Giving water

[Jenjen85]

Im weaning my 6month old DD and have been introducing water and she just either spits it our or messes with the cup/teat. Iv tried 3 different cups and a bottle but nothing seems to work. She has started to get more solid poo's and I'm worried she will get constipated (this has happened before). Does anyone have any tips or advice on what could help? I should mention she is formula fed and I have reduced her bottles to 3 a day as she has 3 meals a day.

[MrsOakenshield]

don't worry, she won't get constipated. The whole 'drink 2 litres of water a day' thing is utter rubbish (thank you, drinks companies), we get the majority of the liquid we need from our food, and off course at 6 months she's getting the majority of her liquid from her milk. If she is having fruit and veg she will be fine.

It can take a while to settle on a cup that they get on with, I think we tried about 5 different kinds, and it wasn't really till she was at least 1 that she drank much water at all. In the end the cup she liked the most was a very basic Boots one, cost about a quid! Until DH bought that she didn't drink much water at all. I got very angsty about it (despite my mum constantly reassuring me that it was fine!), for no reason now I look back on it.

Her poos will get more solid as you introduce more solid food but that's fine. And if her poos seem a bit dry or hard, or she's struggling to go, lactulase is your friend (it's a poo softener, the GP can prescribe it, and it can be given fairly long term, I believe).

[gretagrape]

My son is 9m and is only just getting the hang of drinking water out of a sippee cup - sometimes he spits the whole lot out and finds it hilarious and others he gulps it down. There's no change to his nappies so he's obviously getting enough fluid overall.

Dropping to 3 bottles at 6 months is a little bit quick though, so I'd be tempted to increase the milk intake for a bit longer rather than risk having to use medicine for constipation? We sort of dropped one bottle each month as we increased the number of meals so it's only really now that food is starting to be prioritised over milk.

[StuckOnARollercoaster]

Thanks for this thread - my DD is now 7 months and I still can't get her to drink water - am not going to worry about it now as that's what I was going to ask ;-)
Ps for constipation I whizz up some soft prunes or apricots with a bit of juice and/or some fresh fruit into a puree and either give a few spoonfuls as 'dessert' or mix it in with her porridge.

[ColdTeaAgain]

Hi jen my DD is 7.5 months and on 3 meals a day and has water at each meal. I offer her water from a doidy cup and she really enjoys drinking from it! When she's had enough to satisfy her thirst (which isnt much really) she starts drinking it and spitting it all out thinking its great fun! So may be try the doidy cup but it could that your DD just isnt feeling thirsty yet.

[HazleNutt]

DS does not like water if it's offered separately, but will happily drink if I offer it during feeding, after every few spoonfuls. He will only accept Tommee First Sips cup.

[Donnarama]

DS is 5 and half months and ive just started introducing a little bit of baby rice after one feed a day and today he had a little bit of mashed banana, which he loved. But I have a question that im hoping someone can help me with. when should I start introducing water (from a cup) and do I give cold water from the tap or cooled boiled water?

[CornishYarg]

I would offer water with meals now, but don't worry if he doesn't drink any for a while. You're just trying to get him used to a cup gradually.

Advice is to use cooled boiled water till 6 months then tap water is fine.