Getting BF baby to drink water - how?

[Jenkeywoo]

DD is 11 months - has a continual problem with constipation since starting solids. She does not eat much and we have taken it all slowly with baby led weaning, but it's as if when she reaches a critical level of food she gets constipated so stops eating for a few weeks, bowels back to normal for a day or two, starts eating then the constipation cycle starts again. I always felt that breastfeeding was enough to provide her with the liquid she needs - (and she is still demand feeding around 8 times in 24 hours.)I do try to get her to drink but she doesn't like beakers cups really - she'll have a little bit from a doidy but I struggle to get her to have even 1oz a day. Gp not interested , but I feel so sad for my little girl and am sick of seeing her in pain.

Can you try her on Prunes or prune juice? Pears, plums & peaches also have the same effect...

HTH

I had the same problem with ds - very diluted fresh orange juice worked wonders. Have you tried giving it to her from a spoon?

yes she has daily prunes and diluted orange juice - not sure where to go next except back to the doctor (the one who told me to put her on a potty of boiling water to steam out the poo...)

linseeds (buy from healthfood shop or even supermarket) in yoghurt- worked every single time for mine.

small dose of lactulose daily - 2.5ml - can buy over the counter but only for adults even though can be prescribed for lo-so may want to ask gp. i have prob with my dd - i add a "dose" of prunes or apicots to ready brek every day and make it with a bit more milk if she gets bunged up.

also tummy massage really helped with us - you can get books on it although we did a course when she was little. it's common sense really - just gentle strokes around the tum (at least 20 mins after eating)

TBH it sounds to me like she may be intolerant to something in her diet. Have you kept a food diary, by any chance? If not, try keeping one for a month or so - very detailed, everything she eats or drinks, and every poo or attempt at poo. You may see a correlation.

My ds1 had constipation problems pretty much the same stage, and I was being told "more fibre, more water". But my instinct was that he was getting plenty of, maybe to much, fibre. I had kept a food diary since he had started solids, and, as a result, decided to reduce the amount of meat he was getting, especially red meat, and replace some of his wholemeal bread wih white bread. His pooing improved within days. Another thing I found helped was to include olive oil (preferably uncooked
) in his food. I would mix half a teaspoonful in his food.

To get him to take more water I tried herbal teas - chamomile was his first favourite - and jelly. Jelly is mostly water, but don't use the sugar-free ones.

HTH

Oh and onather modificatio I made to ds1's diet was frequently to replace wheat with other grains - oats, rice, quinoa, millet, corn, etc.