Advise Needed: Can Newborn drink Plain Water

My mum and mil have been giving my 7 weeks old baby plain water very often as they say formula milk very 'heaty'. But I just found out that plain water should not be gien to very young babies due to their brain development. Is it true? Can anyone advise?

 


i've just finished attended the childbirth class and was informed newborn doesnt need water until 3 month old. the amount of water that took from formula milk is sufficient...

 
Hi Gina, how much water is given to ur baby? I was told that water should not be given often. Does ur child have a hard poop? My baby used to have hard poop and I usually added more water to the formula milk....

 
Singapore weather is pretty hot, so i started giving her water after she was 1 month. About 30 ml per day. I asked the doctor, he say is ok to drink water. Recommended to give water 30mins to 1 hour after her milk drink so that she dun feel bloated.

 
Hi Jubilant and all,



Thanks for all your advise. Usually my bb was given about 60ml of water everyday. No hard stool so far. Have ask the doctor yesterday and he said that actually babies below 4 months don't need to give water because their kidney not mature yet. I have inform my parents and in law not to give her already. [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif]

 
I also don't used to give plain water to my DS, who's 2 months old now. Read that having too much liquid will affect his nutrients absorption as he will think it's full.



But subsequently, realized that weather nowadays is really too hot.Saw my DS's lips getting more dry and he keep licking his lips. Urine also getting more yellow. Also advised by quite a lot of elderly relatives who are veterans of taking care of babies.I started letting him sip a bit of water with a bb spoon after he have his FM feed, firstly to reduce the whitish residue on his tongue, and secondly to hydrate him.



Generally, as a rule of thumb, breastmilk do not need water. Formula milk may need as it's more "heaty",

 
i only started giving ds water when he was nearly 6mths old, when he just started solid food. before that, not a drip of water goes into his mouth. he has been fully on FM since 4mth old. before that, abt 80% FM, 20% BM.. i dun gif himw ater even his urine is yellow..



there is not need to gif babies below 6mths any water. FM is milk alrdy, and nowadays the FM has improvise, no longer 'heaty'.. imagine they drink so much milk a day alrdy and u still gif water, hw can their lil kidney take it? and by taking so much water (including milk) per day might cause them to have diarrhoea.



my mum dun belive it either until my pd explained to her the above reasons.

 
Alot PD recommend no water for the 1st 6months. But I felt unless is breastmilk. If FM given, try give some sip and also can prevent oral thrush too.



Weather is humid in singapore and our lil ones will tends to get heaty too especially dry lips and constipation.



I agree with Audrey, rule of thumb [IMG=http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/clipart/happy.gif] we are the mothers we know best for our bbs. Moderation is best

 
for babies below 6mths old.. need nt feed too much water. After each milk feed, just give some water to rinse the mouth. Need not give additional feed of water or so.

 
i find it really abit rubbish for PD and gynaes to say DUN give water for babies..milk is enough..



i listen to them n now i regret! my baby is 14weeeks now..during her 1st mth, i nv let her drink water becos i listen to the experts saying..nowadays is really really hot, i tried gving my gal after her 1st mth and she refused to drink any water! she only wan milk..now to make her drink abit, i have to use teaspoon and force her drink sips...haiz..

really diffcult..the way she drinks water is like forcing her to drink poison..i shld have listen to my mum and mil to let her drink abit since young..



so i feel is OK and good to let them have water..maybe not much but sips..so that they wnt reject water when they grow bigger

 
I also encountered the same problem with my first boy. i listen to expert and pd not to give water to him till he is 6 months old.

But by the time he is 6 months old, he partically dun like water. I have than a very big problem.

I think maybe not too much is esstenial to get the baby ready to drink water

 
I gave my son water thrice a day and will limit him to having max 30ml each feed. I dun wanna wait till 6 mths or older as am afraid tat if i intro water to him when he's much older, he wont want to take it!!!

 
wad lovie said is true-baby may not want if introed at a later stage. i gave my DD water since she got home.My mum said we kids were all raised like that so i followed.everything was fine.But i stopped giving her when friends said too much water might cause water poisoning or enter the brain if she gets choked. i check with doc he said it's more concern over if baby drink water(no nutrients) then the space for milk will be lesser, which is more essential for her growth. But later on, she had constipation so I made the milk diluted(40ml=1 scoop) also reduces the heatiness of milk.i tried giving her water again but she refused.everytime feed water is like battle of the Lords.Personally i prefer giving barley water to plain water but probably make it diluted and usually give every 3 days and alternate feeds too, by making milk with diluted barley water, more nutritious than water so dun waste the space in tummy and counter the heatiness of FM,sometimes boil the barley with rice into water to make FM, also more filling.glucose water gives her phglem. Occasionally, i'll still give water and glucose for a change, in case someday she may come to like it.Now she's 4 mths, i add brown rice powder to the mixture.She poops everyday and is a healthy 8kg 75% baby!

