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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think the 'baby WILL drink water' brigade are <ahem> incorrect *edited by MNHQ*

102 replies

StinkusMinkus · 22/05/2014 19:22

I keep reading a lot of threads where people post about babies being given squash/juice (as they won't drink water), and insist that baby WILL drink water if not given anything else...

Well, can I personally call bullshit on that one...?!

DS (10 months) has never been given anything to drink other than milk or water. However - he is a water refuser. His poo this morning was little hard pellets, constipated through not drinking enough in this hot weather. And it's not even summer proper yet. So what do I do when it gets actually, really, hot? Keep offering him nothing other than water, and watch him dehydrate as he keeps refusing it - or try him with something else?

For the record, I don't advocate given kids excess sugar/salt etc - DS isn't even given fromage frais and has plain natural yoghurt instead, but I think this one is bloody nutty. Dehydrate your kid rather than give them squash??!

AIBU?

OP posts:
thebodylovesspring · 22/05/2014 19:53

Drinking anything is better than dehydration.

We do get told utter bollocks really.

Babies survive. Weak squash is absolutely fine.

Original poster
StinkusMinkus · 22/05/2014 19:57

But I've never given him squash or juice - he's still refusing water. He doesn't even know they exist as an option at this stage. Am I meant to hold out until he caves in...by which point he could be very severely constipated or worse??

OP posts:
thornrose · 22/05/2014 19:58

I would imagine the amount of babies who would refuse water when dangerously dehydrated if other options were not available would be very small

I wasn't prepared to "play chicken" and wait to see how dangerous it would get before I offered an alternative.

SqueezedMiddle · 22/05/2014 20:01

My DS hated water. I gave him diluted orange/apple juice in hot weather until he got used to it, and as time went on I slyly diluted it more and more until it was really just water with a shot of juice.

Its better to keep them hydrated, rather than to worry about a little bit of sugar!

He is 9 years old now and has been guzzling water since the age of about 3 yrs old + healthy, great teeth. Don't worry!

EatDessertFirst · 22/05/2014 20:01

DD (5.5) is and always has been a water refuser. She drinks weak squash/diluted juice.
DS (3.5) will guzzle tap water. Same parenting techniques used in both cases. So YANBU.

I would rather give a 'sweet' tasting drink than watch my child suffer the effects of dehydration. I couldn't care less about cat-bum faces. People that make such ridiculous comments 'baby WILL drink water eventually' need their heads looked at.

Mim78 · 22/05/2014 20:02

Yanbu - just make sure you brush any teeth that have appeared!

LettertoHerms · 22/05/2014 20:03

An adult will drink anything available before they get too dehydrated. An adult will eat available food before they let themselves starve.

Babies and small children don't have a concept of those things. It takes time to develop the concept of what hunger and thirst is and what fixes it. It isn't a matter of getting hungry or thirsty enough they will eat or drink, because they don't know, it's just their body feeling bad and then worse, the connections aren't there yet.

So yes, YANBU. Babies need us to figure it out for them, and sometimes it means getting them to eat/drink whattthey will, and not what's best.

stealthsquiggle · 22/05/2014 20:04

I sometimes wonder if it is tap water that is the problem for some DC? (Note - some, not all. I know it is not that simple). I won't drink tap water in a lot of areas - it tastes horrible. Bottled, or filtered and chilled, fine, but not straight out of the tap. I go out and hunt for shops to buy bottled water when travelling for work - not because the tap water isn't safe, but because it doesn't taste nice.

Given the choice between tap temperature tap water or squash, I would absolutely go for squash and I don't even like it.

willowisp · 22/05/2014 20:07

But why give squash ? Why not offer diluted real fruit juice. Most squashes contain glucose fructose syrup, which is not what you want to be giving a baby (or anyone IMO).

The other thing to do ref constipation is stewed fruit, squeezed orange juice, chopped up dried & soaked apricots. In fact most fruit, apart from bananas, is good - think wet, plums, raspberries, strawberries.

Also have a look at what wheat products your giving...while meal bread will clog up a baby, so will weetabix. You need a soluble fibre like oats or ready break. And if you're giving follow on milk, don't, because the extra iron is also constipating.

tshirtsuntan · 22/05/2014 20:10

They do change though, my son would not drink water as a baby ( had massively diluted Apple juice) and was never keen on milk, now at 5 years old drinks a lot of water, probably getting on for a couple of litres a day. Don't worry!

