A few questions re water and milk when weaning...

[clare787]

Hi all,

My DD is 6 mo, we have just started weaning her and it's going well. I just have a few questions that I hope that you can help me with please.

Regarding water:

1. How much water do we need to give her each day?
2. When do we offer the water? Just at mealtimes?
3. What sort of cup should we use?

Regarding milk (we bottlefeed):

1. Should the milk now be given in the highchair?
2. Should the milk still be given in a bottle? (I assume that it is too early to move to a cup but I am just checking as I haven't done this before!)

Thanks in advance and apologies for the maybe stupid questions!

Clare xx

I gave a small amount of water in a tommee tippee first cup (free flowing lidded cup with a flip up spout) along with meals. Milk feeds were done the same as usual i.e. being held by me and in a bottle. I didnt offer milk from a cup until closer to 1 year as it is advised to phase out bottles by then.

keep doing your usual milk feeds as you usually do and with water just offer a few sips after dd has had most of her solids then give a few more mouthfulls about and oz or 2 should be fine, dont worry too much about how she has. my dd is 7mo next week and i startd off giving water in a tommee tippee weaning bottle (i think thats what its called) it came in a pack of bottles i bought but she just used 2 chew it so when she got used to water coming out quicker and more freely i bought her a new one from tommee tippee, its similar shape to a bottle but the spout is silicon and sort of oval shape, she gets on really well with this.

Thank you both. I ordered a tommee tippee first cup last night. They must be popular because they were sold out on all the major sites!

Regarding water, we have a cold filtered water dispenser on our fridge. Is it okay to give DD this water?

Keep holding her while bottle feeding her (even when you move to a cup you can still cuddle her while she has her milk) but if she will take milk from a beaker/cup I'd move over to that rather than keep bottles up.

I really don't know about the filtered water dispenser - how easy is it to clean (can it be cleaned?)? If it can be cleaned I'd clean it thoroughly before using for a baby.

TBH I'd use cool boiled water just to be on the safe side - after you make her bottle up you can always add an ounce or two to a cup from the hot water in the kettle and leave to cool for mealtimes.

tap water is perfectly safe as a drink from 6 months. As long as the filter is clean then filtered water would be fine too

The fridge water may be a bit cold. I fill a bottle with boiled water in the morning and work my way through it during the day so I don't have to wait for it to cool down at meal times.