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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that if a baby is thirsty/dehydrated they will drink water?

20 replies

froken · 20/08/2013 19:16

Ds is 8 months old and in the last few weeks he has been eating more and more. Until 6 months ds was exclusively breastfed so I didn't give him anything extra to drink.

Now I offer ds water from a free flowing sucky cup when he eats his breakfast/lunch and dinner. I also offer him water throughout the day. He doesn't drink much at all but he does still breastfeed regularly throughout the day.

I have a handful of friends who have babies of a similar age, they often ask me how much ds drinks and tell me they give their dc juice or water with a dash of cordial, one friend gives her dc digestive biscuits as it makes the baby's mouth dry and he drinks more.

Aibu to think that if ds is thirsty he will drink water when offered and I don't need to trick or bribe him into drinking?

OP posts:

hghkjh · 20/08/2013 19:20

I would agree with you. Although, when dd was v ill with a virus, doctor's advice was to keep her fluids up; she specifically said to offer squash, juice, ice lollies - anything to get more fluid intake. Not sure if that's because she was ill though. I do give dd very watered down fruit juice if I feel she should be drinking more in hot weather, she is 2 now though - I think before the age of 1 she only drank water.

Daysies · 20/08/2013 19:22

Been a while since I had a baby, but since when do breastfed babies NEED anything other than breastmilk? In hot weather I would give wet fruit like melon etc perhaps, but I genuinely didn't know about offering water on a regular basis! Preparing to be educated otherwise, but I wouldn't worry about any tricking or bribing being needed.

I can only remember being advised to try giving them water when nothing else was staying down, and even then it was a case of, if they won't take your milk try water, but milk is still best!

hghkjh · 20/08/2013 19:22

In fact probably over 18 months old before she had different drink to water. So yanbu

BMW6 · 20/08/2013 19:24

I was told (by my Mum) that when a baby's fontanelle is depressed (sunken) then it is a sign that they are dehydrated and should be given a drink of water.

That was the advice she was given in the fifties/sixties though, so may be contradicted now.

mamij · 20/08/2013 19:26

Your fore milk acts as water and hind milk is the substance. If your DC is having bf throughout the day, it should be enough.

mrsjay · 20/08/2013 19:26

but you are still breastfeeding so he is drinking isn't he I work with young children and some parents do overjuice their babies and toddlers IME they dont need to be drinking all day which i do see, unless it is baking hot then your son seems to drink normally and he is still having milk, I wouldnt worry

CrazyOldCatLady · 20/08/2013 19:27

I've never done anything but leave cups of water available for mine if they wanted them. They've never been dehydrated.

YANBU!

LtEveDallas · 20/08/2013 19:28

DD never drank water froken, and ended up hospitalised with dehydration when I tried to force the issue by not offering an alternative. One of the worst moments of my life - never felt shame like it before or since.

(She also wouldn't take cows milk or Formula - bloody kid!)

Just be careful.

maja00 · 20/08/2013 19:29

BMW6 - a sunken fontanelle is quite a serious sign of dehydration!

OP, I agree with you - if your baby is breastfed on demand then they will get plenty of fluids, and offering water with meals is fine.

noblegiraffe · 20/08/2013 19:33

DS was constipated for 2 years, he never drank enough. He drank more squash than water so we went with that.

mrsjay · 20/08/2013 19:34

froken i think when you finish breasfeeding and he is still not that bothered about drinking then you need to try something new but for now id not worry

roundtable · 20/08/2013 19:35

Some babies take longer and I think it makes some parents panic and so they offer alternatives and so the habit sticks.

Ds1 would spit water out from his beaker until he was 10 months old. Then he gradually started drinking more and more. As he was drinking his formula I wasn't bothered as that's what weaning meaning to me, gradually transferring one to the other.

My sil however offered her babies water for about a week, said they didn't like it and has given juices/squash ever since. Her dc1 won't drink water all day at school as she doesn't like it and suffers for constipation and stomach issues. Some of that is also related to over eating too though.

My ds2 however guzzled water as soon as it was offered to him. They're all so different and take different times to do things.

Original poster

froken · 20/08/2013 19:35

Lteva that sounds really scary :( I had no idea that children would refuse water when dehydrated I thought instinct would kick in and they would drink.

Ds's soft spot has closed over so I can't use that as a measure.

Dp will soon be on paternity leave so ds will be with just dp 2 days a week, I wonder if we should worry about his drinking on those days when he can't breastfeed on demand?

OP posts:

Justforlaughs · 20/08/2013 19:37

I think that unless the baby is unwell then a breastfed baby shouldn't need any additional fluid. Water is fine and I wouldn't add juice to it until they actually ask for it.

roundtable · 20/08/2013 19:43

I do think there's some pressure to get children weaned/grow up pronto.

Ds1 is coming up to 2 and I get myself in a tizzy as he still has a bottle a day. Then I tell myself to get a grip and clean his teeth afterwards! Maybe if we took our time, formula or breastmilk and gave it longer the changeover would gradually happen for most babies. Probably a utopian way of looking at things though.

Ilanthe · 20/08/2013 20:06

My DS point blank refused any water at all until he finished breastfeeding, even when he was on one morning and evening feed only. Then he drank it at every meal.

greenbananas · 20/08/2013 20:10

Believe it or not, the composition of your breast milk changes according to the weather as well as throughout a feed. When it's hot, you produce more watery milk to keep your baby hydrated.

There's so much peer pressure involved in parenting. You do what you think best, and don't worry about what your friends do.

LynetteScavo · 20/08/2013 20:16

DS2 refused to drink water.

Water with a dash of apple juice was a different matter, though.

My babies have had a sunken fontanel, and while they may have been de-hydrated, it wasn't serious.

Have you tried just a cup, with you holding it, or a straw?

I was a liquid refuser as a child, to the point where my tongue started to swell up. I was allowed to drink cherry aid.

NoComet · 20/08/2013 22:20

my eternally BFing DD2 never drank much, still doesn't even at 12.

Stupidly, I worried that she didn't drink enough and gave her squash, which means she won't drink water untill its about 90 ºC in the shade.

NoComet · 20/08/2013 22:23

When she's properly thirsty she drinks. It's just it's a huge glass of squash later than DH and two cups of tea after than me and DD1, which is scary until you get used to the fact that is the way she is made.

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