How much do your babies drink?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2003
How much do your babies drink?
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Mon, 03-08-2004 - 8:43pm
Hi everyone!

I am in the process of moving from bottle to cup. DD is going to be a year old next week and it's time. She's not missing the bottle at all, really, but she doesn't seem to want to drink anything! She'll sip on a sippy cup of water all day (but won't drink anything else out of the sippy, milk OR juice and, conversely, won't drink anything BUT milk from the bottle). But all the sipping doesn't seem to empty the cup. I make due with lots of fruits and veggies and milk in her oatmeal and a bottle before bed (she'll only take about 4 oz from that bottle).

According to "What to Expect in the Toddler Years" she should be drinking 4-6 cups of water a day (32-48 oz total)! That would be 4-6 WHOLE sippy cups full of either milk or water. Between all the eating and playing and napping, I just don't think that the little busy body has the time or the interest in drinking that much.

How much do you get your babies to drink? BTW, she is totally weaned from the breast and has been for a while.

Thanks for the imput!

Melissa, Aspen's mom

Meldi

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Mon, 03-08-2004 - 10:29pm
Geez, my son is 3 1/2 and he doesn't drink that much liquid in a day!

I like to take a more relaxed approach to stuff like this. If my son is hungry, he eats, if he is thirsty, he drinks. I don't really watch either one. I tried once and it drove both of us crazy. I just try to give him healthy options.

As long as she is happy and healthy and such I would not fret.

If she doesn't like to drink milk except out of a bottle, I have two options that might work for you.

1) Take away the bottle. If she is thirsty and you want her to drink milk, then give it to her in a cup. Trust me, if she is thirsty and you will NOT give her a bottle, she will give in.

2) Just give her cheese, yogurt, and such instead of the milk. My son doesn't drink much milk but he has other calcuim/milk products so I don't worry.

Ejkdmom Come visit my store: www.leorra.com
Avatar for cghnasa
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 03-09-2004 - 1:28pm
mine drinks all the time. shes always got a cup in her hand. which is making potty training a pain but she does get her needed liquid.I just give it to her. theres no drink your milk , etc.

Beth

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 7:58am

I just think those are guidelines on how much a child should get. not all of us have time to drink and eat as much as it is recommended.


I think as long as she is hydrated, then do not worry. Maybe try something else for her to drink and see how that goes. I know you said you have tried juice, milk.... how about other drinks and go from there.


Good luck.

Mel


Andrew 3-4-99


Dalton 12-4-03

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anonymous user
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 9:55am
Hi there Melissa

My DD is now 21 months and she hardly drinks anything. She has milk on her cereal and a bottle before bed. she will take 6oz on a good day. I offer her drinks and she will take it when she wants it. This is my 5th child and the others all drank loads at her age. The HV said at a year old when she wouldn't drink anything but milk that she is getting sufficient nutrients from the milk so not to fret. Now she has about 4 small drinks a day.

Jane
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-03-2004
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 11:00am
Hi My baby is now 18mnths I weaned her from the breast too. She will not drink milk either she does have a little in her cereal and sometimes eats yogurt and loves cheese. Our Dr said as long as they are wetting I think 4 diapers in a 24 hr period you are ok. Also if they can cry and have tears they are not supposed to be dehydrated. My DD likes to drink from my cup or a reg. small cup maybe you could try this she also really likes ice tea decaf of course. She takes a sippy cup to bed and almost always drinks that. Good luck.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-03-2004
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 11:34am
Hi I just posted earlier but just thought of something maybe you should check your sippy cup to see if it is coming out or if it is hard to suck it out. we had this problem we changed the cup and it was solved. since she is only 1 and was breast fed sometimes thet have a hard time getting the liquid out of the cup. Good luck
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2004
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 12:57pm
Hi Melissa,

My baby is 14 months old and I am having a hard time weaning him off the bottle. He will drink water from a siippy cup or plain cup if I hold it, but he will not drink milk out of the cup. He will only drink it out of a bottle. My son will look in the cup and if there is white liquid in there he will shake his head "no". If I put it in a sippy cup he will take one sip and push it away. My son has never liked juice.

What I have tried is to put Ovaltine in his milk. My son will drink chocolate milk from a cup (I refuse to put it in the bottle and have told my sitter not to either). The Ovaltine has more sugar, but also more vitamins. I still haven't gotten him off the bottle because he prefers it and he will drink more.

When you figure out something that works, let me know.

Tanya

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 5:38pm
There is actually a simple solution to this. The "trick" is that you have to be able to withstand your child crying for a while.

Throw out the bottles. Period. Tell your child that you are giving the bottles to a baby who needs them and that he no longer needs them as he is big enough to drink out of a cup. Then only offer him liquids in a cup. If he needs to drink milk, then offer him milk in a cup.

He will say no. He will probably cry. Maybe throw a fit. But you don't relent. Tell him that the cup will be there when he is thirsty. TRUST ME, no child will go without drinking. Maybe for a day or so, but they will give in and realize that if they want to drink then they need to use a cup.

If you would like, go shopping for cups that he likes. Let him choose them etc. They have many cute sippy and regular cups for kids.

Ejkdmom Come visit my store: www.leorra.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2003
Wed, 03-10-2004 - 8:41pm
Thanks for all the advice!

I think that things are going okay. The bottle is gone and she is wetting her diapers just fine. Though she only drinks about 2 cups of water a day and still won't drink milk out of a cup, I know that she is getting enough dairy from the yogurt, cheese and milk in her morning oatmeal.

She also has a lot of fruit and veggies. I think that I just got freaked out by the 4-6 cups total recommended by the baby book. I swear, that "What to Expect" series was written by extremists!

:)

Melissa

Meldi
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2004
Sat, 03-20-2004 - 12:46am
We had a blessing in disguise when my son (ds?..i'm still learning what these all mean) got a stomach virus last week. We couldn't give him milk for a day or two, since it would cause vomiting. Anyway, this helped us get rid of the bottle. He's always been picky about the delivery of his food or drinks. Before, he would only drink milk out of a bottle, and water out of a clear glass. I tried giving him pedialyte out of a bottle, cup, and sippy cup without success, then found that he would drink it directly out of the singles pack bottles. Every drink had to be served in a different container.

Once he got over the virus, he did take some milk out of small plastic cups. I tried introducing sippy cups for months before, but he would just chew on them. I even took out the spill-proof valves, but that didn't work either. None of the brands I tried worked until I started using the playtex insulated sippy cups late last week. I don't know if it was timing or the fact that this was the first cup we tried that had pictures on it, but he now drinks milk from it. I still haven't put the spill-proof valves in them, so we have have to watch and help him drink.

All I can say is keep trying to offer milk until your little one changes her mind. My ds drank water from his colored plastic cup yesterday, instead of a clear glass, and that's our big accomplishment of the week. ;)

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