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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Giving water to a 6 week old?

17 replies

drowsylittledame · 01/09/2013 10:38

Hello Ladies,

DS has developed a habit of going on the breast for lots of little feeds during the day - i.e. 5 minutes at a time - intermingled with longer feeds 3 or 4 times a day (not including night feeds). I asked the health visitor if there was anything I could do to stop the snacking and encourage him to go for longer between feeds.

She said to bear in mind that sometimes he will just be thirsty and wants something to quench his thirst, so there is nothing wrong with snacking.

It reminded me of something my Mum has mentioned a few times about giving babies boiled and cooled water. She said exactly the same thing - sometimes they are just thirsty.

She was a very good Mum and still has the magic touch with babies - I don't doubt she did this with me and my sisters with no ill affects, but is it something that people still do, and at what age can I start giving him boiled and cooled water? How would I know if he wanted water or milk?

Sorry if this sounds really clueless - first time Mum wading through a lot of contradictory information!

PS. At least now I know why I remember her sterilising bottles when my sisters were babies - the memory had always confused me as we were all exclusively breast fed :)

OP posts:

cantdoalgebra · 01/09/2013 10:43

A baby of this age that is fully breastfed does not need water - cooled, boiled water is sometimes suggested for bottle fed babies (formula based on cows milk)

evelynj · 01/09/2013 10:43

I think the 'advice 'is just to bf him as he'll get a drink this way.

My 6 week old is now ff & a bit constipated so I've been trying to give water between feeds but breast milk is digested quicker & easier to stick bab on the boob than faff with sterilising anyway x

Snowflakepie · 01/09/2013 10:47

I always understood that bf babies didn't need any extra as your milk will adapt to hot weather and contain more water, so stay well hydrated yourself. Having said that, a small amount of water will not cause harm. My DS is 10 weeks and through the very hot weather I gave him maybe an ounce of boiled cooled water a few times a day, when he seemed fretful or if the fontanelle was a bit sunken. It also helped brilliantly with shifting wind and poo (sorry tmi!). But he is ff so may well have needed it.

Check your baby's head and nappies, if not sunken and plenty of wee, pooing well etc, then it's probably not necessary but also won't hurt if you're concerned. Hope that helps x

Original poster

drowsylittledame · 01/09/2013 10:55

Thanks all :)

I may try him with water just to see if it has any affect on the cluster feeding. At first I thought it was a growth spurt but I'm beginning to think he's just thirsty / wanting to snack, as it has been going on for several days now and I know he's getting plenty of milk during his 'proper' feeds because I regularly express to check how much he is actually drinking (up to 150ml).

He does suffer a lot with wind, so maybe this will help with that too, as he always seems to have a bit more despite me spending a lot of time burping him!!

He's a cute little thing, though ;)

OP posts:

CelticPromise · 01/09/2013 11:02

Hi he sounds totally normal, and a bf baby does not need water. Also, what you express is not necessarily an indication of what he gets. If you have questions/concerns about his feeding patterns, wind etc I'd recommend that you go along to a bf group for knowledgeable advice.

MoominsYonisAreScary · 01/09/2013 11:09

Bf babies don't need water until they are on solids, they only advise water for ff babies now if the weather is hot

bamboostalks · 01/09/2013 11:09

Just to say that a sunken fontanelle is very dangerous and is not a sign that the baby just needs a sip of water. It displays worrying levels of dehydration and requires medical advice.

Just feed him lots of milk during hot weather, that's enough and water can interfere with the demand for milk so tread carefully. His tummy is very wee still and doesn't need filling up with other fluids.

ExBrightonBell · 01/09/2013 11:10

Hi drowsy. Can I ask why you want to stop your baby from "snacking" or having a feed if he is thirsty? Breastmilk is both food and drink for a baby, and so if they are thirsty then bm is what they should be having. It will be much better at quenching thirst than water. A tiny baby will sometimes want to feed little and often and bfeeding works best when it is based on supply and demand.

How much you can express doesn't necessarily translate into how much is being taken by your baby. A lot will depend on how efficient your baby is at transferring milk. There is also no need to try and measure how much breast milk your baby is having. They should have as much as they want, whenever they want it. Trying to space out feeds is not recommended. Please do take your health visitor's advice - they are telling you the correct information.

TravelinColour · 01/09/2013 11:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

drowsylittledame · 01/09/2013 11:15

bamboostalks - what would you class as a sunken fontanelle? DS's does sink in between feeds and sometimes does this even after a feed, yet he continues to fill his nappies as usual and gain a healthy amount of weight (in fact he's been consistently above average when it comes to weight gain). I've spoken to several RL friends about this and they have all said that their babies had what they thought were sunken fontanelle and midwives / health visitors had assured them it was nothing to worry about as long as they were still weeing on a regular basis (i.e. if they were dehydrated then the first thing that would happen would be that they would stop filling nappies).

For everything you read / are told there seems to be another completely contradictory opinion. It's driving me a bit nuts!

PS. Hope that didn't sound to combatory. Brain is tying itself in knots here :)

OP posts:

hettienne · 01/09/2013 11:16

Water isn't a good idea for unweaned babies - it reduces the amount of milk they take and can be dangerous if they have too much.

Milk is 90% water anyway, so if he is thirsty that's perfect for him.

hettienne · 01/09/2013 11:17

Expressing only tells you how much you can express by the way - it doesn't tell you how much the baby gets.

Original poster

drowsylittledame · 01/09/2013 11:22

Just wanted to clarify that I am not trying to stop him from snacking. If that's what he wants to do, then that is fine - I was just curious as to current opinion on giving babies water as my Mum has mentioned it a few times and, although she is brilliant with babies, it might be an old-fashioned view as she was having babies thirty years ago, if that makes sense.

I don't think I explained myself brilliantly when it came to the expressing comment. I express for two reasons:-

Because the constant feeding had made me a bit worried that there was something wrong with my supply or DS's sucking technique - I thought if I expressed a couple of times a day then I could be certain of how much he was getting, at least at those feeds, for a bit of reassurance (usual first time Mum fussiness I expect).

So that DH can do the first night feed, allowing me to get a bit of extra sleep.

Hope that clears matters up. I will speak to HV about the water issue just to get a second opinion (no offense - as mentioned above, a lot of the information out there seems contradictory). I just want to do the right thing for DS.

OP posts:

Original poster

drowsylittledame · 01/09/2013 11:23

PS. I won't give him any water based on what everyone has said, but wanted to ask the health visitor her thoughts as well, even though she'll probably say the same thing...

OP posts:

hettienne · 01/09/2013 11:28

There's some NHS information here about water for babies - www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/drinks-and-cups-children.aspx

"Breast milk: this is the only food or drink babies need in the first six months of their life"

"Water: fully breastfed babies don?t need any water until they?ve started eating solid food. Bottle-fed babies may need some extra water in hot weather"

midori1999 · 01/09/2013 11:31

Breastfed babies most certainly don't need water. Breastmilk provides all their needs until they are ready for solids and even then you only need to give water if you want to.

Feeding in the way you describe (longer feeds and 'snacking') is actually just the way a breastfed baby feeds. Some feeds will just be longer than others and cluster feeding is normal too.

Perhaps you'd find a breastfeeding group, where you could talk to other BF Mums, reassuring if you're a little anxious?

evelynj · 01/09/2013 11:58

I think the 'advice 'is just to bf him as he'll get a drink this way.

My 6 week old is now ff & a bit constipated so I've been trying to give water between feeds but breast milk is digested quicker & easier to stick bab on the boob than faff with sterilising anyway x

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