Won't drink enough!

Plum Tired · March 2021

How do you get your LO to drink fluids? I am tired of harping on mom to drink. She will ignore the water,juice, or tea in front of her face and keeps getting UTIs.

BassetHoundAnn · March 2021

I pour grape, berry or apple juice into a wine glass and my mom, thinking it's wine, freely imbibes. I'm honest with her. I tell her "Ma, this isn't wine it's Welch's," but she either doesn't understand or remember.

I also sit down with her every day with a glass of soda, juice, or water, and tell her "Let's just chat and enjoy our drinks together" and that seems to get her drinking. And eating. I always give her a bowl of chips and snacks. My DH also does this with her nearly every day. It seems like she likes to mimic what we do while socializing.

Also ice-cream is considered a fluid by dementia caregivers, and others here have noted their LO's love of ice-cream when no other foods appeal. So I try to give her a big ice-cream sundae every day. With lots of fruit. She likes berries--more fluids, and I buy enough each week to keep the Driscoll strawberry growers in business.

Last summer she passed out from dehydration and ended up in the hospital, so I'm trying to avoid a repeat of that calamity.

It's hard. She just doesn't want to drink fluids. I think her thirst mechanism is shutting down.

Love your forum name, by the way! That's exactly how I feel!

Seasons In The Sun · March 2021

Soup & jello

zauberflote · March 2021

Popsicles and sherbet. Somebody shared a link to a UK (I think) product that looked a little like a colorful one-bite water balloon and came in a flavor-assortment pack. Wish I could remember its name. Made especially for dementia people.

Cynbar · March 2021

My DH is also a challenge to get enough liquids into him. I found it does absolutely no good to put a large glass in front of him. Among other things, he won't drink it once it gets to room temperature. And I, too, was so sick of nagging. But I have had good luck with handing him small glasses of very cold drinks throughout the day ---- he will usually drink that, I guess it's not as intimidating as a bigger glass. And I do give him popsicles, soups, sherbets and anything else that has liquid in it. It's probably not the full amount he should be drinking, but he's not dehydrated, either.

hospicelover · March 2021

My mom was like that too and is currently in a nursing home. They give her what they call "shakes" which are like a Boost and she loves them. They come in different flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry and she'll drink them down before she'll drink water. I would maybe try Boost or something like it and see if it's something she'll like.

RanchersWife · March 2021

When I first started caregiving I focused on routine water consumption. It’s such a habit now that my LO drinks the water that I give her with very little trouble. I owe it to having/requiring her drink for the last three years. I would not want to start this struggle with her now.

So, early caregivers, start the water drinking routine now!

Iris L. · March 2021

Plum Tired wrote:

She will ignore the water,juice, or tea in front of her face

PWDs gradually lose the concept of initiative.

Also they develop visual agnosia, meaning their brain does not recognize items in front of their face.

Iris L.

Sjodry · March 2021

I buy Mio juice and other water flavorings. I was actually trying to get her off of Pepsi. She started calling them her “Pink Drink” (before Starbucks started offering a “Pink Drink”). She loves drinking them now..she stays hydrated.

Emily 123 · March 2021

For my mom it’s lemon lime Gatorade and a straw. Has to be something with flavor and the 20 oz Gatorade is bigger than a juice. For some reason the straw makes a big difference. Go figure! It’s mainly because she has incontinence and voids when she gets out of her chair. She loses track of time, so won’t do scheduled bathroom breaks. She just refuses to drink.

DTSbuddy · May 14

If I leave a drink out where my LO can reach it, he will pour it on the table or floor instead of drinking it. Sometime he will drink a juice or sweet tea, but mostly the only water he gets is in soup or fruit, which he loves. I gave him a cup with a straw, and he didn't know what to do with it.

Lilydaisy · May 19

My DW will not eat enough food and drinks very little. I can't talk her into it, or use reason and health concerns. She has always been a grazer rather than eating 3 meals a day. Then she ends up with Oreos. At this point (stage 6 I think) I am glad to have her eat or drink almost anything.

She likes to go out for coffee with a pastry or lunch, but never finishes anything. We bring it home and she still won't eat. I eat it or we throw it out.

If others are experiencing this too, do you have any ideas that might work?

DTSbuddy · May 26

Stage 7 to 8.. My LO started falling a lot, injuring his elbows, hips and back. He became unable to walk, and moaned when he turned over in bed. Then he started to push away water and food or turn his head away. His friends and his doctor said that was a sign that he did not want to continue to struggle. The dementia has been so terribly frustrating for him. His intake of food and water was one of the few things he could control. He had always maintained that he did not want to live after his life became too painful. We took him to the hospital by ambulance and they prescribed fentanyl patches and morphine drops. We signed up for hospice services. They had a hospital bed delivered to our home, and called an ambulance to take him back home. We kept him comfortable and pain free. Family and friends came around to hold his hand and tell him how much he meant to them. After a couple days, In the early morning he was working so hard to keep breathing. I kissed him and gave him his drops of morphine. I told him thank you for being a wonderful companion, that we love him, and that it was ok for him to leave. He stopped breathing shortly after that. I talked to him for another few hours about our wonderful adventures, and his kindness and our family and my gratitude. Then I called other relatives and reported his death.

For all of you, who are continuing to support your LOs in their journeys, I hope you find ways to take care of them and yourselves. It is a noble task to help someone find some good feelings and peace and relief from this wretched disease. Thank you for your sharing and your support. Your comments were so helpful. Best wishes to you.