My pediatrician suggested I give my 4 month old son 2-4 oz of water per day. He will suck a little on the bottle and spit it out. He is only breast fed but takes a bottle of expressed breast milk without a problem and has for several months. I know he gets all he needs from me but we live in a very hot area. The doctor suggested the extra fluid would be good for him on the hot days if we are out and about. I have tried giving it to him 4-5 times and he refuses. I have heard to put sugar in the water but I don't want to give him sugar. Any other suggestions would be helpful.
Soak a washcloth in water and let him chew and suck on it. Maybe use a baby one so its soft. He will at least get some fluid if he is thirsty and it might cool him off. I used to freeze them for my daugther when she was teething. Just a thought.
I only started giving my son water when he started eating solids. Other than that i offered my breast to him. Our trick to getting my son to take a bottle of water was adding ice cubes. He loved the cold water and drank it up like it was the best thing on earth!
at 5 or 6 months my daughter started to drink from a glass (with help of course.) She knew that that was how mommy drank and it was the only way until very recently that I could get her to drink water (just this past monday I finally got her to use a sippy.) It makes a huge mess but at least she was drinking.
good luck
oh and the washcloth that another mom suggested works great too
You could get one of those popsicle molds and make ice popcicles that he could suck on. That way he's getting a little water and cooling down his core temp.
Well my son is 7 months now but when we introduced water, we gave it in a spoon. Since he liked his rice cereal and was fascinated by the spoon, we just finished up with a few spoons of water (like 3-4). That way, you help control the amount and can even make it fun. But we didn't start water until we started solids last month since he was exclusively breastfed. I would just give a little to start or an ice cube, 4 months is quite early for cups of water. Have your tried different levels of cold/heat? I always use my filtered boiled water that has cooled down to room temp. I think cold water can be a shock and babies are used to warm breastmilk. Please don't add sugar to the water (not necessary and increased diabetes risk). Good luck.
You could try a little pear juice in the water for taste, but I would ask your Dr. first. We had to give our daughter this to help with constipation at that age and it helped for that also. I don't think our doctor ever said to give the baby water and I live in a hot area also, but it makes sense.
I'm curious as to why your ped said to give your baby water... I was told NO water until at LEAST 6 months old. He should be getting everything that he needs from your breastmilk. Question this idea and do some research.
Hi D.,
You son doesn't "need" water, unless you are on a bf schedule and you don't allow him to eat when he needs to. I allow my son to nurse on demand because I am his only source of hydration. I know some people don't believe in letting a bfing baby "snack," or they think he's using you as a pacifier. When in fact he may be thirsty and need a little drink, so don't be surprised if he nurses more often for shorter periods. I live in a hot area (it's been over 90 the last few days, and they say it will be over 100 on Tues), and on those days I drink extra water and make sure that he is nursing too.
I find that my boy will not eat when he is hot, so make sure he stays cool so he can feel his hunger signs. I rinse his feet and legs under the sink with cool water and get his head wet with a cloth. Then he cools down and is ready to nurse.
If you feel he is dehydrated, you can try wetting a terrycloth bib or washcloth and refrigerating it and he can suck on the bib and suck the water out. I do that for teething, but it would work for hydration.
There are lots of support groups for nursing moms, and they have educators who can help you. Sometimes doctors are not so pro-breastfeeding, like they don't trust it. Not really sure why...so if you need information let me know. :)
Good luck!
Does Pedialyte have sugar in it? If not, maybe your doc would be okay with that. At the very least, it's unlikely to have much sugar in it because it is formulated to prevent/treat dehydration from illnesses such as diarrhea, and sugar would make that particular issue worse. Plus, I've tasted Pedialyte, and it doesn't taste good enough to have much if any sugar in it. It might be worth reading the label and asking the doc. If your son were older I would suggest trying ice water, but I think that would be way too tough on his tummy at 4 months.
K.
K.
We never gave our kids water until we oould introduce a cup, around 5 months. I exclusively breastfed my kids, and on especially hot days, I would just offer them the breast more often. I wouldn't let them do a full feed, just a little snack to get rehydrated. I never had any problem with them getting dehydrated and when I introduced water in a cup they took it willingly, and to this day probably drink more water than anything else. If you really want to give him water, try a sippy cup with a really soft tip like nuby or I think gerber or platex make a really soft spout too.
