Water

[Arcanegirl]

Im switching over to bottles this week and wondering about bottles of water.
How often do you offer it? How do you give it? ie boil up some and leave it in the same bottle through the day or do you do it another way?

 

[Rachiebaby24]

i boil it, leave it to cool then put it in the fridge. I give her some with her breakfast, lunch and dinner. If its a really hot day i offer it regularly and i also offer when she has a snack.

 

[LaDY]

They say you should boil the water up until your LO is 6months (even though i continued until he turned 1!)...let it cool and then offer it to your bubs.

I used to offer it in middle of his milk feeds and i used to make a fresh bottle of water each time to avoid bacteria...to be honest i would mainly offer it when his stools were hard or otherwise once a day xx

 

[kirsty x]

i make it up let it cool and give it to him in between feeds wenever hes hungry

 

[kmh2009]

boil it, leave to cool for half an hour then pour into bottle. leave it in this bottle all day until i offer it. i only offer water when its hot or when he appears hungry and is not technically due for another feed.

*EDIT*
or if stools are hard

 

[whiby]

I do the same thing

 

[mamalove]

Unless it's REALLY hot,i don't think there is need for water at that stage,he is only 2 months old and formula milk is enough for him.
If you do decide to offer him water,make sure it's not more then 10-20mls because babies can't recognise the difference between hunger and thurst,so for every sip of water he is compromising a sip of milk.

 

[princess_bump]

for water i always make up an extra bottle every night, so when we sterilise the bottles and add the boiling water (for us i then add formula when needed) so its cooled over night.

at alex's age i offered maddi water in between feeds, as it was very hot last year, and she seemed like she needed water too x

 

[lollylou1]

i didnt start offering water until we started weaing, we gave fresh orange and water to help with consitipation but that was just as and when she would drink it.

when we started weaning i offered it will meals and now i offer with meals and just generally throughout the day but she really doesnt drink very much at all

Lou
xxx

 

[bexxie]

You are not compromising his feeds by offering water Caz,so offer it as and when you feel he needs. If a hot day then 2-4oz's will be a good thing and stop the constipation

I was naughty as when Amelia went onto formula I gace 7oz's feed to 8oz's water but no way would I recommend this to anyone else just what I did. Is always dangerous to give more feed in water than more water in feed.

You will know when he wants it hun and I always kept some boiled water about in fridge then put in bottle couple of hours to get tepid.

xx

 

[Fossey]

I was naughty as when Amelia went onto formula I gace 7oz's feed to 8oz's water.

My HV recommended this to me when Liss was putting on a little too much weight. I only do it a couple of feeds though. BUT Never put more feed than water as you said.

Back to water Q I make a bottle up in the mornings when I do all the sterilising for the first time. Leave it to cool on the side (I only whack it in fridge if its exceptionally warm) and let her have it when I think she is thirsty. She is drinking a fair amount atm. I rarely let her have more than 6oz throughout the day.

 

[faille]

Like most others, I make a 'water' bottle when I sterilise her bottles at night and leave to cool overnight.

I only offer water once or maybe twice a day... Once she's had an ounce I don't offer it anymore unless it's really hot. I usually offer it between 1-3pm (and her bottles will be at 12pm and 4pm)

My MW advised me to start offering water at only a couple of weeks old and my HV was glad to hear that I was offering water so I don't understand why people say don't or that it stops them eating - hasn't stopped Violet taking any of her milk at all.

 

[Vickie]

I never gave water early on with Hannah, she got all she needed from the formula. Now I do offer her water (though she doesn't take loads). I boil it the night before when doing bottles and put the water into her sippy cup. When we stop doing bottles I'll stop giving her boiled water and just give it from the tap

 

[dizzy duck]

We are having major problems getting Ollie to take water, he just spits it out. We have been told by the MW and health visitor to add an extra ounce of water to his feed, but only to do this twice a day, because for his age he should only have 2oz of water a day. We do keep trying the water. We make up all his bottles with just water in the morning and add formula when needed so we always have water on hand. He does seem to take it better if it is warmed slightly. Hope this helps take care XX