wont drink water - should I give juice?

9 replies

cuppy · 15/06/2004 20:41

Hi everyone,

DD 17 weeks and have been really pushing to try and get her to drink water as its so hot at the moment ( shes bottle fed).But as soon as she realises its not milk she spits it out.

Obviously I'm concerned about her becoming dehydrated. Should I give her juice so at least shes having something? Or should I stick to the theory 'if she's thirsty she'll drink it - after all she doesnt know what juice is'.

TIA.

OP posts:

Hulababy · 15/06/2004 20:44

My DD would never drink plain water until she was about 18 months old. I have very diluted baby juice - as little of the juie as she'd let me get away with. I suppose it just made the water taste better and of something, after all milk has a very sweet taste, so water must be very bland for them.

suzywong · 15/06/2004 20:44

Hello
Mine were BF at that age so I can't say whether or not she needs the water in additon to her bottle, but I can say I gave both mine diluted juice from an early age and it got them in the habit of drinking something else.
Just a 10% solution of apple juice in water should do the trick.
Actually whether or not she 'needs' it in addition to the bottle it will certainly make you feel better if you can offer her a drink and know she will take a sip, so I say go for it.
HTH

fisil · 15/06/2004 20:51

I had exactly this problem with ds - and I was worried when it got to summer and he still wouldn't drink (he was bottle fed too). He would take sips of water when really really thirsty, but that was it. I did try juice - apple and orange, but he wasn't interested in them either.

When I first weaned him his favourite was pureed pears. I used to cook big batches all together and freeze them. Instead of throwing away the water it was cooked in I would freeze that in cubes too. To make him a drink I would put a cube of the cooking water in a simple Tommy Tippy cup then pour boiled water over it. He loved it, and finally I'd found a way to get him to drink!

As he moved onto more grown up food and away from all the pureed mush, our stocks of ice cubes ran down. Also it became weaker and weaker because the pears didn't get cooked for so long. Finally I realised that I was actually giving him water anyway, and he was drinking it quite happily. Now the only thing he drinks is water, and I'm very happy with that! (he's 17 months now)

Hope that helps, and good luck.

Original poster

cuppy · 15/06/2004 22:50

Thanks everyone - fisil - whata fab idea!!!!

OP posts:

gloworm · 16/06/2004 07:18

last summer we gave ds watered down formula...1 scoop formuloa in full bottle water. our friends did thiswith their ds too. it tastes like milk but they are mostly drinking water

prettycandles · 16/06/2004 14:30

You could also try herb teas. My ds refused water and in the end the first non-milk drink he ever had was chamomile tea. Fennel is also good, but steer clear of any of the red teas as the hibiscus (which gives the strong colour) can stain clothes really horribly.

florenceuk · 16/06/2004 15:06

Personally I would persevere with the water unless you are really really worried about dehydration eg dry nappies, listlessness etc etc. DS (BF) took a while to decide he liked water, now he is fine with it, although he also likes juice when he can get it! But I know quite a few toddlers who now absolutely refuse water, and it is a pain. Better to start as you mean to go on I reckon. I put his water in a beaker which had a really easy flow (not bottle) so that it was not like milk, and just kept offering - eventually he decided it was OK. Also drink lots of water yourself and offer sips from glass/sports bottle - DS loves drinking what we are having!

smellymelly · 16/06/2004 15:18

I would stay away from the juice completely, a persevere with the water. Watering down their milk at a feed is a help, maybe to half strength, then you can just get weaker.

Ds and dd love water (4.5, and 20 mths) even though it took a little while with ds, only a few weeks really. Now they drink it everywhere, even at nursery and playgroup etc, when all the others are having squash! I've never had a complaint from them either. Rarely they have a treat, like appletise, or even coke, so I'm not that bad! Also drink a lot of milk.

Piffleoffagus · 16/06/2004 15:24

no...
my dd has only ever been offered water, but would only take it in syringe until 12 months, now she drinks more of it than milk at 20 mths
for a baby of 17 wks a few teaspoons is all she needs as extra, I remember worying about this last summer when dd would not drink extra water, but very very early for juice, my dd still has never had juice...

Flip