What age can you give water ?

Shevaughne - posted on 07/10/2010

Water water water from as early as baby will take it. I gave my little one water in small quantities from one month every single time he woke up . He has NEVER been constipated and has had had bum rash for one or two days during teething. I truely believe that water is SO important. get the drinking of water hapbit in as early as possible and condition the body to the right stuff that will take your little one through life healthy. My child does not get any juices, teas, or anything just water and he is just as healthy as anything. Dont medicate ! Hydrate your little one.

Amy - posted on 07/09/2010

I had only had my daughter home from the hospital for 2 days when she stopped pooping, 5 days later I was freaking so after leaving the the Drs office for the umpteenth time Our pediatrician said to give my daughter 1tsp of karo water to 2 ounces of water it worked and I didnt think about it again until I stopped breast feeding at 3 months when she had troubles straining to go poop. So I went back to giving her the karo water once a day or every other day. We tried all types of formulas if you switch a formula switch it slow mix 1 part new to 3 part old for 2-3 days then do half new & half old for 2-3 days then 3 parts old 1 new, I had to try a lot of different bottles too before I found ones that she was comfortable with (too much air causing gas) but it didn't get better until 6months when she starting pureed fruits and veggies. She is 14 months now still has 3 soy formula bottles a day because cow milk gives her the runs. Here's an article online but check w your dr 1st
http://www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/C/const...

Vickie - posted on 06/17/2010

My son suffers from constipation due to infant Gaviscon. At first I started giving him cool boiled water but it didn't work so the doc told me to use half a freshly squeezed orange/apple mixed with water just to help him a bit and that worked up until he was old enough for diluted baby juice. I couldn't breast-feed though so im not sure how you stand with that xxx

Toni - posted on 06/11/2010

You can give a baby boiled water, I know this cuz my little girl is HOT its warm and she cries in between feeds. So I give her water, but not a lot. It pleases her and she goes back to sleep. You dont give them lots just a drink. Dont replace her meals either!

Mandy - posted on 06/10/2010

im pretty sure u can give babies small amount of water at 2 months but definately check with your doctor. Have you tried Gripe Water, it will really help if his tummy hurts, and its obviously not as thick as formula. Works for me. hope that helps :)

Isabelle - posted on 06/09/2010

Water won't hurt make sure it's boiled and cooled at room temperature for some reason it has an effect in baby's system. Try another fomula like Enfamil Gentlease powder I know it's costly but my son was always cramped up after the similac when I switched him he was better and I breast-fed as well. I would ask your pediatrician.
Have you tried gently massage the belly and the legs? I still do this to my son and he's 20 mths old. He enjoys it! Anyway good luck hope we've helped!

Angelina - posted on 06/07/2010

We gave water to our daughter right in the hospital. We did it in between feedings, and just an ounce or two of boiled (then cooled) water. It was just to hydrate her and help her poop better. So any age, you just have to be careful of when and how much.

Donna - posted on 06/07/2010

Now that you are back breastfeeding some again, if you keep putting him on the breast more often, you can build your supply up again. I've had to do it several times after having mastitis (that can really knock milk production down). I was able to feed thru the antibiotics I was given & then gave bub (& myself) a tiny bit of Nourishing Flora Probiotics for his bowel which you would also benefit from as antibiotics can upset the natural balance of flora in the "gut" (can give you both an irritable tummy/bowel). If you are still having trouble with supply you could ask a Lactation Consultant or your Dr about a very safe medication (there's even natural things too) that you can take to improve your milk supply - thats if you dont want to have to comp with formula. I've taken both natural fenugreek & a safe med to increase my supply & was able to feed till he was 2 yrs old in the end. Now I'm feeding my 14 month old daughter. PS I dont know where you are from but if you have a Breastfeeding Assoc./Nursing Mothers Group nearby, they can offer lots of support too. Wishing you all the best!

Sabrina - posted on 06/04/2010

Babie should not recieve water before 6 months of age. They get enough through breast milk and formula. I also breast fed my daughter and took antibiotics for an absessed tooth while doing so. You should challenge your doctors decision to stop breastfeeding. Also, instead of switching brands of formulas (should you choose to continue) you should try soy formula. My daughter had a problem with milk based formulas until she was almost 10 months old. My daughters Ped told me that this isn't uncommon in breast fed babies.

Tiffany - posted on 06/04/2010

I have been on antibiotics 3 times since my 7 month-old was born, and I have never stopped breastfeeding, so I would encourage you to challenge your doctor.

