when to start worrying about 7.5mo not drinking water?

[Timeoutofmind]

My DD is doing well with her food, eating 3 meals a day and four 7oz bottles but she will not drink water! I offered it in a sippy cup with every meal and sometimes she would take sips but then just got totally fed up and refused. So I bought a doidy cup but she won't entertain that either!!

I was thinking she might drop one of her bottles soon but I'm worried if she does she won't get the fluids she needs!!

Any advice welcome! :)

[dreamfeeder]

It took me nearly 6 months to get my DD to drink water- like you, for ages, I just offered it at every meal. Now, at 11 months, she's drinking a bit more. I wouldn't worry anyway, they get lots of fluid in purees, and i offered melon and watery fruits too.

It's just perseverance. And my DD stopped bf in day and drinks no milk now either... It's not like you can do anything to MAKE a child eat or drink. i offered the same beaker, or one of three of the same, every day until it worked!

[pinky27]

I was just about to start a thread on exactly the same issue! My daugher is 9 months old also has 3 meals a day and 3 bottles and also will not drink water. i offer it in a beaker and have also tried offering it in a bottle but she will not take it and spits it out if she does have a sip. Good idea dreamfeeder bout offering melon and watery fruits - will try to introduce them more. Also, when I give water should I be sterilising the beaker? Should I only be giving boiled and then cooled water?? Very confusing!! Thanks

[Timeoutofmind]

Thanks dreamfeeder, I will try not to worry. She does eat a lot of fruit anyway.

Pinky27 - I don't sterilise the beaker any more and I give tap water, but only started this recently.

[pinky27]

Thanks! Spoke to Health visitor the other day about my bambino not drinking water she said not to worry about it and to keep offering it and one day she will take it. She also suggested adding a tiny drop of baby juice ( sugar free) to the water - I was quite surprised that she said that cos thought that they were against babies having juice!!

[Flisspaps]

pinky27 We never sterilised the beaker or boiled the water - a good wash and tap water are fine.

There are also some people who would suggest not offering sugar free drinks as they often contain Aspartame as a sweetener (which for some is a bit of a contentious additive, but each to their own)

FWIW, DD didn't drink much water at all until she was about 1, until then she had her milk and solids. A cup was apparently for waving about and covering the room with

[Yesmynameis]

Timeoutofmind, maybe when she drops one of her bottles she will be thirsty for her water?

I offered DD a sippy cup of water with every meal, but she didn't drink much for ages and ages. In fact, she's only started drinking properly out of it since she could hold the beaker and drink by herself which was only since about 8.5/9mo.

She is now 9.5mo and I would say it's only in the last few weeks that she has actually twigged that eating when she's hungry will fill her up and drinking water when she's thirsty will quench her thirst.

I just wash her beaker in the normal washing up and offer ordinary tap water too btw.

I personally wouldn't rush to add fruit juices etc to the water. My DN didn't take to water so he had juices all the time and then later cows milk. Now at 2yo he still won't touch plain water. Not a massive problem day to day, but when he recently had a sickness bug it was a bit of a nightmare. My DSIL says she wishes she hadn't given in with the juices etc so early on. Just to share her experience.

[Haberdashery]

I did adding a drop of apple juice to the water. I think my ratios were about a millimetre or two of normal juice in the bottom of a sippy cup filled up to the top measuring line with water (about 200ml?) which wasn't enough to really taste of much but added a little sweetness to the water. It was enough to get DD to drink it and she really had to drink something as she wouldn't take formula and I had to go back to work part time when she was six months old. She still likes watered apple juice (more like a third juice these days - she is nearly five) but will happily drink water and has done for the past few years. And if you add really just a very little juice, it won't make much of a difference to anything important like your baby's teeth at all. I'd steer clear of aspartame, tbh, and if you're giving fruit juice it does have sugars in it just not sucrose so make it really dilute.

[Timeoutofmind]

Thanks to you both. Last week my DM (who has been stressing me out about DD not drinking) gave my DD some very dilute Orange juice and she still didn't drink it. So I think that maybe she is getting enough from her milk at the mo - she has plenty of wet nappies so I know she's not dehydrated.

yesmynameis I think maybe you're right and she will get the hang of it at some point so I will persevere offering her water at every meal.

[doblet]

Haberdashery - I've always avoided sugar free but wondered what is so bad in particular about aspartame? DH doesn't believe me that it is bad for you and I don't have much of an arguement!