feeding cooled boiled water in a bottle...

[jumbly]

apologies for such a basic question... DS is 5 months and doing his level best to weather his first cold...but he's not keen on taking milk either from breast or bottle and I'm worried about him dehydrating... if i try cooled boiled tap water in a bottle, how long is the water good for once it's out of the fridge again? should I finish with it after the same two hours or so that apply with bottles of milk?
also, because i've been feeding him with breast and bottle, I've never before needed to find out whether there's a recommended minimum for fluid intake in a baby of his age(5-6 months)...does anyone have any advice whilst I'm out of reach of health visitor today?
Many thanks - from the mum with the snottiest shoulder in the world...;-)

as long as he is having wet nappies, then whatever fluid he is taking in , is enough. i personally have not given my LOs water, just milk, or if upset tummies, very dilute milk....

It would be best to persevere with breastfeeding really...have you tried putting some carvol on your bra, inbetween your boobs? Can help them with their blocked nose.
Or do you find that your lil one will take water now that he is poorly?

unfortunately he's screaming the house down at the very sight of my boobs...so i'm having to express what i can anyway...he's used to half and half breast and formula for the last couple of months...

...and he took about two ounces of water a couple of hours ago, after he wouldn't take more than a couple of mouthfuls of milk...The other problem is that, with the cough accompanying his cold, he's coughing up a lot of milk too...

might be if he is drinking the water, he feels too full for his milk?? poor thing..have you tried anything to unblock his nose? saline drops before he feeds? snufflebabe ? anything ?

he's got saline drops from the doc....a mighty struggle to get them down his nostrils but they do seem to help really well to clear them once/if they do get down there

squirt some breastmilk down his nose, works so much better then saline

oh, and I know that people over here aren't keen on those nostril suction things, but, I found that if I unblocked my lil ones nose with that first, then squirted some breastmilk up the nose, they could breath easier and feeding was less exhausting and upsetting for them.

agree with 3andnomore - put some of your expressed bm into his nostrils - unblocks like magic ! also try putting a little pillow or rollled up towels UNDER each side of his mattress to give him a little lift - that way no danger any pillow/towel will fall on top of him

i still do this with ds when he has a cold, the added height (rather than lying flat) helps him breath better

[the pillow thing is one of the best tips i ever got from a complete stranger, a woman with 3 adult sons, while chatting on the bus]