how can i get my 7/8 month old to drink water??

Jennifer - posted on 02/21/2010

what you do is feed him the jar food if he eats it and when he is ready for his bottle give him the water he will be so ready for the bottle that he will drink it. or before he eats when he is real hungry give him the water and let him drink a couple of ounces. thats what worked for me

Jody - posted on 02/12/2010

I will give it a try. Thanx.

Amanda - posted on 02/12/2010

I got a sippy straw cup. It is like a sippy cup but has a silicon straw and my son likes that a lot. He has been drinking from it since 6 months old.

Jody - posted on 02/12/2010

My son flat out refuses to drink water. Im looking for some ideas too.

Corinne - posted on 02/12/2010

My daughter has been the same way. We put a splash or two of her juice in it an she goes to town. When she reached about 12 months she started drinking bottled water with much assistance. But still that is the only way she'll drink plain water. We still have to put a bit of juice in her water sippy cup. I prefer the Mott's for Tots juice they have a lot less sugar in them.

Krystal - posted on 02/11/2010

hi i just want to say i was born in 1990. my mum told me that when i was 11 weeks old i refused all sorts of milk, breast milk, formula and even our milk out of a bottle, sippy cup and a cup she just cold not get me to drink it. she went to the doctors and he told her to put the whole milk in somethin hot that i would drink. my mum ended up puttin milk in some hawlix because other than water that was the only thing i would drink. the doctor told her that if she hadnt of givin me water when i wasnt drinkin the milk i could of been seriuosly ill with dehydration and i was only 11 WEEKS. she started me on solids at 11 weeks to so from 11 weeks onwards the only milk i had was the whole milk in the hawlix. im now 19yrs old and i am very healthy, i also have a 9 month old baby boy who is on 3 solid meals a day and has 3 bottles of formula ( 8oz) but sometimes only drinks half the bottle of each because he is starting to go off it, so i give him water durin the day to stop him dehydrating (recommended by my doctor). at the moment he is still drinkin the formula but when he goes off it completely then il start givin him whole milk. but i have absolutely no problem with givin him water, he is healthy and is puttin on weight steadily and is very active, there is no harm in givin baby a bit of water throughout the day. my son only has 3oz a day unless he feels he needs more. my sons been havin water since 2 weeks old and he loves it. he drinks it out of a sippy cup. was hard work at first but, i let him play with it first then as soon as he was able to put the teat in his mouth i put a few oz of cold water (boiled first then cooled down in fridge) now he drinks out of it and holds it on his own. good luck and best wishes :)

Nadine - posted on 02/11/2010

reading another post reminded of one time at 5 nmonths that my son drank water from a bottle and it was extremely hot that day. when he is thirsty he will drink. Babies have a natural sense that they are born with to except what they need. We tend to get them used to things that are not good for them.

Nadine - posted on 02/11/2010

My son is 10 and half months and he just started drinking a few sips of water after he eats. All doctors say that before a year old he is getting enough water with his milk. He doesn't need to drink water. When your baby is ready, he will drink water. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I tried everything before. He hated the taste of water, but at 10 months he started to accept it.

Kayleigh - posted on 02/10/2010

i give my child water with a spoon, when ever she sees me eating she wants my food with my spoon,and i had the same as you she would not drink water from her bottle so i tricked her and she has water from a spoon.

Anna-Marie - posted on 02/06/2010

He doesn't need, nor should be be drinking water more than 2 oz water per day unless you are in an exceptionally arid climate and have been directed by a Doctor to give him water. Infants do not need any liquid other than breastmilk or formula before age 12 months. If you are starting solids & want to give him a little to wash his solids down or rinse his mouth, that's fine. But he does not need whole bottles or cups of water. Infants have an inate ability to moderate their intake. They eat for nutrition. Breastmilk and formula are both perfectly designed (by Nature or Science) to provide all the nutrition and hydration your baby needs. Filling him up with water will alter his natural ability to moderate his intake of breastmilk or formula. This has the potential to leave him malnurished and/or set him up for potential eating issues later. There is also a potential for water intoxication. Also, I noticed you mentioned "milk" in your post. I will hope this refers to formula or breastmilk as children should NOT be given cows milk before age 1.



