Do you give water to a 9.5wk old??

[cheezelz]

I am a first time formula user and am unsure of what to do between feeds if my 9.5wk old DD2 is only thirsty? It was easy with DD1 because I BF & would just pop her on for a drink. But today in Adelaide it is warm & DD2 is getting fussy and she's not due for a bottle for another hour. Her mouth sounds dry so I know she wants a drink but what do I give her? Ive always thought of formula as 'food' so should I offer cooled boiled water?

Thanks

[NibbleCurlynBub]

Formula is made up of mainly water! It is hydrating.

You can give her a little bottle now (with the formula watered down a bit) and a bigger one later as her main feed.

[xpress2]

Most definately...

I started giving water to DS cooled boiled water from quite a young age. Not sure how old exactly but I am sure it was before 9.5 weeks..

[Mrs Potts]

Absolutely water is fine, cooled boiled of course.

Personally, I would rather give water than formula if I thought my bub was thirsty, otherwise you risk throwing bub's whole feeding routine out the window. That doesn't mean you couldn't offer formula if you preferred to, but in this instance offering more formula is different to offering bub a quick breast feed.

[KatiesMum]

umm - sorry but actually I disagree to a certain extent.

Just because a baby is formula fed, it doesnt mean that they shouldnt be demand fed.

If your bubs is extra thirsty - give her some more formula. She may be just having a growth spurt.

:D

[NibbleCurlynBub]

:iagree:

Water has no nutritional content for babies so you risk filling them up on water only to have them think that it was a feed.

The general idea is similar to BFing really, bub wants, you give. You watch to make sure its not WAY too much.. But at 9 and a half weeks, bub will only ask for it when she is hungry

Add a small feed in there maybe. BFed babies often have a top-up feed so it is okay to give your FFed baby a little top-up.

Their tummies are super tiny at this age! :yes:

[Kittylou]

I didn't really give my DD water until she was 6 months but that's because she never really seemed thirsty between bottles. Actually, she wasn't really hungry/thirsty much at all - but if she was, yes, I would have given her cooled boiled water to drink.

[NibbleCurlynBub]

If you do offer it though, keep it as little sips instead of gulps so that bub doesn't replace a milk feed with water. :)

[Kittylou]

If you do offer it though, keep it as little sips instead of gulps so that bub doesn't replace a milk feed with water. :)

Yeah I would agree with this. My CHN said that 20-30ml of water between feeds wouldn't affect her appetite for the next feed but, like I said, I never felt the need to do it.

[westerner]

umm - sorry but actually I disagree to a certain extent.

Just because a baby is formula fed, it doesnt mean that they shouldnt be demand fed.

If your bubs is extra thirsty - give her some more formula. She may be just having a growth spurt.

:D:iagree:

[cheezelz]

Just because a baby is formula fed, it doesnt mean that they shouldnt be demand fed.

I agree with you. I would just like her to feed when she is proper hungry and not just when she ahs a little hunger pain. I have noticed with her that she gets peckish and then only tales 20-30ml when I make a bottle. If I wait another 20minutes or so to when she is actually hungry she will drink the whole bottle of 150ml. I dont let her cry or scream in hunger. Today her mouth was making funny sticky dry noises and it was warm so I thought she might just be thirsty. I didnt end up offering her any water. I offered her a BF which she took both sides. But that resulted in her not wanting a feed at 5pm and now its 7.40pm and she still refuses.

I still BF. I havent made the hard choice of fully FF yet. DD has been quite fussy and horribly refusing the breast which has been frustrating to the whole family. She screams, arches her back, spits milk out etc. With a FF she gulps it down no fuss. I have noticed over the past few days when I have offered the breast she takes it but because I havent been fully BF for almost a week my supply is low. This means that although she takes both side I have to top with a FF. If her good feeding continues I will do all methods to increase my supply and go back to fully BF.


If you do offer it though, keep it as little sips instead of gulps so that bub doesn't replace a milk feed with water. :)

Thanks. If she seesm thirsty but starts taking big gulps I should then offer formula because she might be hungry.