 
I guess as all babies are individual and special on their own, something that works for one baby might not work on your baby.



I strongly believed babies below 6 mths do not need water. My baby was breastfed and it was only at 6 mths when i started her on solid did i give her water, to aid in digestion.



She was fine with taking water only at 6th months. She does take in quite a fair bit of water now too. So i guess it's quite individual

 
I believe babies don't like to drink water might not because the water is introduced much later. My mil has been trying to give my baby at least 10ml of water between the feed since birth and i wasn't aware that baby shouldn't take water before 6 months. My mil also added more water into the milk powder and she didnt follow the instruction because of the reason "heaty". Thanks god my baby doesn't like to drink water at all and feeding him with water is very much like forcing him to drink poison. When my baby is about 2 months old, i read from the magazine about shouldn't feed baby with water or too diluted milk powder before they started solid, i google around and i was scared by what i have read. I asked my mil to stop forcing my baby to drink water after that.

 
It's better to give your baby some / little water after drinking milk to 'wash mouth' & to avoid the accumulation of whitish particles on your baby's tongue.



Baby can drink water at initial months, but not too much. Too much water cannot help to get rid of jaudice (yellow skin) of baby, but milk will help to reduce the jaudice.



I think it's good for baby drink water at initial stage so tt baby will not resist to drink water at later stage.

 
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Hi,



Agree with VL, giving moderate water from new born to just let them get use to the taste of water, otherwise they will reject water later.



I have seen many cases where baby/toddler do not like taking water because they were not given water from beginning.



My 2 kids were been trained to take water from newborn, but in first month, I just give few mouthful after taking formula milk, and breastmilk is quite light and dilute so I usually don't give additional water. Then, slowly from second month onward, I will increase the water amount, and give water before and after each milk feed (also serve as rinsing purpose). I remember my PD also teach me before to give water (comfort feed) in between feed to prolong the milk feed interval if baby wanted feed too frequently (or shorter interval).



Now, my 2 kids (10months old and 3.5yrs old) are already use to this routine, water before and after each milk feed. And they likes drinking water also.



Drinking enough water everyday, will help to avoid constipation too. I am lucky that my both kids do not have constipation problem.

 
I also read up and heard from PDs that newborns do not need water, BM contains a lot of water and that is sufficient for the baby.



However, my baby got dehydrated on the very day of discharge (@3 days old) coz I was doing total BF in hospital, and apparently, she wasn't drinking enuff... so I guess, a little water is important.

 
Hi Hoshi,



It may because your breastmilk is not sufficient for your bb eventhough bb is sucking well. Usually, milk flow started from 3th or 4rd day..



I have tried totally breastfeed for my son also, but on second day, my PD advise me to give my son formula supplement, as he is showing signs of dehydration, and dehydration can cause bb to get jaundice. So, I follow his advise to give my son formula supplement after breastfeeding him.

 
jaundice might be caused by insufficient milk, but can not use as judgement symptom for milk amount. you can judge whether your milk sufficient or not by your bb's sleeping hours after intake your milk -- if he/she could have two hours continuous sound sleep, that means you have fed him/her sufficiently.



Jaundice is very short term thing, you should not give up your breast feeding because of this. even you do not breast feed bb during this jaundice period, you should express out the milk and store them in freezer to feed baby later, this will also help you maintain your milk flow -- breast milk is so precious and so good for baby, you just do not want to waste it or wean it. I am loyal fan for breast feeding...



hang on, mommies, for baby's long term benefit, feed them your milk! western doctors do not really bother whether you can breast feed bb or not, so some of their suggestion could seriously hinder your breast feeding success.



My bbs all have some level of jaundice, I continued feed them, and take them out to do some gentle sun bath in the morning or afternoon -- they were good ok very fast. I heard our Asian bbs have 30% NB jaundice rate, which will disappear within 2 ~3 weeks after birth even without any treatment. dont worry too much. as long as eyes ok and not so yellow on skin, should be no problem. In the main time, you should remember maintain your milk -- the 2nd and 3rd weeks are the most important weeks to boost your milk, don't miss them.



you can find more on www.iprettymommy.com about breast feeding.

 

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