YolandiFuckinVisser · 22/05/2014 20:10

My ds will only drink water and only ever has since he stopped bf-ing. He's nearly 13 now. He had trouble with his bladder though and wore pullups every night til he was 7 because he just didn't drink enough. He tried squash & juice & milk & pop etc but didn't like any of them. He's better now cos he's old enough to understand but he never really liked drinking anything. He likes almost all foods though, v strange!

tshirtsuntan · 22/05/2014 20:12

Don't hv' s recommend orange juice for constipation? Slightly hypocritical..Hmm

bouncinbean · 22/05/2014 20:14

Stinkus - I caved in!
DD just does not like water it seems and judging by how my boobs felt was also reducing her milk intake once she discovered food.
Usually the constipation is kept at bay with prunes, apricots, lots of watery fruit like grapes and satsumas, and I make her meals very sloppy and offer water. We might get 2 or 3 sips during a meal if very lucky. But if I know she needs liquid, i.e. its been a hot day or we've only been able to give her dryish food like a sandwich then I add fruit juice into her water.
I do try to avoid squash - don't like the idea of refined sugar or the artificial sweeteners in the sugar free stuff, so we buy the long life cartons of juice that are 100% fruit rather than the 'made from concentrate' ones.
We've got the tommee tippee sippee cups in pink and orange - so no judgemental looks like has been said upthread because its impossible to tell Wink

AElfgifu · 22/05/2014 20:15

Water isn't very healthy for babies though, is it,.

And yes, some babies will starve to death rather than eat. My friends little girl did. It only took about 8 hours, but she had a genetic condition which made her starve faster than normal

P3ppaPig · 22/05/2014 20:17

YANBU. I was pulled aside at nursery and asked if I would please consider letting her drink squash as they were very worried as she would always refuse her water (summer and at the time about 12 months). I felt like a crap mum. 1 for insisting for 6 months that she would onky drink water and milk. 2 for agreeing and letting her have bloody squash! Ridiculous!

Now at 4 she happily has water.

Deverethemuzzler · 22/05/2014 20:17

willow its not going to damage a baby if diluted squash is given occasionally.

It just isn't.

I don't buy squash and my kids drink water, milk and diluted juice of all flavours.

But not all kids do and a bit of squash is fine.

Even the occasional glass of coke won't kill a child Shock

Deverethemuzzler · 22/05/2014 20:19

There are plenty of people who insist that you shouldn't give a baby water at all and they must only have breast milk.

There is always somebody available to tell you what you are doing wrong.

deakymom · 22/05/2014 20:20

i add enough to colour it so it looks like big sis/bro mom and dads its not too bad really my daughter has kidney problems so she needs to drink!

Original poster
StinkusMinkus · 22/05/2014 20:27

I blame myself. As a kid I used to get really severe migraines from dehydration. And now even as an adult I have to force myself to have a glass of water rather than a cup of coffee. Is aversion to tap water genetic you think??

OP posts:
LabradorMama · 22/05/2014 20:29

I've been weaning DS (7mo) for about 5 weeks and trying to get him to drink water with meals, I've tried a sippy cup and a doidy cup but the best he's done is 2 sips for the whole day. It hadn't occurred to me that he might not like water, I'd assumed he didn't like drinking from a cup Blush

He's been prone to constipation since birth so I've been really worried about him during the recent warmer weather. His wee smells strong (always has) and I'm worried he's not getting enough fluids as he's drastically cut down his milk intake since discovering the joys of food. He has stewed fruit twice a day and tomorrow - sod it - I'm going to try him with some diluted pear or apple juice

AElfgifu · 22/05/2014 20:30

Why drink water instead of coffee?

I would think coffee would be better for you?

Original poster
StinkusMinkus · 22/05/2014 20:31

Ah Labrador - we've been having problems with cups too. Sippy cups are refused outright. I have to let him drink from a beaker, or give him a baby cup to tip down himself. Weaning from the bottle is not going well. We have a doidy cup on order. Are they any good?

OP posts:
Original poster
StinkusMinkus · 22/05/2014 20:33

Instant coffee is a migraine trigger for me. My migraines stopped completely when I gave up instant coffee as a vegan (soy milk curdles in instant coffee). When I took up milk again, the dratted instant coffee crept back in. I live on the stuff.

OP posts:
exexpat · 22/05/2014 20:33

Repeated exposure and offering no alternatives works for some children, but not all.

DS was a milk refuser (not a drop has passed his lips since he was weaned off breastfeeding more than 14 years ago), and also for a long time a juice/squash/fizzy drink refuser.

He used to come back from parties really dehydrated because he wouldn't drink the fruit-shoots or coke…

(Now aged nearly 16, will happily drink coke, squash, beer, wine etc etc but still no milk.)

Panzee · 22/05/2014 20:34

My son will only drink water or milk.
Mind you he will only eat one type of pasta, one type of sandwich and the occasional sausage. Veg or fruit? Forget it. So I have no cause to be smug. :o