Any tips to get my 8 month old to drink water

[sthitch]

She just won’t drink it! We have got her bottles to x3 per day between meals (can’t really do more as she has 3 meals and is sick with too much milk) but she barely drinks any water inbetween.

I’ve tried the free flow cup, the non spill sip cup, giving it to her in a normal bottle (not ideal as want to move away from this) I let her sip it from our cups.. nothing works. She will push the cups away/not suck it out/or just spit it out. Same goes for baby juice which again I didn’t want to use. Any ideas? She’s massively constipated which she used to get when she just drank formula but I really thought things would get better.

I know you said you didn’t want to use juice but I’ve found my DD drinks more (out of any vessel) if I give her very dilute orange squash. It hasn’t affected her appetite for non-sweet foods and I know I grew up drinking mostly squash and I’m not overweight and don’t drink much fizzy pop.

Have you tried water in her baby bottle just as a means of getting it in?

Dd is 10 months old and wasnt a great drinker- she just used to play with the cup and spit the water out. Was panicking q bit last week when it was so hot so i dug out a straw bottle thing id bought for 12 months plus- she sips upwards in it and she absplutely loves it and now drinks quite a bit of water during the day.

My 8 month old doesn’t drink any water despite me trying every bottle or cup available.

I’ve stopped stressing about it now and will come back to it in a few months. Trying to force the issue isn’t fun for me or my son.

This phase will pass. I disagree with giving dilute squash. She will never learn to enjoy water this way. Just continue to offer water in a free flowing cup at mealtimes. Don't try and make her drink. It will have the opposite effect. She will take little sips of water if she is thirsty. Make meals "wetter" by feeding soups and cereals with lots of milk. Try making your own ice lollies out of fresh fruit juice. Tackle the constipation with daily Weetabix, mashed tinned prunes and pulses. Ground linseeds are very effective, if you can include some in her soup or cereal.

The 10 month old I look after drinks very little water. She always has access to a drink if she wants it and I offer it to her regularly but she will have a small drink then push it away. She's not constipated and she has plenty of wet nappies so she's getting what she needs from somewhere, so I'm thinking that she'll drink when she's thirsty.
Interestingly, she's started pushing her sippy cup away and pointing at the plastic Ikea cups that her brother's use so I've tried giving her one of those, obviously she can't hold it but she's capable of drinking from it and seems to drink a bit more. Don't know if it's just the novelty factor though?!

I would mix with milk half/ half and then gradually cut it down to water with splash of mix to make it white and then cut that out.

My DS was the same he would spit out water and point blank refused it then one day it changed and now he drinks it. I'd offer it with meals but don't force it, it'll click one day.

My DD wasn't interested until about 12 months, I just kept offering.

Thanks all, I will keep offering - today I tried the free flow cup which she had fun pouring all over herself... BUT she has been drinking it, she will almost make a panic noise and then spit it out but I think some is going in. She also had some from the bottle but I’d like to avoid this as I want to move away from bottles and she didn’t really drink much.

When she pushes it away, I’ll try not to force it too much. As for squash, it’s the same as water to her and she’s not interested. She has lots of wet nappies but I just worry that 2 x 7 oz bottles of milk and one in the middle of the day of around 5oz isn’t enough with not really drinking water as well.

My daughter was like this. Try giving her tea set to play with in the bath. Drink water yourself and let her have some of Mummy’s drink.

For the constipation give Ella’s prune pouches and tinned peaches. I used to give DD lots of high water content food. Lots of sauces and soft fruit and avoid egg, banana and wheatabix. Wheatabix caused constipation in my daughter.

Just keep offering

(DS took a while to get the hang of it, still needs us to hold the cup up to him)

And he often will take a sip of mummy's water in a grown up glass.