Babies having water

Both of mine treated anything other than the breast with distain!

I was told to give cooled boiled water if the baby was constipated. This was in the 80s. Also was told that it was ok to give Milupa fennel drink (a powder you mixed with water) to help settle baby if they had wind (as an alternative to Gripe Water).

Mine did not have water till they were on solids.

I was told to give my new born baby boiled water from a spoon to make him ‘last’ between breast feeds. Rubbish advice that didn’t work!

This was in the 70s

Nurse here. Water will fill the baby up but it doesn't have the nutrients they need. This can be dangerous. A baby under six months old does not need extra water. Breast milk or formula has enough fluid.

I don’t recollect being told anything about giving them water, either by the clinic nurse or by my mother. I did give them a little cool boiled water in hot weather, but I don’t recollect at what age and it probably wasn’t under 6 months, because of their birthdates.

So you are horrified your son is parenting according to current standards.

Please do get yourself up to date and trust your son and dil with their child.

They don't need your suggestions

The modern trend to carry water bottles everywhere and swig a gallon a day was started by the manufacturers of bottled water. If we need a drink our thirst will tell us and babies on a liquid diet don’t need water, which is obvious if you consider the numbers who have no access to clean water.

agnurse

Nurse here. Water will fill the baby up but it doesn't have the nutrients they need. This can be dangerous. A baby under six months old does not need extra water. Breast milk or formula has enough fluid.

Thanks agnurse, I’m not a nurse but I’ve had three babies.
New parents will be wise to follow medical advice rather than do as grannie says

Elless

Baby is bottle fed. I've always treated it as the milk is their food so they need water as a drink. I've had 5 and they've all turned out fine.

Babies should not be given water...you are wrong

Looked it up and this is what I found -

“Water fills up little tummies

One of the reasons water is such a perfect drink for big people is that it provides the hydration your body needs without any extra calories.

But babies need those calories. They need the nutrition they get from breast milk and formula. When you give a baby water, it takes up valuable real estate in their itty-bitty belly. For context, a 1-month-old’s stomach is about the size of an egg. It fills up fast.

Giving your baby water means less room for breast milk and formula, which contain the vitamins, minerals and proteins babies need for healthy growth and development.

“Giving babies water dilutes their calorie intake,” Dr. Buckingham clarifies. “Proper weight gain is such an important indication of your baby’s health in those first few months. We want them to be getting those calories.”

Risk of water intoxication

Even more importantly, giving babies water can throw off the delicate sodium balance in their bodies, which can be very dangerous.

“When you give a baby water, it can dilute the sodium in their bloodstream. That can cause a condition called hyponatremia, or what some people may call ‘water intoxication,’” Dr. Buckingham says.

Water …. intoxication? Yes. That’s a real thing. And it can be very dangerous. Let’s break down how it happens.

Among other things, your kidneys help remove excess fluid by filtering it into your bladder (aka, allowing you to pee it out). That essentially keeps your system from flooding with water.

Adult kidneys are about the size of a large avocado, so healthy, grownup kidneys can typically keep up with removing any extra fluids we take in.

Newborn kidneys, on the other hand, are about the size of a grape. So, it’s easier for your baby’s kidneys to get overwhelmed. And it doesn’t take much for your baby’s body to get more water than it can handle.

When a baby’s (or adult’s) body is overloaded with water, it can begin to dilute their blood. That’s when things get dangerous. Because waterlogged blood lowers the sodium content in your body.

When your baby’s sodium content goes too low because of taking in too much water, it can lead to serious symptoms, like seizures and even coma and permanent brain damage.

When can babies have water?

Typically around the time your baby is 6 months old”

Babs thanks for the details. Not difficult for anyone to understand

Yeah! I must’ve got something right. Hot weather started around 6 months after my DC were born.

I was told only breast milk for 6 months.

Why is anyone giving babies of just a month old flavoured drinks?

Are they even legal to advertise them as suitable for babies 1 month old?

NHS:

Water
Once your baby has started to eat solid foods (from around 6 months) you can offer them sips of water from a cup or beaker with meals. Drinking water for babies over 6 months does not need to be boiled first.

Fully breastfed babies do not need any water until they've started eating solid foods. During hot weather they may want to breastfeed more than usual.

Formula fed babies under 6 months of age may need small sips of cooled boiled water during hot weather as well as their usual milk feeds.
Small sips in hot weather, not cupsful, filling their tummies.

Usually breastfed babies are fed on demand and would not need any water.

Dr Buckingham is American, I believe. I would follow NHS advice personally.

Elless

My son had his first child two weeks ago. As with all babies it's trial and error at first and he and his wife have had a few teething problems. I only thought to ask him this morning if he is giving baby a drink in between feeds to which he replied 'no, we have been advised not to give them water until they are 6 months old'!!😲 I am horrified.

No, I wouldn't. The weather is cool.

Things change,god knows how our kids survived or come to that us!..

Flippin2

Things change,god knows how our kids survived or come to that us!..

Yes, the teaspoon of brandy in warm water 😲

A teaspoonful of cold water to get rid of hiccups.Still works I gave my great niece some today.Shes 9 months old

I remember having something called a dinky feeder in the sixties. It was a tiny round bottle with a teat.

I tried to give water but the baby spat it out!
Surely if you bottle feed you mix the formula with water so don't need to add more?
My DiL who is a nurse, gave her baby fruit juice and regretted it as it resulted in damaged teeth and reflux.
He's fine now that he's a teenager but it was a shame.

Water is useful in bottle fed babies if they become a bit constipated. Otherwise bit more water added to bottled milk.

Times have changed and science has proved that things we did in the 60s are now wrong. However, I was also shocked, Elles, to be told during the hot weather we don’t offer teaspoons of cooled boiled water.
I don’t know how my DDs survived. Those suspended bouncing toy aids which have been proved bad for the legs, cot bars too wide, pushchairs that are still sold that don’t support the toddlers’ backs, car seats etc etc. This is my 6th GC and I am still being corrected.

My DC were born 90 and 93 and I was told no water until 6 months, unless they were constipated and then cooked boiled water . Both were breastfed

When I had my daughter, hospital advised to give water in-between feeds.
Loosens the stools and stops baby becoming constipated.
Worked a treat