Can babies drink water?

[pyvio]

Wondering if babies are allowed to drink water? My baby girl cries in between feeds though we gave her formula milk at about 100ml every 3 hours. I am not breastfeeding her for some reasons.

First, I am not sure if the quantity is sufficient... my confinement lady says that 100ml for a girl is quite a lot already. My baby girl is one month old.

Second, pple had advised not to give too much water, Anyone knows what's the reason?

 

[mommie_lynn]

Hi, according to my paed, giving sips of water is ok. However, we are not suppose to give too much as it will fill up the small tummy of the baby and prevent the baby from taking nutrients that they can take from milk.

Also, I have read somewhere that drinking too much water for baby can be a form of toxic... so better play safe.

 

[jas2909]

I read up online baby can don't drink water till 6mths old? also somewhere in this forum also mentuined before.. :err:

 

[apollo]

accrording to my pd, during the 1st 6mth, NO water is needed. not even a drip, even ur baby is only FULLY FM.. so during the 1st 5.5mth, we didnt gif ds any water.. we only gave him his 1st drip of water on 5.5mths when he started cereal.

nowadays FM has improvised, not as 'heaty' alrdy./.. last time we drink FM, must drink water, if not the stools will be v hard. but now, i'm sure ur baby passes loose stool when she is on FM? imagine u gif her more water, wat if she gets diarrhoea? and their kidney is still v 'new', FM is alrdy made of 90% of water, is more than enough to keep ur baby hydrated, and by giving more watere, means the new kidney gonna wk more...

if ur baby is hungry, just feed her milk. all they nd is milk, dun wry. i rmb when ds was ard 3week old, he was drinking 120ml every 2hrs, sometimes 1.5 hrs, or even 1 hr he will wailed v badly for milk. i asked pd, he said just let him drink, as long as he dont 'merlion' the milk out, means he can take it..

 

[kenxf_03]

yeah! Totally agreed with apollo mummy!

My Pd also asked me not to give my DS any water cos babies under 6mths no nd any water at all. Though, my MIL kp PESTER me to give DS water, i insisted not even a single drip!

 

[Ivy Miao]

Hmm.. though ped said no water. But I still give a few sips after milk to rinse his tongue or mouth. And I realise, if I dont feed him water, he will not shit till the 3rd day. Guess FM still heaty. :err:

 

[diymummy]

My PD also said no need to feed water until 6 mths coz at 6 mths it's when we start solids.

Like the rest said, it's not advisable to feed too much water because it fills up their tummies and make them less likely to be hungry for milk.

If you really still wanna feed, like the rest said, sips are fine.

If you feel that FM is causing your baby to have constipation, you might want to consider switching the brand of the FM.

Just my experience with my boy, I only started feeding him water when he was 7 mths. But he hates it. He still hates water till now so his main form of fluid intake is by milk. I'm still trying everyday to feed him water to get him used to the taste.

 

[Ting]

i gv pin water since day 1, n not just sips, i give her 100-150 ml per day, no issues with tt.

she still drank plenty of milk, n til now, she doesnt hv a problem drinking plain water at all.


i find tt it is up to u, whether u wanna give or not.

 

[pyvio]

thanks for the advices..

my CL would give my baby about 10ml water in a bottle when my baby keeps crying when it is not even two hours yet. Her feeds are about 3 hours interval..

My baby is taking frisco - she is on 100% formula milk as I am not able to breastfeed her. She will cry around after 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I cannot increase the intake nor shorten the interval and I do not hold the view of "feed on demand". that's why..

anyway, so far so good... baby could take in both milk and water...

 

[Ting]

actually, i think tt feeding on demand is ok. cos baby hv growth spurts n their appetite might increase.
if u do not wanna shorten the interval, then increase the milk intake.
every child is different, some may just require more milk than others, not just bcos your CL say 100 ml is alot means it is sufficient for your child.
if she cries for more milk, then increase the milk intake, no harm, cos your baby is growing.
in the first year, baby grows really fast.

 

[jasobias]

ya u cld shorten the milk interval times or increase the amt of milk given.I used to feed baby every 2 hrs 90ml..till now also..hahhaha..day n nite!!

 

[llcyahoo]

my paed adv to give water aft milk if gal ask for more milk cos gal be over weight soon lucky she is tall. Paed also mentioned tat we r lucky tat my gal like water cos many kids dun like water. max 100ml/day, as long as bb feeding hv no problem is ok to give water. Reason for nt giving water is scare tat water will replace the milk intake.

 

[apollo]

my paed adv to give water after milk if gal ask for more milk cos gal be over weight soon lucky she is tall. Paed also mentioned that we r lucky that my gal like water cos many kids dont like water. max 100ml/day, as long as baby feeding have no problem is ok to give water. Reason for not giving water is scare that water will replace the milk intake.

100ml per day for a NB is too much!!! anw, it's up to u hw much u wanna gif lahh.. but lik wat Ting said, i also feed tt ur baby milk intake is perfectly alright. cos most NB i heard, is max 2hrs.. lik ds, when he was 3week old, 120ml 2 hrs, sometimes 1.5... we didnt control him at all, cos pd said b4 he start solid food, he wan milk just feed..

 

[izanyzam]

I started to give my boy plain boiled water since he was 3months old when he got constipated..Hes on FM btw..Nowadays,he asks for water AND also still drinks his milk..So i have no issues with it.

