My 18 month old son won't drink water, pedialyte, or juice. He only wants milk but can't have it.?

Question

What should I do? I already took him the to the doctor and they said he has the stomach flu. It has been 21 hours now and he has only had about 16 oz of milk and each time he drank that he would vomit. I have tired Pedialyte and juice and even diluting the two but he doesn't like juice at all. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get clear liquids in my son so he doesn't dehydrate. Thanks a bunch!

Answer 1

Offer him Pedialyte pops or just some sugar free popsicles. They have electrolytes and will help him from dehydrating. And, try to continue with the BRAT diet, bananas, rice, applesauce and dry toast, it's the preferred diet for kids with the flu.

You might also try some chicken noodle soup. Chicken noodle was proven better for rehydrating in athletes than drinking Gatorade or sports drinks.

Answer 2

With both my children I have found this out..

When they were thirsty they drank what they had in thier sippy cup. When breaking my daughter and son from the bottle I had a hard time. So my Mops mentor advised me...Just put the drink in the sippy cup and toss the bottle. Eventually they will drink it. Children are alot smarter than we give them credit for. Little did I know at the time. But this does work. After about a day and a half with out the bottle they drank from the sippy cup. No matter if it had milk, juice or water in it. So, what I would do is put the pedilyte in the cup and when your child is thirsty enough they will drink. Your chilld my just be to ill and not want to drink or eat anything, however the milk satisfys their hunger and thirst for a minute. Maybe try pedilyte suckers, or gatorade. Giving in to the crying for milk is letting them know if they whine long enough they will get what they want, and not nessisarly what they need.

Answer 3

Does he like ice or ice chips? I know people have mentioned popsicles, but I have actually had more luck with letting my son play with ice cubes. I think the cold soothes their poor throats, when they're torn up from puking. Evntually, I could get him to drink ice-cold water, once the ice cubes worked.

Also, I agree, stick with applesauce, don't worry about the juice. My doctor said the pectin in apples is good for upset tummies, but that the sucrulose in apple juice actually was worse for them. So don't worry about encouraging juice, as most are apple-based anyway, but applesauce, if you can get it in, can be good.

As for soup- make sure you try a lower-sodium kind. A lot of soups and broths can be higher in the salts that dehydrate. We use Healthy Choice brand, and that has worked well for us.

Is he drinking from cups or a bottle? My son went through a puke-fest before we had weaned him from the bottle, so we had a hard time getting him to do anything since he wanted only the soothing of the sucking, but only wanted milk in the bottle. He went almost 2 full days without much liquid sticking. I finally did put pedialyte in his bottle, and that helped him. As soon as he was healthy again, we weaned him, because I never wanted to deal with that again.

Anyhow, hang in there. Keep checking with the doctor- they can come up with some more creative things should he get super dehydrated. But just know, most get through this A-OK.

Answer 4

the cup he normally uses is fine.. start off with a lot of water and a bit of milk add less water and more milk everyday he will eventually get used to the taste of milk in his sippy. Right now its not a "major" concern about milk because he is getting the calcium from the yogurt and cheese.. Vitamin D he will get from playing out side in the sunshine. come the time when he is in doors more then it will be more of a concern. or just offer him milk in his sippy and nothing else. He's 18 months old so milk is not his primary source of nutrients he will eventually get thirsty enough to just drink it. Don't give up on him this would be like us walking instead of driving... we can do it but its just a major life change. Dont give up on him it will all work out in his time not yours....

Answer 5

My son went through the same thing when he was your sons age. Try soy milk. My mom got me some to try with my sick son and he drank it. Its a bit thinner than whole milk, but has just as much vitamins. Get the non-flavored one. If you try it and he does vomit, dilute it a bit and keep trying. Hope this helps!

Answer 6

try popsicles...........good luck and I hope he feels better soon. Remember that he doesn't have to take a whole lot at once. If you can at least get him to take tiny sips of water or pedialyte occasionally this will prevent him from dehydrating.

Answer 7

do a syringe of any liquid 5ml every 5 minutes. i used power aid with my little girl ask your doctor if you can do the same with your child. my whole family had a terrible stomach flu a few weeks ago and this is what the doctor wanted me to with my little girl.