Give water to newborn?

[retrobell]

i was wondering, since the breast milk has the water source, do we still need to give water or there's limit intake?

I remember during my confinement, my mum in law keep giving my daughter plain water after I breastfeed. I was thinking, it is ok to give so much water?

[saikid]

If you are breast feeding( 100%) , you should not give waters. Always elders like our mums, grand mums say to give water. Doctor told me not to give water, since it reduces th nutrients absorbed into the body from the BREAST MILK.

If you are giving formula milk have to give water... Otherwise it may cause constipation ...

[mrspuppy]

gleneagles nurse told us that if breastfeed, dun need to give water. my GP say even if formula, giving water is optional.

that time i read an article in the straits times that says cannot give water to bb 'cause bb might get dunno wat intoxication. i check w GP, she say if give 1 ounce, it's ok.

for me, i only give my boy water if he got hiccup n not convenient to breastfeed him to cure the hiccup.

[snowbear]

it's not necessary to give water after feeds unless baby is on formula. according to the dr, if you give water, you're filling up the stomach with water and hence the baby will have less capacity to take in milk (which has nutrients). Giving water after feed therefore may cause some bb to throw up the milk...

i also only give water when baby hiccup coz she can't really latch on to breast when having hiccups.

[apsmendoza]

giving water is not required for babies. in fact, it is discouraged because breastmilk or formula milk is comprised mostly of water. dr advised us to give water only on his sixth month. however, i think it's okay to give a little, when very warm, dr said to give 1-2oz (only because i insisted that i want to give water coz my baby did not make poop for 5days).

[Amulet]

nah.. no need to give babies water if on TBF.. i only start giving my girl water after i started her on solid.. but only a few mouthful.. she suck suck abit water thn don wan liao..

[briskcross]

Recently there was an American research paper that said giving infants water may be dangerous because too much water can be "toxic" for infants.

For breastfed babies, definitely no need water because breastmilk is already very high in water content. Formula milk may be "heaty" which is a Chinese belief, and Chinese nannies have all along fed water to babies on formula milk, so a little should be ok. It's really a play by ear thing. You may want to search the internet for more on this American study so you know what are the symptoms to look out for indicating "water poisoning".

For both my boys I didn't give water at all when they were on total breastfeeding. 2nd son I introduced water only when he started solids, about six months.

[gal711]

I agreed with the other mummies. I didn't give water to both my sons when they are on tbf. I start giving water to bb when solids are intro in.

Some old myth is that if bb dun take water from young (first few mths), they will reject water later in life. I totally disagreed cos my 3+ year old son first tasted plain water when he was abt 6-7mths old and love to drink water till now. In fact, he only take plain water and not flavoured type.