Milk alternative drink for 7 month old

[jess28593]

Someone give me some advice please

My 7 month has really bad nappy rash because she's doing 5/6 little poos a day plus teething

I think she's constipated she only has 3 7oz bottles a day and won't drink anything else I'm sick of offering water and juice she just refuses

Can I give her anything else? Suger free flavoured water etc? I just want her to have enough so she's not dehydrated or constipated, maybe watered down fruit juice? Help😞

Also she has 3 meals a day recomended by dietician due to poor weight gain cmpa x

Lol my bad also seeing HV about her nappy rash just to rule out thrush because it's nasty x

When my little one started solids she started doing lots of little poos a day and we found rubbing in some Bepanthen after every change and getting some air to it helped.

With regard to her drinks I think only water is recommend as it won't harm their teeth. It may take a while but keep offering water with meals and she will get the hang of it. Have you got a beaker that the water just pours out when she picks it up. She might find that easier.

You could give her more milk if you are worried she is dehydrated.

While juice etc isn't recommended for dental issues, if your child is really at risk of dehydration then I'd go for the juice if I were you and take precautions to minimise the dental issues - serve it with a meal, don't let her snack on it but instead drink it all in one sitting, brush teeth carefully about 30 minutes afterwards.

If constipated, have you tried fruit purées or prunes? Some of the brands that do pouches for babies do prune ones which would loosen her stools a little.

However, if you think either the dehydration or constipation is more than a trivial case, then she does need to see a doctor. So go for the home remedies but keep that in mind. Dehydration in particular can be problematic for such small bodies.

Oh and sugar-free drinks with artificial sweeteners are generally not recommended for young ages and I would be particularly cautious in case they exacerbate the nappy rash.

Thinking out loud - would she suck on an ice lolly if you made some up with diluted juice?

As you are under the care of a dietician I don't think it's wise to seek out ideas from random ignorant and unqualified people like us on the Internet.

Under 12 months old I believe normally the only drinks should be baby formula or water (or breastmilk obviously but I am guessing that's not relevant here). Even in the absence of other issues cows milk shouldn't be given earlier than 12 months as little tummies can't process it, juices and squashes even sugar free can set up for problems later and the baby needs all the formula they can drink to ensure they get enough calcium for growing bones. Given that your baby has also had low weight-gain I would think it is even more important not to seek any alternative to formula - but you could try changing the brand to see if anything agrees with her digestion better.

For constipation as she is having some solids see if she will eat dried apricots, prunes or dates? These may help get things moving. Any of these whizzed up with a bit of baby rice, or yoghurt if she'll tolerate that, make a yummy early food.