5 month old has diarrhea after drinking cooled boiled filtered water?

[Feisty Fidget]

Okay so I should firstly add that our DD is literally given no more than 5 teaspoons of this water and it was mentioned by an NCT mummy as a good way to practice the sensation of having a spoon and none boo booby milk in the mouth.

We've tried it 3 times spread over the last 3 weeks and each time she has had very loose stools in quite an amount within 24 hours. It's usually for 2 or 3 nappies, but it is very thin and water like. It doesn't seem to cause her any pain or distress, but obviously it worries me.

DD loves the water (she's now trying to grab drinks from other people) and grabs the spoon trying to get it in faster, but obviously I don't want to keep giving it to her if her little digestive system cannot cope.

Can anyone advise?

 

[jessmke]

As far as I am aware giving babies cooled boiled water is a remedy for constipation (which could be why she is having loose stools). If they are not constipated then babies shouldn't be given water at all until they are eating solid foods. But I could be wrong, I am by no means an expert.

 

[Zephram]

I don't know what NCT is, but I'm really not understanding why you're giving your baby water? An exclusively breastfeed baby does not need extra water. Don't worry about practicing with a spoon if you haven't started solids yet, they pick it up very quickly.

 

[Feisty Fidget]

Thanks lovelies.

It's a minefield in the UK over whether to give water or not to breastfed babies. Some health care providers will say it's fine whilst others will say not to.
I think we will abstain until LO starts solids in a few weeks. I should add that DD is the only baby that seems to react this way to the tiny amounts of water which is why I was worried

 

[MindUtopia]

There really is no reason to practice spoon feeding (and actually I would think that water on a spoon would be a choking hazard, if anything, as it's so thin and easy to slip down the throat and windpipe). So it's causing some problems, yes, I would just leave it alone until you're ready to actually start weaning (which doesn't have to involve eating off spoons anyway). We certainly offered our daughter normal water in a cup from 6 months (not boiled, not filtered, just normal water from the tap in an unsterilised cup) and we never had any issues. But if it's causing a problem, I'd just leave it for now and see what happens when you do actually start to wean.

 

[Twag]

Breastfed babies do not need additional water as your boob milk supplies the watery stuff first to quench the thirst and then the thicker stuff for nutrients - only once baby is having solids should you introduce water but even then if still BFeeding then not real need tbh I only give a tiny amount to my DD I mean maybe an ounce if that from a sippy cup because she was very interested in my son's juice cup and she actually loves it - as she starts to take less boob and more food I will introduce more water in her sippy cup but at the moment it is just for fun really!

In regards to taking a spoon don't worry about that as they catch on very quickly I am spoon feeding & BLW and she knows exactly where her mouth is and where the spoon goes lol

Good luck - remember an NCT mum is no different to you she is just probably passing on some information she got from someone else (they may have possibly been formula feeding ) I know my Mum & Sister were adamant I needed to give my two water so many times I had to explain about the no need they are breastfed and it was because they formula fed and so didn't understand the need not to give water