I recommend you speak with your Doctor, check out the Ellyn Satter's books on feeding and let your son regulate himself. He'll drink when he is thirsty. Keep a starter sippy handy where he is playing with water where he can take a swig when he is thirsty. Just make sure you are offering him formula or breastmilk 3 to 5 times per day.

Rita - posted on 02/06/2010

they make thses pakets of flavor for water they are caffine and sugar free they work great.

Sarah - posted on 02/05/2010

i heard its not good to give your baby water b4 a year old ...but its good to give them juice and stuff at 6 months till like 9 months..my daughter is going to be 6 months and she loves juice out of her sippy cup i give it to her when she eats..as recommended by her ped.

Melissa - posted on 02/05/2010

don't worry if he doesn't drink a lot of water right now since he should be drinking mostly breastmilk or formula. Put the water in a sippy cup with a soft spout, try the cups by Nuby, so that he learns how to use the sippy cup. I would just leave it on the tray during meal times so that he can explore with it for now. Don't put juice in the cup, otherwise he will only want to drink juice. He will learn over time to drink the water from his cup.

Sara - posted on 02/04/2010

Grab the water with a straw by covering one end with your thumb while it's in the water (I hope you know what I mean, because I'm not sure how else to explain it) then just put the straw in his mouth and remove your thumb so that the water is released into his mouth. Haven't met a kid yet that fights it. I hope I explained that well enough.

Amanda - posted on 02/03/2010

Try different temperatues of water, my daughter refused to drink warm or room temperature water and likes it straight out of the fridge. Good luck!

Amity - posted on 02/03/2010

Just fyi...at 7/8 months a baby still needs to get most of his/her fluids from breast milk or formula, at this age solid food alone will not give them all the vitamins and nutrients they need. He is still drinking enough formula with 3 bottles, if they are 8 oz bottles. Also, there is one post on here that says to water down the bottles...do not do this, as I said they still need the formula. Water right now is for practice. My son will turn 7 months this month and he likes taking sips from a little toddler glass, just little sips, but he loves it. Also, don't give a baby that age citris yet, some babies can be allergic, or it can upset their stomach. Any way, the best advice may be to ask his doctor. They will know better than anyone about how much formula, water, etc. he needs. good luck! and try to make the practice fun!

Heather - posted on 02/03/2010

i was giving it to mine with a dropper for a whiel, but that is terribly annoying. I talked to the Dr. the other day and she to try a cup. I got him a sippy cup and it helped a little but I put the tiniest bit of pear juice in it and now he drinks WAY more...not TOO much but a lot more than before. I am breastfeeding and he doesn't NEED the water now, but the Dr. said he'd need it in the summer AND whe I start solids it'll keep him from getting constipated. Try a LITTLE juice, i did just a splash, and see how that works.

Nicole - posted on 02/03/2010

You may just need to wait until he is a bit older....try again at 10 months and use a sippy cup (that is what is did, or a small sippie water bottle). I started mine on water instead of ever introducing juice and now my youngest is 2 and he prefers water to juice or cool aid, etc.

Rachel - posted on 02/03/2010

I know you have a lot of comments already, I appologize if I repeat what has already been said. At your sons age I don't think you need to be concerned about him being thirsty or getting enough fluids, breast milk of formula should still be covering those needs. If you are concerned a good way to check is by monitoring his wet diapers. If he's well hydrated he should have at least 4 a day. With my daughter as more solid food were introduced and I stopped nursing she then needed something to drink. She took a sippy cup on first try, however she like to play with the water and spit it out rather than drink it. That was a cue to me that she wasn't thirsty. If your having trouble with sippy cups I would suggest trying different cups out until you find the right one. (the Nuby one I got works great, very easy for them to figure out how they work) Another thing to try is setting the cup out for him and letting him get it when he needs it. If you can get him to drink from a regular cup w/o assistence more power to you, that's just one less thing you need to ween hime off of! Most important thing to remember is that your son will drink water (and reach all of his other milestones!) when he's ready to.

