Weaning - how much water should DS be having?

[LoobyLou33]

DS is taking well to food but not so interested in water. He's been ebf till 6 months when we started weaning. Just the last week when I upped the number of solids his poos have been quite dry and wedge like! I don't want him to get constipated...should he be having water with each meal? IF so, how much? I've tried with a cup and bottle, he does take a bit but spills most of it or just chews the teat!

Have you tried warm water? I would just try giving a bit of water with each meal and see how it goes but they are still getting plenty of milk so don't worry

Probably doesn't need much water - does he seem dehydrated? constipated? sunken fontanelle, seem hot, dry skin? If none of those, he probably just doesn't need much water. Is he eating plenty of juicy fruit? If so, he probably doesn't need much water at all. Most of the water our bodies get is from our food not from drinking it! You will almost certainly find that he drinks more when he's eating starchy dry foods like toast or crackers - simply because he cant make enough saliva to wash them down without a drink, so that could be one way of getting him used to the idea of drinking with a meal. With fruit or vegetables though, he probably wont need any water to wash the down, so probably wont bother drinking any.

BTW the best way to avoid constipation is to make sure he eats plenty of juicy fruit and even include some soft dried fruits like soft dates (Iranian ones are usually the really soft ones, or Medjool (Moroccan usually), not those hard dry things in a polystyrene tray) and soft prunes. Our has never suffered from constipation, (quite the opposite!!!) but she does eat a huge quanity of fruit!

It might help to leave a lidded beaker (like the Tommee Tippee cups) around for him all day, rather than just at mealtimes. He might show interest in it if it's just 'around' to try any time rather than just at mealtimes. Plus if he tips water on the floor it doesn't really matter, it's either wiped up or soaks into the carpet.

Thanks folks, helpful tips. I think he had been a bit constipated as he was straining before a poo and like I said they were very dry wedges (TMI sorry!)

I've upped the fruit content, as I had been holding back a bit to avoid a sweet tooth, and he's getting the hang of his beaker now (we have the tommee tippee one) and giving himself a drink at dinner time, and does seem to want to drink a fair bit so I think he must have been thirsty. All getting back to normal in the nappies, if there's such a thing as "normal" with weaning!!