then giving her a drink a little while later? Maybe if she has a sore throst she isn't drinking because it hurts, so if she has the pain relief she will drink?? Is she eating at all? I think if she's relatively active and fairly normal in her behaviour then she would be ok...

We've been dosing her up on nurofen and she will drink water afterwards (not much, but a few sips is better than nothing!) Still nothing for the bottles though. We were thinking a sore throat too cos she cries after she has a cough.

She still has lots of tears though - thats the only thing changed about her behaviour - she's whingy like the other two now.. LOL

ETA - forgot to add - she is still eating, bout half of what she normally consumes.

I don't think it's time to take her to the doc's/hospy yet then. Maybe if you can get an appointment tomorrow?? If she's eating and still active (though whinging!) she sounds like shes doing ok to me...just off colour. Try to up her fluids with juicy kinds of food? Fruit/veggies/soups...

Bahahaha doctors appointment for tomorrow? Not likely my love. More like in 3 weeks time or something!

will she eat ice cream or frozen yoghurt babe?
Drink a little Flat lemonade?

Poor poppit. Gotta say thoguht, I so dont miss the health system in Tassie :lol:

Maz - I gave her 1.5 tubs of yoghurt today, so she has had something today, but not much else. Few sips of water. Still no go on the formula, so she hasn't had any again today. Her poo is no longer like a baby poo, but like .. well.. like mine!!! LOL

We've tried a few times tonight, and even dosed her up with panadol and SM33 before we tried her bottle, but no good, she just screams.

have you tried a straw cup with the formula? even a normal cup?

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have you tried a straw cup with the formula? even a normal cup?

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Yup and yup :(

Think its time you got up babe and took her to emergency. Even if you think its alright please ring nurse on call or something. You quiet obviously are worried (cause I sure as **** am) otherwise you wouldnt have posted this thread. I know you dont want to be a pain in the butt to the hospital system ect but this is your child your talking about. Id rather go down and get the all clear then stay at home and watch my baby get worse and have the unthinkable happen over night. Sorry but next to no fluid isnt healthy for ANYONE! Let alone a baby, especially after 5 days!
Being a baby and all you guys will get through quicker, especially if she's screaming the place down if your trying to give her something to drink.

Mel I hope things look up soon. I can understand your reluctance to go to the hossy. It does sound Like you have tried everything. If there is no improvement tho the doc/hossy is the best place. I'll keep everything crossed!!

Ok well this is the update:
Eden *seems* to be ok this morning, she had a bottle last night at like 10ish (can't remember exact time) and then she woke up at 4.30 and drank another one, so she had the full 200ml both times. So far today she has had a little bit of her weetbix, some banana, some of my weetbix and is now having some orange. And she's had a few sips of water. Oh and she did an explosive poo this morning, I got her out of the cot and put my arm under her bottom and one around her waist and it squelched out the top of the sposie and went on my arm!! EWWW!!

So thats some food, liquid and a poo!!! Haven't seen the tooth yet to see if its broken through the gum (she won't let me touch her lips) so I'll have to see if I can sneak a peek later. Phew.

Yayyy!!! Go Eden!! Keep it up baby, you had us worried!

I bet that's a relief for you Mel!

Well she still refused her bottle just before, just screamed when I offered it to her, so I dunno.... argh she's driving me crazy! LOL

I checked the tooth, its right there, but not quite through yet.

That is one stubborn tooth Lol! Glad she has a good poo now and seems a little better. I would still have her checked for other things like, throat and ears if she doesn't keep up with the fluids, just for peace of mind.

:cheer: thank god!!!!!!!

So glad to hear that she's getting better babe :hug:

Hooray!! Glad she is better hun, hope her tooth pops through with no more hassles. What a stressful time for you all, hope you can get some rest tonight xox

Well she still went without formula all today - and missed her 7pm bottle as well, so who knows what is going on.

Hugs. It's heartbreaking not being able to help or work out what it is that they want need.

I'm please to read that she is getting a few more pieces of food and drink and had a poo!

You also sound a bit better too Mel.

I didn't know the health system was so bad in Tassie.

Yeah its shocking down here. I have an appointment made for me in November (first one we could get) so I'll probably give it to Eden instead, just to get her checked out.

She woke up around 2am for a bottle, but didn't want any milk this morning. I've even resorted to cows milk in a sippy cup just for something different!! She took a couple of sips, and then didn't want any more...

Mel, I really think you need to be assertive and get her in to see a doctor. To me (and I could be wrong) it sounds like more than just teething pain - and *if* it is teething pain, the dr may be able to give you some tips on some more effective pain relief.

The thing with drs is - when you ring first up, they will tell you they are full. But if it's your usual clinic, you need to say, "Dr X is my regular doctor, and my DD hasn't been drinking for x days...I NEED her to be seen." Keep phoning, keep pestering. Ask "do you have a cancellation list?" Ask "If the dr is not available, then can I please wait on the line until you can get them on the phone, please?" Often it's the receptionist who doesn't want to fit you in, not the doctor. The earlier in the day you ring, the more likely you can get in. Good luck, the ongoing worry and stress just aint worth it :hug:

At that age, C was terribly out of sorts for a few days and I put it down to teething but he actually had an severe ear infection :( Only had a slight temperature though which is why I didn't bother trying to get into the Drs as the last thing I wanted to do was seem like an over reacting mother. First thing he did was check the ears and there it was. Poor fella was in pain for days!

Can you call the Drs or the emergency department to ask if she can be looked at? I think once you mention she is not drinking and is having dry nappies, they might fine you a spot.

She definitely doesn't have a temp or anything that would indicate an infection? She's just off her bottles during the day - but still drinks her middle of the night one. Strange really, I thought ear pain was more painful at night because they are lying down - but she's sleeping fine, just not drinking during the day.