Does my 6 week old need water??????

[didsnbump]

Im bottle feeding my son who is now six weeks old. Do i need to be giving him water or not.
How do you tell the difference between thirst and hunger???

I don't know but have a bump.

hm...don't really know, but I would have thought at a Baby that young, it would be the same rule as for a Breastfed Baby, i.e. no water offered.
But I don't know if I am correct , of course....what do teh Formula websites, say, they should have that kind of information on their website, surely?

You could

• ask HV

• call formula milk telephone lines

But current guidance for ff babies generally is that no, they don't need water unless there is some over-riding health reason for it. Formula milk is almost all water anyway, like breastmilk.

The current practice is that babies get all of the fluids they need from the formula/breast milk. They are always changing the best practices though. There's no way to tell whether they are hungry or thirsty, however during the summer I would give my child some cooled bolied water. They do not normally get thirsty if they are bottled fed but I would check with the hv.