Samantha - posted on 02/03/2010

my son is now goin on 18 months and we had the same problem wen he was a baby untill my father suggested that we add a pinch or 2 of sugar and he loved it and slowly we just took out the sugar and now he prefers water over milky drinks im not sure if this helps but i personally think every little bit of advice helps (well i know i appreciated it)

Jami - posted on 02/02/2010

add just a little apple juice slowly add less and less untill you add none, you also might try puting it in a speciel cup or calling it juice insted of water

Kasie - posted on 02/02/2010

a little bit of brown sugar my dr told me to give this to my little girl it also helps with there poo

Vaishali - posted on 02/02/2010

Just today I got my son a 7 oz sippy cup...when I gave it to him first he was very excited about it, and tried to hold it, chew it, and all sorts of things...then he started pushing it away. I had tried a cup earlier but he just wants to empty everything out even though I demonstrated how to use it.
Anyways, idea of getting the sippy cup was just to introduce him to holding something and tipping it up. This would also improve his hand to mouth and hand to eye coordination.
I am not for sweetening the water else they will not take a liking to the actual taste of water. I do nurse him about thrice a day and thrice in the night so am not too hung up on how much he drinks. But if I give him sometihng like a mashed potato or carrot for a meal, some water to wash it down would not be a bad idea after all...

Amanda - posted on 01/24/2010

Don't stress about him not wanting water right now. I have to regularly remind myself to not let the little (or big!) things stress me out -- my daughter picks up on it and it tends to make the situation worse. If it's fun, he'll be interested. But, if it's being forced he'll want nothing to do with it. Go with his flow. Figure out what works for him.
I started my daughter with a sippy cup around 6-7 mos and she just liked to chew on the nipple part. One day she got a hold of my Camelback water bottle and she LOVES it! I don't know if it's because the mouth piece is similar to the breast or if she loves it because she feels like a "big girl" drinking out of the same thing as Mommy -- but she preferred that over any of the sippy cups "they" say are so easy. I found a smaller one (mine is 24 oz and her's is 16 oz) for her to use. She doesn't drink more than a few ounces a day, but she loves water! Infact, she prefers it without any added sweeteners -- which is my preference. I'm glad she doesn't need sugar to get her to eat/drink. :) She does pretty well with the sippy cups now, too. Thanks to the Camelback water bottle! (It's spill-proof, too -- which is awesome.)

Kellie - posted on 01/21/2010

as far as i rememer (my kids are 1 1/2 and 2 1/2, we were told that if you are using formula, a little bit of water can prevent constipation, if you are breast feeding its not so bad. we gave out kids water in a bottle from day 1, we used it to hold out feed time if we were unable to feed straight away. my youngest didnt take to water too quickly, he was probably about 9mths before he started to drink water fully, this occured when we found him drinking from his sisters cup (one that has a lid and a straw) since then he has been drinking it fine. We never added juice or sugar to their water. We always have a cup for each child in the play area or on a table where they can reach so they can drink at their leisure.

Katie - posted on 01/20/2010

Actually, the saying means that within the first year, solids are more about the learning experience and exploring new tastes, smells, and textures, and less about nutrition because they should be receiving the bulk of their nutrition through breastmilk/formula. And I don't believe it's an old saying since it seems to be saying the opposite of what people were doing 20 and 30 years ago and starting their children on solids at 2 and 3 months of age. My child has by no means thrived on breast milk alone for the first year of his life. We started solids at 6 months and at 7 months ditched purees and went with baby-led weaning. Breast milk was always offered before solids up until somewhat recently.

Vanessa - posted on 01/20/2010

My son had the same problem, he is about the same age as your son. I used to give him apple juice but had water to it and he took it, and now he will drink water as well has his juice and milk of course.

