is it right to give 6 week old water or weak juice?

[Gemmitygem]

Some of the babycare books are suggesting one drink of water in the afternoon for 6-8 week olds. My DS is just 6 weeks. Is this really necessary? They suggest water at 4.30 pm, then feed at 5 (he usually feeds at 5 anyway)..

I don't want to start giving him anything dodgy or anything he doesn't need: does anyone know if this is appropriate or not?

same IME soph. It's just that some parents really don't get on with routines. Must say I'm finding it much harder with 2. DS2's just having to be squeezed in wherever there's space!

a demand fed child will only wake up once a night in general too

its nothing to do with the 'routine' .. that's normal

and yes I do think its harsh to refuse to feed a baby who wakes up for a feed .. but I have enough common sense to appreciate that you would know the difference between stirring in sleep and being hungry

i kind of find it easier to squeeze dd in around ds's routine- I just gear her feeds so that she'll be sleepy around the time ds goes for his naps. Working brill ATM cos am getting 2 childfree slots/day including up to 2 hours after lunch- not bad even if I do say it myself!

twiglett I'm not getting at demand feeding or anything. In fact I don't think there's much difference between demand feeding and an easygoing routine if both are done properly. It's just that some mums that I have spoken to are still getting up every 3hours in the night to feed babies that are over 9mo- personally I think something is going wrong there.

I"m kind of looking forward to him going through the night, but actually getting used to those 3 am feeds. It's getting up at 7 and pretending to be jolly and morning-like which is the killer!

I've understood from others that it is basically a gradual thing, you feed at 10.30 or 11pm, and wait to see when the baby wakes up in the night, and it just gets later and later till they're sleeping through (will wait and see as I'm a first time mum!)

he is such a good baby (spends ages staring cutely at me, only really cries if he's hungry/tummy ache or overtired), and just asks for food more or less when the routine says (although of course I would give him it at any time if he is really hungry), but as you say liquidclocks it's a mix of the routines you read about and your own instinct as a mother, since each day is different and they may take a great feed one time and worse another etc.

ah the learning curve!