When my baby was a month old, he was very gassy and a little constipated, so I gave him a bottle of 2 ounces of water and a teaspoon of brown sugar- he pooped almost immediately!

Jessica - posted on 06/03/2010

My son was the same way when i had to stop breast feeding. HJe had a 4oz bottle of just plain water, with a little formula to add taste, as he wasnt fond of water. and would just have a few sips here n there through-out the day, and it worked wonders.it really doesnt take much for it to take effect. Good Luck!

Nazevyanga - posted on 06/03/2010

I give a teaspoon from day two! So far they have had very little stomach upsets and they seem to welcome it...!

Shannon - posted on 06/02/2010

I'm glad you asked this question becaue I've been wanting to put my daughter on water:)

Laura - posted on 06/02/2010

My doc said no water until 4 months but I am sure every baby is different so you have to check with yours.

Krystle - posted on 06/02/2010

1st) Who gave you the horrible advice to stop bf?? Few drugs are actually harmful while bf. When you are sick, you pass on the antibodies your body makes to fight off the infection to the baby as well. Please check this out:

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/medications.html



2nd) Constipation is not just defined as few poops, but also painful poops. :(



If I were you, I would start breastfeeding again right away! Don't wait to finish the antibiotics before starting again! Sorry to say, you were given terrible & misinformed advice.



Breastfed babies don't need water.

Jennifer - posted on 06/02/2010

I think the reason so many people say not to give water is because a baby gets all the water it needs from breastmilk when it is young. I think they are concerned some people may misinterpret if they say water is ok and start giving their babies too much or instead of formula or milk. If you offer cooled, boiled water between feeds it is perfectly safe. Small amounts for young babies and as they get older they will reach for the bottle/ cup to tell you they want more. If yor baby is happy without it there is no need to introduce it until you start offering solids.

Gemma - posted on 06/02/2010

I have been giving my baby water since she was 1 weeks old, just an ounce between sone of her bottles, not all, but find she wants it more on warmer days. Just make sure the water has been boiled to kill any bacteria, even bottled water needs to be boiled. Then cool it down to a comfortable temperature for your baby.

Rebecca - posted on 06/01/2010

My doctor said that the rule of thumb is 1 ounce for every month of age. If he's 11 weeks, 3 ounces per day should be fine.

Erin - posted on 06/01/2010

9 months

Samantha - posted on 06/01/2010

Also, if u use sugar in the formula, brown sugar is better. And if you give ur baby water, remember that it comes through the teat fasted than formula, so u may need a slower teat, thats why they choke on it.

Samantha - posted on 06/01/2010

my son had the same problem on formula, as i couldn't breastfeed, so my pedi told us to add a tsp of sugar to his formula, and it really helped, also gave him some water at 2mths, but he wasn't real keen on that. good luck!

Kathy - posted on 06/01/2010

My daughter was 8 months the first time she got water. My fiance and I got married this weekend and my mil had her for the weekend, she didn't ask, she just gave her water.... I was told to avoid water because they can choke and if needed to help soften their poop to give a small amount of apple, prune or pear juice in water.

Jennifer - posted on 06/01/2010

I agree Jennifer, when my son was about 8 weeks he wouldn't drink water to ease constipation so I put a tiny amount of fresh orange juice in the water but now he's 6 months old and he loves water from his sippy cup so won;t be offering any juice for a long time now!

Jennifer - posted on 06/01/2010

Jennifer M-

I completely agree with ur comments! Water is perfectly safe (boil & cool it first to avoid any germs/bugs). You can even give water with a dropper if its easier. I live in a climate that is 32-36 degrees Celcius and 80-100% humidity. If I didn't offer my baby water he gets dehydrated . I b/fed on demand but water made a huge difference for us. He LOVES water. I would stay away from any juices if your baby ends up liking water. I don't understand why peopple encourage a sweet tooth and start habits like juice, cordial and soft drinks with young kids when they are happy with water. When they are young they don't know any better so why encourage it? They will figure out sweets eventually on their own. Sorry for rambling!!! I just feel sorry for chlidren especially under 1yr old that you see drinking sips of their parents Coke and sugary juices...so sad:(

Jennifer - posted on 06/01/2010

I also occasionally used Bauer's Stomach Calm which helps with various tummy troubles. It seemed to help with pain/gas.

