Newborn and water

[Emily11b]

Can i give my 2 week old water in between feeds? He seems to have constipation, and is a formula fed baby

No, I was told no water at that age. Please consult your health care provider.

Talk to your health visitor or doctor. Not some randoms on the internet.

No. Water can be toxic to young babies. Contact your gp or midwife (depending on their age) and they will advise.

For a two week old baby I think you should contact your health visitor or midwife service

Yes you can - NHS advice: "Formula fed babies under 6 months of age may need small sips of cooled boiled water during hot weather as well as their usual milk feeds."

This is not particularly hot weather though. That advice is not for addressing constipation.

OP as others have said, definitely consult midwife or Health Visitor to check things out.

HV told me to do this when my little one was constipated as a newborn. Cooled boiler water just about an ounce or so.

It did help but also filled her tummy and she wasn't feeding as gd. In the end I had to get medication from the gp for the constipation.

You can give an extra 1oz of cooled boiled water per day, but at 2 weeks old I would seek advice re the constipation.

How bad is the constipation? At that age my DD would only poo every 4-5 days but it didn’t seem to bother her. When she eventually seemed uncomfortable I tried changing formula which made a huge difference and we had no more constipation until weaning. I think it’s quite common for baby’s digestive systems to be immature at birth.

It might be worth seeking medical advice although I didn’t find my GP helpful. We got lactulose prescribed which seemed quite harsh when it turned out changing the formula basically solved the problem. I was also told by the GP to give brown sugar dissolved in water or orange juice, both of which go against most of the advice I’ve found.

Is his poo hard, or is he just straining a lot?

It can be normal for them to strain really hard to do a poo because they don't yet understand that they need to relax the sphincter muscle at the same time. So they are just straining against a closed door. After a few weeks they learn to coordinate the reflexes and the straining stops.

If the poo is soft when it arrives, it's probably this. When you see the straining, try relaxing/soothing activities like rocking, nursing, rubbing his back, swaying.

If the poo is actually hard, double check you are diluting the formula correctly. You need to add water up to the correct oz line and then add powder. Don't add powder then fill up to the line as the water won't be enough.

If the formula is fine and poo is hard, speak to your GP/health visitor.

I always had a bottle of cooled boiled water to offer sips, i also watered formula down slightly if they were a bit constipated, mine are all okay (11-18 years old now lol)