Weaning and drinking water

[baileybubs]

Hi everyone

My dd is 9 months now and we've been doing BLW since she was 6 1/2 months. She's great with all sorts of food and I've yet to find something she doesn't like. She's recently dropped a bottle so now has around 20oz formula a day as well as her 3 meals and some snacks too.

My problem is she won't drink! I'm worried she's not getting enough fluids, although I know she still has the formula and lots of high water content fruits and veggies but she will not drink at all. I've tried 4 different types of cups with different spouts, some spill proof which you have to suck, some not so she just waves it around getting water everywhere. I've tried taking the lid off the sippy cup and just tilting it gently in her mouth but she just let's the water run out and doesn't swallow.

Any tips or advice? I'm worried she won't be taking enough when it's time to drop another bottle!

 

[Noodlebear]

Have you tried putting her formula in a sippy cup to get her used to it?

 

[Rachel_C]

You could try plain water in her usual bottle too. Never juice or tea in a bottle but water is fine, especially if you're just trying to get her used to the taste. Or try straws instead of sippy cups. I must have tried ten different sippy cups with my oldest, she was really fussy. Eventually I tried a normal straw in a normal cup I held for her and she loved it! You can get cups with straws too if you want something spill-proof, although I've never minded with water.

Give her cups to play with in the bath too so she can practise drinking from them as part of play. At one point, I was convinced my kids got half of their daily fluid intake from drinking bath water

 

[special_kala]

Have you tried a open cup? Fox prefers drinking out of a normal cup over a sippy

 

[MindUtopia]

I think just keep at it and give her time to get used to it. My daughter isn't a big water drinker either and also doesn't drink that much milk compared to a lot of babies (about 500 ml a day, not sure what that is in oz).

Just keep offering the sippy cup (I'd choose one you want to stick with and use that one all the time so it's not too confusing) and help support it for her as she brings it to her mouth (also helps contain the mess when they slosh it all over). My daughter used to not drink any water. It was only maybe around 9 months or so that she started to take sips from the sippy with my help. But still it's not much. The other day she finally picked it up and drank from it on her own without my help. She still doesn't have more than sips though.

Offer plenty of high water content fruit and veg and feed bottles on demand still. They know to drink when they're thirsty, so you might offer some water before a bottle or just give her as much milk as she wants. They won't let themselves get dehydrated if fed on demand because they know milk is fluid as well.

And again, really just give it time. They all get it eventually.