To give my nearly 4 week old baby some water?

[elm26]

Hello

I made a thread the other night as it's 26-28 degrees in my flat all night long, my usually content nearly 4 week old has been so unsettled last couple of nights.

I've tried sleeping her in a nappy, in a nappy with a muslin wrapped around her, in a nappy and a vest and she's not satisfied at all bless her. The back of her hair, neck and back are sweaty.

She's formula fed and plenty of wet nappies, however my Stepmum (long time Nanny of many children and babies as an occupation) suggested I give her half an oz to 1oz of cool boiled water (not to replace formula) just to see if she may be a little thirsty.

I thought guidelines have changed now and we're not meant to give babies water however I googled and NHS says that formula fed babies can have small amounts in hot weather but I'm still nervous as a first time mum that I'm going to hurt her somehow! She also hasn't done a poo for 2 days and I've heard water can help with constipation (I've tried bicycle legs, massaging tummy etc).

Did any of you give your newborns a tiny bit of water in hot weather or shall I leave it?

It used to be advised to give babies water, but it's been discovered to be potentially dangerous. Nowadays we know that water can pull electrolytes out of the body. Tiny babies can't cope with that.

Give extra formula at proper dilution.

It's tough for babies in the heat, because you would normally cuddle a grumpy baby, but that only makes them hotter.

Have you got a nice big electric fan?

A few gulps for her will be fine and should get her bowels moving as well. My HV said it’s sometimes that water is an empty calorie to a baby and they won’t want their milk whilst their tum feels full off water. So I didn’t make a habit of it. But in this heat a few gulps will be fine.

"feeling such a failure"...... I am not sure carrying a baby and giving birth to new life is being any sort of failure! You sound like a good mother to me. Some good advice on this thread.

Of course, give her water. When mine were babies (in the olden days ), I gave them cooled, boiled water, and the 2nd one started weaning at 4 WEEKS - he was almost 11lb born - with the approval of my GP.

Thank you! Unfortunately she hates a fan. I bought one of those gentle baby fans that you can clip to pram, Moses, cot etc and she cries as soon as I put it on 😔 DH and I have been looking at air con units.

Thanks for the explanations. I didn't know this. Every day's a school day!

It’s a baby, not a heating system. They do not need flushing.

Your baby does not need water, OP. Offer more milk if you think she needs it. Trust your instincts.

I remember my midwife ‘ accused’ me of giving my newborn something else in addition to breast milk ( I was so naive and confused I didn’t really know what she was in about!) …. Your HV is entitled to an opinion but you don’t have to agree - if your baby is taking the milk and gaining weight and is happy that’s fine !
In my day cooled boiled water was ok and if it’s advised on the NHS website then it is current advice I would think.
Also don’t beat yourself up about falling asleep - many of us have been there - and done that - looking after a small baby is hard and so be proud of yourself - and get the sleep tonight when you can .

My tiny tiny baby was born in a heatwave. Took ages for my milk to come through and I gave him small amounts of water (that’s what our bodies are made of, right?).

if concerned clear it with your health worker, of course.

Just give the baby some cool boiled water. It will not harm her and if she doesn’t want it she won’t take it.

I would put a cold flannel on her

@elm26 This is madness and ridiculous. My DS was 8lb 15oz when born, so of course he's going to need more than the standard 2 - 3oz... because he was a bigger baby! He had 4 - 5oz from birth, when we tried to follow the HV's advice and give him less he screamed in hunger 😐

I always gave mine an ounce from birth especially in hot weather. They got constipated a lot so HV advised a bit extra. I gave it in a Tommy tippee beaker though. Was told it's not a good idea to let them get used to drinking water from a bottle.

Important in hot weather to be especially careful formula is constituted exactly as per instructions and it is not too strong. As long as you are doing that all should be well.
I had one DD in one of our hottest summers on record and HV kept trying to make me give her water in spite of the fact that I was ebf and was drinking gallons. My GP OH said it was rubbish and he was sure he would notice if she was dehydrating!

It is so hard to get everything perfect with a new baby and there are always people giving conflicting advice ... and fads/advice that come and go.

As above power said a few gulps will not hurt her.

Hang on in there .. she has caring parents and that is the best you can do for her! If I could list the times when I worried I was not getting it right....! They are healthy happy adults now.

Small amounts occasionally are unlikely to cause any issues.

Giving water regularly e.g. to stretch out feeds, water down formula etc is a bad idea. This is probably why it's advised not to do it at all. It could also be a problem for babies who are struggling with e.g. latch, weight gain - it may displace essential nutrients in their bodies.

It's also unnecessary though - you can just give extra formula. Since there's no benefit, and a potential (if low risk) of harm, for most people it makes sense not to give water and this is why the general advice says no water.

But it is unlikely to cause any problems to give a one off small drink of cooled boiled water. Which is why older generations were told it was OK and it mostly was.

Also take a drink of water yourself when feeding through the night it will wake you up for sure

I always gave mine boiled and cooled tap water - I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to now. My 4 are fine. Just not mineral water obvs.

Good gracious.
Who told you this?
You don't need to wake a baby up that often.
Let her sleep and get into a routine.

Poster not power.

Anything between 4 - 6 ounces every four hours is fine.
Your HV sounds batshit.

Worth noting too that modern formulas are a lot less "heavy" than older formulas used in previous generations. So some of this advice may be relating to a kind of formula which is no longer sold!

No breast fed babies need vitamin D drops and formula feed babies may need water.

I agree, they told me that my 8lb 15oz newborn only needed 2-3oz per feed... he was screaming in hunger for the first couple of days because I tried to be diligent and follow their advice...

My great niece is E bf and she’s pissed off with this weather too. We all are.

Id just make an extra bottle. Water can fill them up for too long and they don’t get any nutrients out of it.

When she was first born she had to wake her every 3hrs to feed until she got back up to birthweight.

That's a really good point.

I know, from expressing my breast milk, that I produced about 6 oz. every three hours or so! I mean at this stage, OP.
Just feed your baby what she demands.
She'll be fine.

My youngest was having 4oz per feed by the time we were discharged from hospital and when he was a week old the midwife said we could stop the 4 hour alarm and let him sleep, he’s only 2 so can’t have changed that much! Even my eldest who had jaundice I was told every 3 hours. I’m so confused by these 2-3oz every 2 hours nonsense, do they want to make formula feeding so miserable that you’ll breastfeed the next one and boost their stats or something? It can’t be based on any sort of evidence.