Child refusing to drink

[susiec]

A friend of mine has asked for my advice but I am stumped. Her daughter has a slight cold and today has stopped taking fluids altogether. She has just sat and looked as her cup.
They have had issues before and she has been hospitalized with dehydration before.
I have suggested straws, juice, even fizzy drinks/sodas but she only drinks water normally.
Any other ideas would be helpful.
Thanks

[RobertaD]

What about popcycles or a milk shake? My guess would be that her throat is sore so anything frozen would help with the pain as well as get fluids in her.

Roberta

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I agree with Roberta. Popsicycles are a great way to get in those fluid. The icy cold treat will also help numb the throat too. I think you can even get the frozen electrolyte stuff too.

[Sammi1961]

how old is the little girl? sometimes with children 3 or older, turning something into a contest will motivate them such as "I bet I can drink my juice faster than you can" or "I bet I can count to 20 before you finish your water"

[ajrsmom]

My first thought was popsicles, too. Fruit smoothies would be another good choice if she can drink juices. Frozen orange slushies are great!

How about fruit that contain a lot of water? Watermelon would be a good choice. Frozen grapes, too.

Pour orange juice in ice cube trays and drop berries in for color. Add the frozen cubes to club soda for a pretty fizzy drink. Ginger Ale also works good with the frozen drink cubes--cranberry juice works good with this one.

Will she drink/eat soup? Chicken broth, or veggie soup made with vegetable juice?

Maybe if she would allow her to pick out a fun, funky cup that might help?

How about a sticker chart that rewards her with a small prize or an ice cream cone if she earns so many stickers for drinking--say she earns a sticker for every 1/2 C. of liquid she drinks. For every 10 stickers she would get a small reward --that's 5 C. of liquid. Then for every 50 stickers she might earn an ice cream cone or a special treat of some kind.


Another trick that works for my kids when they are sick is to give them warm tea. That seems to go over better than something cold. My son used to think that he was drinking a "grown up" drink when he was younger and I would make him hot tea. Hot chocolate is another good one if she can stomach the milk.

[cyncerp]

If all else fails try this: If the child can remember the last time she went to the hospital with dehydration, she probably had an IV, so ask her if she wants to go back to the hospital, and have needles in her arm. I think she will be happy to drink.

[apricot]

Jello also contains a lot of water which helps prevent dehydration.

[KSJEn6891]

All good ideas, esp. cyncerp. The idea about Popsicle is good also - or even ice-cubes. If your friend can get her to have soup, make it with water - there are a few soups that are low sodium so she wont get the salty taste but still keep her electrolytes active. Another idea is to have your friend ask her child (when she feels better) to help her create "frozen" snacks that she would like to have when she isn't feeling good. This way when she doesn't she can ask for that particular snack. Another idea is tea (flavored decaffeinated) because the child can drink it cold, warm, hot (depending on age) and sometimes just having flavored water can be yummy.

[ellenmelon]

even warm jello can be good too

or a shower/tub soak/swimming pool (might not be the cleanest water but it is water)