My 4 yr old son won't drink

[clairew4]

Hi. I have a 4 year old son who refuses to drink and will hold his wee for long period and avoid going when needed to. He has had 4 uti's since the age of 3
He had a scan few weeks ago & the results show he has 2 tubes attached to left kidney instead of 1 & both kidneys are big for his age. Doctor thinks this may be the cause of recurrent uti. In the next month or so he will have to have another scan to check if kidneys are damaged/scarred. I have to make sure he drinks at least 1 ltr of water/fluid a day and make sure he goes toilet when needed but thats easier said then done. Everyday I have a struggle to get him to drink, its become a constant battle, I am at my wits end. I have tried a chart where he will gain stars for when he drinks the amount required and when he goes toilet without complaining but it doesn't work

 

[titania_]

flavored drinks?

 

[CandyDay]

Have you tried asking him what he would like to drink? Or maybe you could explain to him in a way he could understand why its important for him to drink enough thru the day

 

[RachA]

What do you offer him to drink?

We have problems with our son drinking but he's never had any uti's so we've been lucky so far. We only really offer water and milk as i don't really like giving other drinks.

However in your situation i would probably offer watered down fruit juice in order to get him to drink. And i would gradually reduce the amount of juice. Either that i would use the juice as a bargaining tool (this is assuming that he'll drink juice) - so when Daniel wasn't drinking anything at all we would say that he would have his Innocent smoothie if he drank his full beaker of milk/water. Most of the time he'd drink the milk/water and then have the juice.

 

[clairew4]

Thank you ladies for your advice. I have been giving Jack water with some squash added & so far he has been drinking up to 1 litre a day (yay), it's been a bit difficult at times plus he has started school and this week he's been full time, I give him juice drink for packed lunch and he has a bottle of water in class which he doesn't drink but it's there for when he does decide to drink it, I have also spoken to his teacher, hopefully when he sees his friends drinking he will. I have been explaining to him why it is important to drink, he does have moments where he will play up but I encourage him to drink so many mouthfuls each time. I have kept up the chart, giving him 2 stars a day for drinking and going toilet when needed without any drama. I have told him if he gets all the stars for the week I will buy him a small gift or go to the park etc, he's nearly completed it. Thank you once again

 

[julietz]

Hi have you tried ice lollies, i used these for my daughter when she was off her food and drink, and she had them no problem, and we got the wet nappies, worth a try you can buy those home made tubs u put the sticks in, he may enjoy making them up, or even buying the cup drink cartons and freezing them, kids love ice, make sure you let him know its a treat every time so he doesnt feel pushed to have them like fluids, only other option is salted crisp etc that will make him thirsty, or milkshakes, pure apple or orange juiced mixed half with water.