I didn't know about honey!!

I remember the health visitor suggesting giving my (breast fed) DS demerara sugar in warm water when he was constipated. This would have been in his first year. I did as I was told, as we all did then (in the 70s). And it worked, with a vengeance ?

When DGS was about 9 months old I went with DD to see his very traditional German Paedeatrician.
he sais how well he was doing and asked if he was getting any solid food.
DD and I stuttered and I fessed up that he liked a spoonful of my Scotch Broth liquidised of course and a little fine milled porridge with some of his baby milk in it.
We expected a telling of but he laughed and said that was fine by him and when the baby was ready for solids the Mother usually knows best.
DGS is a wiry(skinny) very active little boy and still has porridge for breakfast in the winter.

When GS was weeks old and obviously not being filled by his bottle I suggested a spoon of cereal mixed in. Well, you'd have thought I'd suggested hanging in the garden or worse

Yes granny pier, if not on solids yet and breastfeeding, they only have breastfeeds, even if it's hot. I think it's different if they have formula. I live I learn .

thatbags, may I suggest molasses

Grantasticpasta i might be thick but did you say babies cant have water ?

Well, I'm still going for honey and oatcakes.

Whoops! "does NOT cure constipation". Oh, bother!

annieb, "jar of honey a day... cures constipation"

I have mild IBS which has recently got more bothersome. Been trying various, ahem, approaches to the problem. They haven't worked too well. Honey will figure in my next strategy, on oatcakes.

<looks forward to breakfast no.2>

Never forget that many of us put our babies on their tummys to sleep, my two did, but changing that particular rule has decreased the rate of cot death significantly.

These sorts of warnings need to be looked at. The issue about mums not eating soft cheeses, pate etc and listeria is another one.

Having been given this information or warned about potential problems I doubt if most responsible parents would go against it.
Can you imagine the outcry if the medical profession knew about these possibly very small risks but failed to tell the public.

Oh no anniebach
Tea with just milk please, can't bear it sweet!
DD has honey in tea.

Oh, I see thatbags has already posted that, I should read before posting

I remember one HV saying that on no account to give baby water, another one said cool boiled water was fine.


I don't think that breast milk is always enough if the weather is hot, but you have to go with what Mum decides is right.
And I was brought up with absolutely no water with meals - only in between. But that was many years ago.

And in tea Jalima

Babies under 1 year old should not be given honey.
Honey can contain spores of a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, which can germinate in a baby's immature digestive system and cause infant botulism, a rare but potentially fatal illness. ..

(I knew that and I'm 71 - well 49 on the other thread!)

And I probably wouldn't encourage them to eat too much sweet stuff anyway.
Although I must say that I love honey - on toast, on Scotch pancakes, in porridge, in yogurt, I could go on

As a jar of honey a day addict may I say it does not cure constipation

Honey is just as bad as sugar for children and for us, despite what is said about its nutritional and curative qualities. If children get used to having it, their teeth will suffer just as they suffer from excess of sugar. Better not to let them get used to having sweet things when they are tiny.

Might be useful sometimes!

You are a wise woman, grantastic!

Thanks Thatbags - I'll steer clear of honey for a bit, but now little one is over one it should be fine, will wait until DIL gives it first though!

Water is not needed if the mom is exclusively breast feeding. The breast milk contains adequate hydration but Mom's might need to feed more frequently.

I started to give water when mine were closer to one as I wanted to get them used to having water with meals.

I'm not sure about what the advice for
formula fed babies (mine were exclusively
breastfed)

I must admit that when I first read the OP I thought it was going to be about the sugar content.

Maybe it depends on which flowers it's made from.

I should say, something in honey can act as a laxative.

Just remembered something else... I think honey can act as a laxative. That could be problematic in babies too.

When my DD1 was about four months old, still breast fed, she was very restless and uncomfortable-seeming when we were staying at my mother's. My mum suggested giving her a little honey in warm water from a bottle. It was supposed to help her sleep. Old wives' remedy? Who knows? My mum had brought up five healthy kids so I listened.

I did give DD some (a very little) honey and water and she did settle down.

I didn't know about the dangers of honey until quite recently. I suspect it only applies to posh honey because mass-produced honey is more rigorously 'processed' for human consumption. I am happy to be corrected/better informed if someone has more information.