 

[bbgal_2010]

Wondering if babies are allowed to drink water? My baby girl cries in between feeds though we gave her formula milk at about 100ml every 3 hours. I am not breastfeeding her for some reasons.

First, I am not sure if the quantity is sufficient... my confinement lady says that 100ml for a girl is quite a lot already. My baby girl is one month old.

Second, pple had advised not to give too much water, Anyone knows what's the reason?

Reason is due to the dangerous combination of a strong sucking reflex & immature kidneys as it's easy for an infant to throw off the body's sodium level enough to affect the brain activities. It may also lead to seious matter e.g water intoxication.

 

[glass]

I used to be vehemently against giving water to my baby, but I just gave up after my entire family kept saying he should be given water.
He did not like it, but now at nearly 6 months, he would take a few sips. He doesn't drink much so I guess it's ok. I know a number of babies are super opposed to water because breast milk is sweet and water is too plain for them.

 

[apollo]

I used to be vehemently against giving water to my baby, but I just gave up after my entire family kept saying he should be given water.
He did not like it, but now at nearly 6 months, he would take a few sips. He doesn't drink much so I guess it's ok. I know a number of babies are super opposed to water because breast milk is sweet and water is too plain for them.

i tot BM is tasteless compared with FM? anw, i only started ds with plain water at 5.5mth as mentioned, n he is now 10mth old, he is taking water well, each day will takes btwn 100-200ml.. sometimes even 300ml if the weather is too hot =)

 

[Callie]

I insisted on not feeding my newborn (currently 6 weeks) water despite the entire family pestering me to do so, but sometimes they did get some water into my girl's mouth -.- Until one fine day (Just 3 days before), I reread my "What to expect, the first year) and saw this question being answered by the author

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"I'm wondering if I should give our daughter bottles of water instead of nursing her so often"

The reply: Sorry, but a bottle of water is no substitude - or supplement - for your breast right now. A baby who is exclusively breastfed gets all the fluids she needs from the breastmilk and that's exactly where she should be getting them from.

Not only doesn't she need supplementary water under normal circumstances, she shouldn't be offered any. First of all, bottles of water (particularly early on in breastfeeding) can satisfy her appetite and her need to suck, sabotaging nursing efforts. Second of all, too much water can dangerously dilute a baby's blood, causing chemical imbalances. This second potential problem also holds true for bottle-fed babies who are fed too much of water.

Though it's fine to give a little water to a bottle-fed baby in a very hot weather, it's not usually necessary. Giving an older infant (over age four months) small sips of water from a cup, however, is fine (they won't be able to take too much from a cup, only from bottle). Children on solids can handle more water, whether they are breastfed or formula-fed.

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Sorry if there are any typos as I've typed it out myself by referring to my book.

So yeah, I almost choked myself to death while reading the line in bold! And immediately called my mum and tried to explain to her why we shouldn't feed my girl water but fail in terms of explaination because I dunno how to describe in Chinese (any help?) LOL! (But she stop bothering me to feed her water already!)

 

[apollo]

I insisted on not feeding my newborn (currently 6 weeks) water despite the entire family pestering me to do so, but sometimes they did get some water into my girl's mouth -.- Until one fine day (Just 3 days before), I reread my "What to expect, the first year) and saw this question being answered by the author

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I'm wondering if I should give our daughter bottles of water instead of nursing her so often"

The reply: Sorry, but a bottle of water is no substitude - or supplement - for your breast right now. A baby who is exclusively breastfed gets all the fluids she needs from the breastmilk and that's exactly where she should be getting them from.

Not only doesn't she need supplementary water under normal circumstances, she shouldn't be offered any. First of all, bottles of water (particularly early on in breastfeeding) can satisfy her appetite and her need to suck, sabotaging nursing efforts. Second of all, too much water can dangerously dilute a baby's blood, causing chemical imbalances. This second potential problem also holds true for bottle-fed babies who are fed too much of water.

Though it's fine to give a little water to a bottle-fed baby in a very hot weather, it's not usually necessary. Giving an older infant (over age four months) small sips of water from a cup, however, is fine (they won't be able to take too much from a cup, only from bottle). Children on solids can handle more water, whether they are breastfed or formula-fed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry if there are any typos as I've typed it out myself by referring to my book.

So yeah, I almost choked myself to death while reading the line in bold! And immediately called my mum and tried to explain to her why we shouldn't feed my girl water but fail in terms of explaination because I dont know how to describe in Chinese (any help?) LOL! (But she stop bothering me to feed her water already!)

i just told my mum what pd told me. he told me no matter a baby (below 6mths) is on BM or fully FM, NO WATER is needed, not even a drip, and even when they are ill, also dun nd a drip of water. BM is water alrdy and FM is made of 90% water, and nwadays FM has IMPROVISED, unlike few yrs ago, or decades ago.. if given addi water on top of milk, might casue babies to hav water retention (too MUCH or too LIL will cause water retention), Diarrhoea.. and also their kidneys are still v new, if give they take in addi water other den milk, their kidney gonna wk more..

tt time my CL went with me, during the 1st week NB checkup and pd explained. so my CL told my mum.

but of cos, it's still up to the parents themselves if they wanna gif water to their babies when they are below 6mths (or rather, b4 they start solid food). we can only post whatever advices our pd gave, whatever we researched =)