Jennifer - posted on 06/01/2010

I had to use prunes on my son around 4mos. I boiled a couple of dried prunes in a small amount of water and gave him the strained liquid (which i diluted with cool, boiled water so it wasn't too strong). It worked a treat. He is now 8.5mos and he gets 1 finely diced prune in his oatmeal every morning (along with plain yoghurt and other fruit). He is exclusively b/fed and he only used to poo once a week and close to the 'poo day' he would be in pain and miserable. I think as long as he drinks his food (b/milk or formula) offering sips of water between feeds is all good:)

Jennifer - posted on 06/01/2010

Quoting Sarah: "No Water. Period. Talk To Your Dr. You Aren't Suppoed To Give Your Baby Even Apple Juice Until Around 4-6 Months Because Of The Hazard Of Choking. You Can Always Get A Baby Laxative. Ask The Dr. First."

I don't mean any disrespect but this is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard - if water is a choking hazard then surely milk is?!? Fair enough advice differs in different areas as to when you can give your baby water, solids etc. but to say the reason is because it's a choking hazard is just absurd!

Sarah - posted on 05/31/2010

No Water. Period. Talk To Your Dr. You Aren't Suppoed To Give Your Baby Even Apple Juice Until Around 4-6 Months Because Of The Hazard Of Choking. You Can Always Get A Baby Laxative. Ask The Dr. First.

Jennifer - posted on 05/31/2010

I was advised to give my son a little water when we had to put him onto formula at 6 days old as my milk didn't come in =] He was fine and is now 6 months old and loves water from his sippy cup.

Denise - posted on 05/31/2010

I WAS TOLD TO WAIT TILL THE BABY WAS SIX MTHS OLD BUT ASK YOUR DOC

Jennifer - posted on 05/31/2010

I developed mastitis when my baby was 1.5 weeks old and took antibiotics. I was told to keep breastfeeding to help with the infection and took probiotics to help with any stomach upsets. Not sure why they told you not to breastfeed. My baby is just fine and we've finished the medicine.

Raven - posted on 05/31/2010

my daughter is 5 weeks old and have been giving her boiled water that is warm since she was 2 weeks old as she was constipated and that was advice from a midwife.

Leah - posted on 05/31/2010

Thanks everyone for the advice!! We gave him a little water and it seemed to help. I have also started breastfeeding a little each day which I think is helping a little also. He's back to pooping every day to every second day which was normal for him.

The only problem now is that my milk is nowhere near as much as I was producing before. I was expressing while on the meds but it has really reduced my supply. At least having him on formula means I can supplement whatever I cant give him breastfeeding.

Thanks again for the advice!!

Jamie - posted on 05/30/2010

You can give him a small amount of water. Too much can cause water intoxication and that can lead to death. Another option is to mix some kayo syrup about two tea spoons in with the formula. That's what I do when my daughter has trouble pooping and it works everytime.

Jessica - posted on 05/30/2010

My son had some poopy problems as well when we were trying to find which formula didn't make him projectile puke. The doctors told me if you put a teaspoon of the Dark Karo Syrup (which is the blue one) in their formula once a day it would help with the hardness. It helped greatly with my son. The pediatrician also told me at 3 months you could give them a little bit of pear juice or prune juice also. We have to do that time to time with our son still. But I would definitely ask your pediatrician before hand. Hope everything starts getting better for you :)

Shevaughne - posted on 05/30/2010

you can give water from fairly young and it does them wonders,

Shevaughne - posted on 05/30/2010

I gave my child water from when he was about three months old. He drinks a minimum of two bottles a day. He gets very grouchy without his water. He drinks when he wakes up from his nap and before and after meal times.

Shevaughne - posted on 05/30/2010

I gave my child water from when he was about three months old. He drinks a minimum of two bottles a day. He gets very grouchy without his water. He drinks when he wakes up from his nap and before and after meal times.

Jessica - posted on 05/30/2010

My son doctor told me that at 5 month witch he is to start water

Sherry - posted on 05/30/2010

oh no, sounds like a constipation issue....

