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Original poster

Can I give newborn water to top up?

180 replies

Watermelonbaby1 · 18/06/2020 09:03

My son is 11 weeks old and has become a very hungry baby! Recently he has been wanting to eat every 3 hours almost on the dot. I am giving 6oz bottles at the minute which is too much to feed him every 3 hours so I try my best to play/talk/keep him occupied to reach 4/5 hours at least before I feed him but most of the time he screams and sucks on hands so viciously that I have to feed him earlier. As soon as he’s had his bottle he’s the happiest baby smiling so I feel awful trying to make him wait all the time. I have tried giving him less oz per feed but this leads again to even more frequent feeding. From 12 weeks I have been told he should be on 7oz bottles every 5 hours so would like to give him this but scared he will gain too much weight because he will still want to feed every 3 hours. When I went for an appointment at 9 weeks he was just slightly above average weight but am now scared he’s gaining too much as he’s eating more often than he was then. So my question is can I give my newborn cooled down boiled water with just a bit of formula in every so often when he is wanting to feed constantly so he’s happily full but will not put on as much weight?

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20viona · 18/06/2020 09:28

Definitely no water. Where have you got this 7oz every 5 hours from?! All babies are different but I think 4 hours between feeds at most at that age (unless they are sleeping of course) don't make the baby wait.
My 11 month old has only just started taking 8oz 🤣

Alarae · 18/06/2020 09:47

My DD is 15 weeks old and has 8oz bottles. The outside of her formula tin only goes up to 7oz but that's for 4-6 months old, so we are completely out of the guidelines.

But that's all they are. Guidelines. Feed your baby when they are hungry and as much as they want. Every baby is different and yours is just hungrier!

Pinkblueberry · 18/06/2020 09:47

Where have you got this 7oz every 5 hours from?!

Is this following what it says on the formula box? I remember reading it when I started DS on formula and it said something like 5 feeds in 24 hours for a 3 month old - which for most babies is a load of bollocks surely? Wouldn’t that be a breeze if you only had to feed them 5 times per day? I completely ignored it.

SpillTheTeaa · 18/06/2020 09:50

No you should just feed on demand if he wasn't hungry he wouldn't take it.

MostlyAmbridgeandcoffee · 18/06/2020 09:51

Think you get the message here but no, please don’t do that - just feed baby.

SpillTheTeaa · 18/06/2020 09:52

My DS was on 8oz every 3 hours so no sorry I don't think that is too much and he is clearly hungry so feed him fgs. Up his oz. Why won't you just feed him every 3 hours?!

SpillTheTeaa · 18/06/2020 09:53

And that chart they go off is ridiculous not every baby is the same so the chart is just a guide not to be bang on the dot!

00100001 · 18/06/2020 09:56

Feed on demand!

Imagine you're hungry, you go to your mum who has all the markings of a sandwich right there, and she says, you can wait a while, you had a sandwich earlier....so you grumble but start etting hungrier, now you're quite famished l, so you ask again, she looks at the clock and says, you only ate a while ago, and STILL won't let you eat, you get irate you can see the food, she just won't let you eat it, you shout "BUT I'M HUNGRY!!" and she eventually decides to give you the food....

You'd think that unreasonable, and you're an adult who can wait a while for food. So why on earth would you subject an 11week old to that??? Confused

BlusteryShowers · 18/06/2020 09:57

Weight isn't everything.

This is my 98th centile 2 year old. He's been on that centile since about 8 weeks having been born around the 50th.

He was fed as and when he wanted it. Please don't worry.

00100001 · 18/06/2020 09:58

If you just feed him when he's hungry, you'll save yourself a lot of stress :)

BlusteryShowers · 18/06/2020 09:58

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Can I give newborn water to top up?
Pinkblueberry · 18/06/2020 10:03

@BlusteryShowers same here - I don’t actually know what mine weighs now but he’s a similar build. Was born a little early on 9th percentile and eventually shot up to 90th. He just grew fast into a fairly tall frame, he definitely needed the feeds he wanted.

SaladSauce · 18/06/2020 10:06

This isn't Gina Ford is it?

MaleficentsCrow · 18/06/2020 10:06

No.

Please feed him milk, it doesn't really matter how much you feed or how often, you can't overfeed a baby. If he is crying feed him. Feed and Dry those are the two checks, if he is wet/soiled and you change him and he is still upset try a feed.

