10 month old won't drink water, any safe alternatives?

[Joley]

My 10 month old clears 3 7oz bottles of formula a day, but refuses water. In the hot weather, I have been offering water regularly and am worried he will become dehydrated with only milk. I tried him with some juice which he drank straight away. Can anyone advise which juices are safe to give to babies without rotting their teeth. I know that juice should be given by cup and should be given at meal times and for short periods of time. Should I give specialist baby juice, sugar free juice, Hi juice (all diluted vey thinly of course)....I'm so confused! Please help.

I gave my little boy just ordinary clear apple juice that you buy in a carton ... but I diluted it. So if you have an anyway up cup or something of a similar size I would put 1/4 juice and 3/4 water. It did the trick and I then didn't feel guilty about the juice thing and he had lots of water ...
FWIW ... He is now nearly 4 and his teeth are perfect ... he still drinks diluted fresh fruit juice ... but he will drink water now which he actually prefers in hot weather ...

Thanks Ghosty, I'll give it a try, will buy some tomorrow. I knew sweetners were bad, I knew sugar was bad but wasn't sure of an alternative, forgot about fresh juice.

you can also get juice - already diluted - which I dilute further - Hipp organic ( baby food section) - dd will not drink water but has been drinking these up like mad in this hot weather.

Thanks, worth a try

Chamomile tea and fennel tea are harmless (also c is supposed to be soothing, and f is good for wind - I know that from experience ). The best juices IMO are pure fruit juices, not 'juice drinks', diluted of course.

I used to steam spinach and other veg and give my DD that water to drink!! How cruel!
Yeah - Fennel tea - HIPP do a range of Fennel teabags for babies.

I'm afraid I'm of the "if they are thirsty they will drink water" school of thought. I've always kept a beaker of water available and only gave ds fruit juice at around a year with his breakfast to help absorb the iron better (he was a bit of a fussy eater). dd has also had fennel tea when she has a stomach upset. ds is now five, rarely touches fizzy or sweet drinks (iced tea being the exception, yuk)and will usually ask for water as a preference. dd (nearly 2) is asking for extra milk in the heat and I prefer to give her something of nutritional value than juice or squash. If you are really concerned how about offering soft fruit as an additional snack - melon for example has a high water content.

Oh dear, please don't waste money on buying 'baby' teabags! or 'baby' rice cakes, for that matter. They're just the same as ordinary ones, only more expensive! Personally, I think that the best make of herb teas is Dr Stuart's Botanicals, more expensive than, say, Twinings, but bags and bags more flavour.

How old does the baby have to be to have fennel tea? My dd is 7 weeks old and I've heard in some countries they give it from birth but what's the UK advice?

Hate to disagree boyand girl, but be careful giving "normal" rice cakes - they often have very high sodium levels. Of course you can get "normal" low salt versions as well.
I tried to give dd juice at 4 months (as per the great Ms Ford). I pulped and strained a peach to make real peach juice, which of course she wouldn't touch, but she loved the Hipp Organic juices (very diluted) But after a while I gave up on giving the pm juice, and now dd drinks loads of water - but prefers to drink from my water bottle rather than her cup

wobblymum, I gave my little wind-tunnel ds fennel tea from a couple of weeks old, about 1tsp/day, building up to 1tsp/bottle as and when needed.

prufrock - definitely the no-salt versions! There is a nice make called, I think, Kallo, which does at least 2 no-salt versions: plain and with sesame seed.

wobblymum - I'm in UK, but have 'international' family, so lots of different advice! Fennel and dill are both ingredients in many colic remedies, and also traditional home treatments for colic/wind/biliousness in many countries.

I think rice cakes taste like polystyrene, but organix do baby rice cakes with an apple-y coating and they're delicious. Dd fights me for them .

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