How much water when introducing solids to a BF baby?

[firstimeforeverything]

My ds is 6 months and I'm starting to introduce solids. I'm really not sure how much water I should be giving though. When I first introduced solids, he became constipated. We stopped for a week then started again, but he seems to be slurping lots of water when I feed him, even though there is plenty of water in his purees.

I figured that he would drink as much as he was thirsty for, but I gave him some water from a bottle to try and measure exactly how much he was drinking, and he had almost 2fl oz before I stopped him. He would happily have had more.

Now I am just confused. :(

Can anyone help?? Does anyone else have a very thirsty baby? I'm not adding any salt or anything exotic to his foods - baby rice, apple, potato, broccoli, that sort of thing. He's still mostly breastfed, and, unfortunately, an erratic poo-er, so I can't really judge from that end.

Babies can end up drinking more from a bottle as they like to suck - I give ds water in a free-flow cup so he's only drinking for thirst rather than for the pleasure of sucking iyswim.

Are you breastfeeding him before offering food?

Thanks Rita, no I'm not breastfeeding before feeding. Should I be? I'll stick to the cup as well, that seems very sensible.

I always did food within an hour of a breastfeed so he wasn't too hungry. It could be if he's hungry he's using the water to fill up his tummy as it's easier for him than the purees - you could try offering food pretty soon after a breastfeed, or maybe doing one side-food-other side to see if that makes a difference?

hi there, your baby does not need any water unless you live somewhere extremely hot, breast milk is food and drink and will quench thirst
offer breast before food and let him breast feed on demand still, food is just about tastes at this age, not replacing milk

no point filling his tummy with water which hsa no calories or nutrients when he can have breast milk

I always bfeed an hour before solids but give him water at the same time as his solids from a sippy cup. He seems to really like the water, but not really sure how much he drinks, may be 1oz with each meal and a lot goes down his chest!

Thanks all, this all sounds good advice, and I will definitely bf before feeding puree and keep an eye on how much water he takes in, and just take it cautiously.