Our son (now 6.5 months) was formula fed for the most part because I wasn't expressing enough milk. the consistancy of poop for formula fed babies can be as few as 1 every couple days (in excess of a week see doc) and a thicker consistancy which makes him work a little harder to pass. But grunting not screaming as you've stated. Here's what our pediatrician suggested to help with constipation

1) add a little extra water to the formula (we've since diluted our goodstart to this ratio: 500 mils to 6 scoops formula.. or adding about 2-3 oz if using the canned variety)
2) brown sugar water (Ratio: 1 T brown sugar to 2.5 oz water.. the molassas is a laxative in for most babes this is also known to help with upset tummies instead of gripwater or oval)
or alternatively 1/2 T molassas to 2-3 oz water if it's too stron add a bit more water
or alternatively: 1T prune nector (MUST BE NECTOR NOT JUICE) to about 2.5-3 oz water or formula (I'd do 2 T to a 5 oz bottle of formula once and see if baby poos easier in 6 hours) it only takes about 2 hours to get from baby's mouth to his bum usually
3) NO MORE THEN 3 oz water per day. (24 hours) there's such a thing as water toxicity (sp?) which can be dangerous... so about an oz 3x a day should be ok but make sure it's been boiled and cooled first (basicly sterilized water)

Make sure you rub his belly peiodoically (oddly i thelps) and burp him extra well while he's on formula (it was a sudden switch so that can be a factor too his little body had a too fast change) and a big gas bubble can hurt enough they scream too.

Sarah - posted on 05/29/2010

I'm not sure about giving your baby water. I didn't have to with my oldest until he was a toddler but if you are going to give your little one water I recommend the "pure" baby bottled water. It is filtered better than tap and regular bottled water.

Mandy - posted on 05/29/2010

once u r formula feeding your son it it advised where i'm from [trinidad] to give baby a lil water in between feeding to help soften baby's stools cuz constipation occurs once he is not. baby's age is not a problem. although doc's advised that baby's should not be give water till about 6mths old however that applies to breastfed babies only.....

Krista - posted on 05/29/2010

I second the recommendation to check to make sure that those antibiotics are contraindicated for breastfeeding. Check with a pharmacist, not a doctor. Pharmacists tend to be a LOT more up-to-date on drugs and their contraindications.

Alicia - posted on 05/29/2010

Switching formulas isnt hard on him unless you do it gradually.. I used to use just the regular enfamil, but then switched to enfamil gentlease. That helped my son a lot.

I breastfed my son for almost 2 months but had to stop when I couldn't produce enough milk for him. He has been on the enfamil gentlease since about 2 months.

Also, my stepmom used to use 2 ounces of water and karo syrup (at least I'm pretty sure thats what it was, but I dont know how much either) when my sister had the same problems. Ask your pedi about that.

Sarah-Jayne - posted on 05/29/2010

The hospital told me not to give water to breadtfed baby, but once she swapped to formula they said it's perfectly fine to give her water, jsut not right before a feed and not more than 2 ozs as she won't want a feed cause she'll be too full, and won't get the nutrients. Amelia's been fine with some water. It cools her down when its hot too.

Holly - posted on 05/28/2010

I was told by my pedi to start giving my daughter juice cut 50-50 with water at 10 weeks because the same thing happened to me. I just stopped producing breast milk. : ) but check with the pedi and make sure it is 100% juice like juicy juice. It really helped my little one.

Cheryl - posted on 05/28/2010

the only reason why giving water is discouraged is that the baby might take less of the milk which has all the nutrients and instead get themselves full with water therefore not having enough of the nutrients. 1 to 2 oz a day wouldn't hurt and would very much help with the bowel movement. my son is formula fed & taking 1 to 2 oz a day since he was 3 mos old, very healthy, pooing everyday and has more than doubled his birth weight. about the antibiotics issue, listen to your doctor... they didn't study 10+ years not to know what they tell you ;)

Catherine - posted on 05/28/2010

you could try prune juice ,but you may have to dilute it as it may be too stong for him, just add a bit of boiled water to the juice and only give a small amount. formula can constipate babies even if he is still using his bowels but having trouble he can still be constipated i use to put colloxsal drops in the formula that helped.

Kathy - posted on 05/28/2010

I did not get to breastfeed, but we had those issues with formula. I have been giving my son water since he was about 2 weeks old. He is now 9 weeks old and his doctor said that he can have all the water he wants. My son also had trouble going with it being so hard. I was told to give him some water with Caro syrup in it. It has worked for us. Good luck!

Reana - posted on 05/27/2010

i feed my lil girl formula since just over a month i started to dry up,she had the same problem i gave her cooled boiled water just lil bits all though the day though but i tryed not to just before feeds, also it could be that the formula u are using might not be for him you'll now if he's still doing it in a few days,it will take a few days to get use to it.