water for 3 week old bottle fed baby?

[sunglasses]

Just read somewhere else on mn site not to give water unless baby is v. de hydrated but midwife told me to give water every day to stop constipation? What is correct advice?

no water !!!

just correctly made up formula is all a baby needs

a baby;s tummy is so tiny, no point filling it with water !

You should give a small amount of water everyday to ff babies. Bf babies don't need water in the early months but ff ones do and it helps with constipation.

i have to disagree

the water and formula are proportioned to provide the enough nutrition and hydration, that is why you must make up the formula according to the instructions and not add too much powder or water

That's my understanding as well, lulumama.

If the baby becomes constipated, then it might be a different matter, and in very hot weather, it might be ok to give a small amount of water, but not routinely.

I think you have been misinformed, Icing.

when my ds was 2weeks he was really constipated so ihad to give him cool boiled water between feeds. hes 10 weeks now and i still do it. he drinks 70z formula every 3 hours and maybe 1-2oz water a day...not been constipated since.

formula is just food to babies they need a drink aswell in hot weather.
bf babies the foremilk is the drink while the hindmilk is the food

Newmum - glad you found a way to help your baby become more comfortable, and it's certainly the case that ff babies are more prone to constipation - a baby like yours may need the water.

Not true about foremilk and hindmilk though....they are not two separate entities. Human milk changes its water content depending on the amount of milk in the breast. I know people say what you said, but it's not really right.

Thanks for advice. Baby doesnt seem constipated but does have a cold poor little thing- caught from my two year old who seems to have a permanant one! Should I give water because of that or not?

I never gave extra water to my ff ds till he started weaning around 23 weeks regardless of whether he had a cold, etc. He was never constipated and it wasnt particularly hot so it was never really needed. If your lo seems thirsty then you could offer a small amount but tbh they take milk so often at this age that a milk feed would do just as well.

I always understood you should just give formula except in very hot weather, as giving water routinely to cause them to be undernourished, as they are taking fewer calories per ml iyswim.