Can I give DS water from a bottle?

[newmum234]

I’ve tried numerous cups but DS (8 months) just doesn’t seem to enjoy water and after a few small sips, pushes them all away!

I read about diluting fruit juice in water to make it taste better, but others say that you shouldn’t give fruit juice before the age of one.

I’m now wondering whether to try feeding him water from a milk bottle to see if that could encourage him to drink more? What do you think?

I’m really keen to get him drinking more as he’s only pooping once every 3-4 days at the moment (although when he does go his poops are normal consistency).

He’s currently on 2 solid meals and 850ml of formula a day.

Any ideas?

We did.

We used a TT cup with our son from 6 months for water but tbh it was only at around a year that he "got it" (I think) and could properly do it himself, before that he just played at drinking from it. Whilst we have now transitioned completely off bottles we only did it relatively recently and he's 21 months. We still occasionally give him water in a bottle when he's teething as he doesn't like the hardness of the TT but will drink happily from a soft teat. In that situation I'd rather he still drank fluids than none at all, hence the decision.

Don’t do the fruit juice, you’ll never get him to drink water if you start now. Just give him water in the bottle. Really don’t worry about all the ‘rules’ let him start off with water in a bottle and like the PP said he’ll eventually ‘get it’ and transition to a sippy cup, the ones with soft tops will be better than the hard ones in the beginning

Agree with avoiding fruit juice completely

Both of mine loved the straw once they figured out what to do and their water intake went up 5 fold due to the novelty of it! It went down a little but they continued to drink well from a straw cup for a while before I switched back to an open cup.

Just keep offering it and they eventually figure it out for themselves.

If having from milk bottle is ensuring he has enough fluids in meantime, no reason not to give it. My only hesitation would be if he starts rejecting the bottle because he doesnt want water, he may then reject the milk too which you dont want

I personally wouldn't give a bottle because it's just another thing to transition from at some point. I'd pick whichever cup he seems to do best with and stick with that one all the time rather than giving different ones. My DD seemed confused what to do when I gave her different cups - she only drank from a plastic beaker for about 4 months as that was easiest for her (although messiest!)