Giving very diluted juice to FF baby in hot weather - yay or nay?

[messylittlemonkey]

Hi

My DD is just over 14 weeks old and is FF. She feeds very well.

My concern is that in this warm weather, she could perhaps benefit from some cool boiled water to quench her thirst a bit, but she's not at all keen on it and pushes the teat out as soon as she twigs that it's not milk!

My question is about giving her VERY diluted fruit juice in an attempt to get her to drink the water.

WWYD?

OK, sorry, I toook "so if you are finding baby is feeding for 'hours' or baby is wanted to feed every 20 mins, then something is not right." as advice as to whether the situation was OK or not for the OP

sorry not for the OP, for any bfers

Don't get your baby accustomed to juice to drink.

You'll never get it to drink water later, and juice is very bad for teeth when they come through.

tiktok, i appreciate your advice and this is not meant to be rude either, but you can't discredit another professionals advice. i was given advice from professionals with higher credentials than your own from people i trust. AND, midwives give such conflicting advice but they are all professionals, and with every case being so different you can't sit there and discredit research done by another professional that did find diet affected breastmilk in certain cases.

And for some, long feeds do trigger mastitis, especially with other issues such as clamping and cracked nipples. you can't just say 'this is true and this is not' when there are so many other things to consider.

but all the prfessional advice I've ever seen concur's with tiktok's on this point (and most for that matter when I happen to find out what it is).
The NCT, the NHS, my own midwife.

stealth you are just being silly now. thats not even the point of the whole conversation. your tone is the thing causing upset and you're being very defensive.

i'm gone now. post what you like. say what you like, i still stand by MY ORIGAINAL POST. i've got dinner to cook and babies to breastfeed.

where did that apostrophe come from
it's hot...I'm tired...I am no longer a pedant

I really don't understand sorry.

I don't want breastfeeding mums to read this and think because they feed for an hour at a time, and occasionally have very short gaps between feeds then there is automatically a problem. That's all. If that's not what you meant, then apologies, but that's certainly how I read it.

how is my tone causing upset?

jamosie - I can certainly discount advice from someone with more qualifications than me, and I probably do it every week Shameless, me!

Fact is, that expressing milk, looking at the way the fat comes to the top, is not grounds for telling a mother there is 'not enough' fat in her milk and to change her diet.

That's not the same as saying 'diet affects breastmilk' - diet does affect breastmilk (without it affecting quality, in most cases) but it doesn't affect it in that way.

And long feeds don't cause mastitis. I mean, I suppose I can imagine a scenario where someone regularly breastfed for long periods, and then suddenly stopped....that might inc the risk of mastitis. But it's not the long feeds that caused it.

Sorry to sound as if I'm getting at you, 'cos I'm not, but I am asking you to accept that the advice you were given, and then gave to others, might be wrong.

Messy - Boots sell small jars of water 'with a hint of' apple or strawberry. It must be on nodding terms only with the apple, as I drank some, and couldn't taste any apple at all! It's labelled suitable from 4 months on, and I get a bit more success with that than just plain water. Although it has to be said, if DS is really thirsty, he drinks whatever he's given!

I'm not sure I'd go with watering down formula.
If a baby drinks the entire bottle, it should theoretically be the same as 'vol of formula + vol of water' - but this wouldn't be true if they didn't drink the whole bottle ie they would not have drunk their full formula amount then topped up with water. Sorry, not sure that makes much sense, I guess I just think they may not get all the nutrition if it's watered down, and then they leave some.

However, I would just give it a go with whatever you think will work

Stealth you aren't causing upset

Jamosie - welcome to MN You picked a great board to start having a fight on. Tiktok's advice concurs with every bit of advice I have had from good healthcare professionals here in the UK, and with my own personal experience. She has helped hundreds of us on here, maybe thousands, so please do not call her credentials into question.
Giving babies anything other than milk at 2 months is dangerous and potential harmful, I'm very sorry that you got such poor advice, but pleased to know that your DD has suffered no ill effects.

i thought watering down formula was dangerous?
not arguing as enough people have suggested it for me to think i'm probably wrong but what am i thinking of?

SPB - watering down formula is not a great idea.

The risk would be that the baby goes short of calories.

I don't suppose there is much risk if this is only done very occasionally.

But mostly, ff babies don't need extra water. The formula is something like 95 per cent water anyway. However, if it's an abnormally baking day, the baby is apparently hot and bothered and sweating, then it would not be harmful to offer a small amount of cooled boiled water. You could even give it on a spoon if you wanted to avoid the possibility of the baby glugging back too much and then not wanting his normal feed. If the baby is thirsty, he will drink it.

I got a doidy cup for hot days and my DD lapped the water with her tongue rather than offered in a bottle which she just wouldn't take. And now tries to drink her bath water...
Also one of those feeding nets with a boiled water ice cube might help as well?

"I STILL STAND BY MY ORIGINAL POST and that mums should do what they WANT TO,"

Not if what they want to do is wean theri babies at 2 months, they shouldn't.

Not is they want to tell other mothers that babies don;t need to feed for more thatn 30 minuts at a time there's something wrong, they shoudn't.

Not if they tell people that you can tell the fat content of breast milk by looking at it, they shouldn't.

Um all of the professional BF advice I received in Oz concurs with tiktok's advice as well.

Just because you want to do something and your case study of one seems OK doesn't make it good advice.

If a 2 month old baby is hungry you BF the more often.

Both my babies have enjoyed extended feeding sessions, constantly at the start and then occasionally as they got older.

Just didn't want all Oz healthcare providers considered mad!