PlanDeRaccordement · 18/06/2020 10:10

Feed on demand. No water. As other PPs have said. Anything you read about ounces every x hours are rough guidelines not instructions.
This is upsetting me to think of your poor baby screaming with hunger.

LemonPeonies · 18/06/2020 10:25

Completely normal, mine was permanently on the boob at this stage and 2 hourly overnight! I just got up and fed him. Water contains no calories or nutrients please just give them milk!

LemonPeonies · 18/06/2020 10:28

Oh and there are studies if you want to look it up, that show development damage in the brain which is permanent! Of babies who are frequently left to cry and parents not seeing to their needs. It's bloody cruel too.

HavelockVetinari · 18/06/2020 10:28

Feeding on demand is normal, it's definitely not normal to make a hungry baby wait hours to be fed! DS was breastfed so a bit different, but he didn't manage to go 5h without a feed till well past weaning at 6 months, and speaking to friends they experienced the same whether FF or BF.

ArtichokeAardvark · 18/06/2020 10:33

Some of the PPs are unbelievable. Paced formula feeding is very normal. However you should definitely up the size of the bottles if your baby is hungry and wants more. You know you are giving the right amount when baby has had enough and there is a little bit of formula still left in the bottle.

Secondly, YOU CAN GIVE A NEWBORN FORMULA FED BABY WATER. But only in hot weather to avoid dehydration and as a supplement to bottles, not instead of them. I get so angry with posters who act as though water is poisonous to babies. Feeding formula is like giving a baby a protein shake - good for nourishment but in really hot weather water can be given alongside formula to help quench thirst.

From the NHS website:
Water
Fully breastfed babies don't need any water until they've started eating solid foods. Formula-fed babies may need some extra water in hot weather.

Pinkblueberry · 18/06/2020 10:48

Some of the PPs are unbelievable. Paced formula feeding is very normal.

Of course. But feeding every three hours is already a good pace for that age - OP seems to think this is too often and creating a problem where there isn’t one. I don’t see what the issue is here. When we moved on to formula feeding every three hours was our aim.

Apolloanddaphne · 18/06/2020 10:52

It is fine to pace feeds but to deny a baby a feed when they are clearly hungry is not so fine.

KRoo22 · 18/06/2020 10:52

My baby was having 8/9x 7 oz bottles at that age. Do not go by guidelines in the formula box they are average only. Both of mine drank way more milk than that and my firstborn is 4 now and still really skinny. He is 7th centile. Also babies tend to need more when they go though development jumps. Stop trying to drag it out.

Caspianberg · 18/06/2020 10:58

4-5hrs seems so cruel if they are hungry and crying.

My little one is 7 weeks, he is breastfed, but during the day he feeds anything from every 30mins- 2hrs on average. He occasionally goes 3hrs between feeds in the day if he's having a long nap, but the second he is awake he just wants feeding again.

The side of the formula box suggesting only 5 feeds a day seems bonkers. As an adult I have more than 5 drinks a day, and thats not including meals ontop.

00100001 · 18/06/2020 10:59

@ArtichokeAardvark

Some of the PPs are unbelievable. Paced formula feeding is very normal. However you should definitely up the size of the bottles if your baby is hungry and wants more. You know you are giving the right amount when baby has had enough and there is a little bit of formula still left in the bottle.

Secondly, YOU CAN GIVE A NEWBORN FORMULA FED BABY WATER. But only in hot weather to avoid dehydration and as a supplement to bottles, not instead of them. I get so angry with posters who act as though water is poisonous to babies. Feeding formula is like giving a baby a protein shake - good for nourishment but in really hot weather water can be given alongside formula to help quench thirst.

From the NHS website:
Water
Fully breastfed babies don't need any water until they've started eating solid foods. Formula-fed babies may need some extra water in hot weather.

Yes, paced is fine.... Unless your baby is screaming through hunger... In which case, what good is it doing for baby and mother to make hi wait an hour because "it's not 2 o'clock" ...poor mite.
burritofan · 18/06/2020 13:13

I hope the OP comes back after the onslaught! OP if you do, my advice is let go of what the books and baby sites tell you and listen to what your baby is telling you! Mine was breastfed but fed every 1-2 hours until solids kicked in properly at 8 months . Exhausting but what she needed.

It's really hard when your baby doesn't do what you've been told to expect but most of what you read is cobblers. I expected mine to do drowsy but awake and to start sleeping longer stretches – didn't happen! I asked on here and the wisdom was a godsend, hope you've not been put off by the bombardment.