is it normal to do this when bottle feeding?

[flossish]

when baby (4 weeks atm) wakes in the night for a feed to give water to cut down night time feeds/wakings?

Never heard of that.

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Bottle fed babies sometimes need water in addition to milk, but doing it at night for a 4 week old makes no sense. It won't work - 4 weeks is too young to learn reinforcement and its appetite will be all over the shop, so could be really hungry when it wakes.

Dunno if it's you or a pal, but I wouldn't advise it.

I think my MIL told me to do this, but I never did, and never needed to. And I agree 4 weeks is way too young to be thinking about this anyway.

It's the sort of thing done when a child is a good few months, like 6/7+ to stop night wakings.
Not 4 weeks.
I personally wouldn't do it at 6/7 months, but have heard it reccommended for babies that won't sleep through.
It's meant to make baby think that there is no point waking up as they won't get milk, but is just cruel IMO, especially at 4weeks! At 4 weeks baies know nothing except what their body tells them, they certainyl don't think 'Oh, if I wake up an extra time tonight I'll get more milk!'

Definitely not at 4 weeks, water won't fill up that tiny tummy for long anyway and they need regualr feeds day and night until they can take more in one go. You cannot "teach" a lo to sleep through by denying nutrition any more than letting them cry to the point of exhaustion

No. It's not very nice! 4 week old babies need night feeds.

It will wake up again 20 minutes later and if you don't feed it, it will scream all night.

nope, babies have small tummies and they need filling with milk not water.

if the formula milk is made correctly it suffices as food and drink, water only necessary if the weather is incredibly hot.

if the baby is given milk, he/she will settle a lot quicker than if given water or left to cry

babies NEED to feed in the, unless they don;t wake for a feed, IFYSWIM

This is actually quite dangerous, flossish. Most babies of this age need to feed in the night to ensure adequate calorie intake and giving water risks under-nourishing, which is not what you want, I'm sure!

Who has told you to do this? Surely not a health visitor?

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I wasn't being sarky, honest, Pruners!

I am realistic about some HVs and their knowledge of healthy infant feeding, but I would genuinely be surprised if an HV had suggested this as it is such a bad idea! I suspect it comes from a friend or a relative.

yes a relative. baby on 25th centile and she is doing this - worries me really. what can i do though? tried to today suggest weight might drop when missing the night feed, idea dismissed. will have to see.

I never did it with DD; rarely gave water TBH unless it was very hot weather.

A 4 week old waking in the night for feeds is very normal; I wouldn't be restricting milk at all.

Tell her the baby's stomach is the size of it's fist, and that as soon as that milk is digested, baby will be hungry. She is possibly leaving her baby hungry for 3/4 of the night!

tell her outright that it is cruel. It is cruel.

Sounds dangerous to her baby's health too. Who has suggested this is a "good thing" ?

Difficult, flossish, but if you can, you probably have to at least get her to check with her HV. After that, I don't know what you can do

It's unkind, and definitely risks the baby losing weight and becoming badly nourished. Some babies will put up with just water even when they want milk, and learn not to cry, rather than experience the rejection when their cries aren't answered.

When DS was about 3 or 4 months old, and feeding v frequently in the day HV advised to give him 1 oz of cooled boiled water to try and space feeds out a bit more. So possibly similar advice has been given to someone she knows, and has been distorted somewhere along the line. I agree with everyone else that 4 weeks is far too young to be trying to avoid night feeds.