Emma - posted on 01/20/2010

never heard the saying before Katie ,and yes breast and formula milk can be the main source of nutrition for the first year of a babies life however if a child from the age of six months on is becomming more active and developing they may become more hungry the way to suppliment this is to introduce natural nutriants and minerals into their system to aid in this new developement the only natural way to do this for a hungryer baby is to introduce food,this was the recomendation from my health visitor who regularly came out to asses my children as is standard in britian,for them to come to you or for you to go to them and do regular checks on the developement of the child,and as im writing this i have realised the meaning of the saying that you have quoted and i think it is a very old one and it refers to the fact until your child reaches one give them what they want to eat be it fatty or other wise after that regulate their intake to what they need,this refares to solid foods not milks.Ihave to add also that i do not disagree with you at all that if you feel you child is doing well and getting what they need from milk alone then good and i realy mean that but as we are both awair people have differant veiws and differant things work for them.For my younger two children they were fed both solids and breast fed at the age of 6 months and the breast feeding continued untill they were 18 and 22 months old i only wish icould have also done it for my eldest child also but was told to stop feeding her at nine months as i was 5 months pregnant with my second ,

Janelle - posted on 01/19/2010

Hi there not sure how to get your baby to drink water as my children all basically drink from anything i've been really lucky there. I only give my children either milk or water too. We live in a very hot climate so water after meals to me is both essential, and just makes plain sense. Water to me makes far more sense than juice, or sugar in water, especially at such a young age. someone further down i thought made a good suggestion to drink water with them and just encourage him. Good luck!!

Katie - posted on 01/16/2010

Emma, I'm from Canada. But I'm pretty sure that the saying, "food for fun until they're one", comes from the UK. Are you not familiar with it? Breast milk and/or formula should be the primary source of nutrition for the first year.

Emma - posted on 01/16/2010

well i dont know about in America but the advice over here is that if a child is eating solid foods then at meal times they should not be drinking milk as this fills them up more and they are less likely to eat their food and so water is recomended for meal times ONLY at other times such as nap times or if still partly breast fed then give the milk or the breast,and yes my kids have turned out very well they are not picky eaters and at meal times they have water at their request.

Katie - posted on 01/11/2010

wow, not only is that somewhat cruel but like I said before, they don't need water this young. It should absolutely not be replacing milk! I'm sure your kids turned out fine and all. That's what everyone always says. But please keep this in mind if you ever have anymore. And please don't give out that awful advice again. Thank you.

Emma - posted on 01/11/2010

be mean refuse the milk and add a little sugar to the water,when he realises the milk not comming he will drink the water he will kick up a fuss but stick to it a young child will not go with out for long.I did tis with all three of my children the longest any of them lasted was 3 hours before giving in and beleave me i have strong willed kids, dont give reasons or try to reason just give the drink, if he throws it pick it up but dont try to coax or force it ,let him see you drink water in your glass,just say want some or here you are will work just stick with it

Amy - posted on 01/11/2010

I havent had a problem getting my son to drink water as long as it is in a regular cup or sippy cup. he will actually ask for water between meals and he is almost 8 months. i had to seperate the formula bottle from the sippy otherwise he wouldnt drink it.

Bonny - posted on 01/10/2010

I read back through the other posts, and there are a lot saying to *not* give your kids water. My pediatrician said as long as it didn't affect his normal diet, that there was nothing wrong with it, just don't force it. Kids crave what they need, and if their bodies are dehydrated, they crave water. I tried the Pediatlites, Gerber waters, and watered down gatorade, but they gave my son the runs and upset stomaches. I also never had any problems getting him to drink anything out of bottles, and he was totally off bottles and pacifiers by the time he was 14 months old.

Bonny - posted on 01/10/2010

I used to fill bottles with ice water and put a lemon wedge in there. Worked great, and if the water ever ran out, the ice would melt or I could fill it at any fountain.

Kim - posted on 01/10/2010

I didn't start introducing water to my daughter until she was past a year old. The first year they still need plenty of formula/breast milk and baby food. If you really want your baby to drink water, you can buy the Gerber flavored water. It's water with fruit flavor. I wouldn't worry about the water thing right now, there's plenty of time for all that.

Cristina - posted on 01/09/2010

Room temp worked on my son it just took a bit for me to realize he didn't like chilled water (not cold) just chilled, It takes time but he'll get the hang of it. in the mean while breast milk and milk is ok if he's not drinking water.

Jennifer - posted on 01/09/2010

Water is not good at this age. It flushes the kidneys of needed nutrients and electrolytes. The only reason to give little ones water is to teach them to drink out of a cup without staining their clothing. I do recomend a bottle or sippy of apple juice diluted with water 1/2 of each.

Steffinie - posted on 01/09/2010

try giving water to him in an open cup that worked for my 2 girls, it makes them think their big kids.

Wendy - posted on 01/09/2010

It is only "tricking" if you are telling your child that the watered down juice you are giving them is "water". If your child IS over one year of age, as is mine, and refuses water between meals and milk (because it is NOT healthy to only provide milk, either) the only way to get him to drink anything is give him something with a little flavor, and work our way towards plain water. Some kids love water, some don't. That is just the way it happens to be. Juice can dehydrate a baby, but would you rather give them juice or refuse them any liquid at all? If you have a stubborn child, who you have tried to give water to between meals and milk, and they won't drink it (even when you persist as long as you can), you are left with little other options.

Michelle - posted on 01/09/2010

Kids under one don't need water. They get all the fluids they need from their bottles. If you absolutely feel like you must give him something else, try watered down juice that's not a fruit punch, make sure it's 100% juice, and fortified if you can get it. This way there are nutrients in it. My pediatrician told me kids under one can't get water because their kidney's aren't developed enough to process it so their blood gets diluted. Not only that, but even if it's not THAT much water, then it fills up their bellies without giving any nutritional value.

Shantel - posted on 01/09/2010

If you have to, try to give him the water the same temperature as his milk. if that doesnt work try the opposite

Kimbely - posted on 01/09/2010

a lil bit of Karo syrup!!

Kirsty - posted on 01/08/2010

thanks for ALL your advice ladies!!!! Keep you posted on how i get on!

Bobie - posted on 01/08/2010

ur not supposed to give juice to babies under 1yo coz they can cause dehydration...
try giving it to him in a dropper a couple of times. give it to him during/after his meals. thats how i did with my son who's 6mos now.hes been drinking water from a sippy cup since he was 4mos old since he doesnt like the bottle. hope this helps

Colette - posted on 01/08/2010

Try juice !! None of my children would drink water @ that age and I have three of them ! Water the juice down so it's half juice and half water, my guys started drinking REALLY watered down juise at 3 months old !

Katie - posted on 01/08/2010

Whoa! I'm pretty blown away by all these suggestions to sweeten the water! You shouldn't have to "trick" your little one into thinking water is something sweet and tasty. That could just end up becoming something he expects. Like I said, he doesn't NEED water right now. He'll eventually drink it though. And it's really best if water is just water. My son has never had a drop of juice never mind anything in his water to flavour or sweeten it. He's perfectly content drinking water the way it is.

Candice - posted on 01/08/2010

try putting a little bit of a flavour or something or a little brown sugar it always helped for my daughter and plus in the summer on hot days ur kids will drink water for sure

Wendy - posted on 01/08/2010

I have had a terrible time with getting my son to drink water as well and he is 15 months. I feel like a terrible parent for that! But, with A LOT of work, we are almost there. I buy apple juice, and add about 10 parts water with 1 part juice. Just enough for a slight tint of color and barely some flavor, he is fine with it (we worked down from half and half). I am hoping very soon to be down to just plain water. It has been a very long road for us, I don't know why. I'm sure my son has had some thirsty days, on the days I tried to persist with just water and he drank nearly nothing. I've had some tearful days just trying to get him to drink the darn stuff. We started trying water LONG ago, for any of those wondering. He would just never take it, no matter what we did. But we are almost there now, just be persistent!