When to give Water & how

[Juniper]

All you seasoned moms, when did you give your DC another liquid besides Breast milk? I'm thinking about water? DS is 7 mos.

Whats the best way? sippy cup, bottle? I forgot to ask at LLL last time I went.

Thanks,

Jen

[sarahmae1]

I don't know what most moms here at MDC do, but I started giving both of my boys a little water from a (sippy) cup at around 5-6mos. They were also starting to dabble in solids at this time so I thought it made sense that they should have a drink of water w/ their "meal". My baby loves water, but he only drinks sips of it here and there from his cup or mine after meals or throughout the day. It certainly hasn't taken place of any of his nursing sessions though! He his booby!

[thismama]

Yup, I also started my dd on water when she started solids, for her 5-6 mos. Just a little in a sippy, which she couldn't figure out, but she also liked to take a few sips just from a cup. I read something about how water is needed to help the kidneys once they start on solids but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

Anyway my dd enjoyed water and it didn't/doesn't affect nursing.

[Too Busy]

My DD always has a sippy around... it doesn't interfer with nursing at all and I like that she's getting used to drinking water at this age. It is so important to drink it as you get older and I know that I am not in the habit of drinking enough!

We are also nightweaned, so she has a sippy by her futon mattress in case she gets thirst at night.

We intro'ed a sippy 5-6 months, but she would sometimes take it in a bottle until she was 10 months. She is now all sippy.

[Calidris]

I started giving Fern sips from my glass at first from about 6 months, then as she seemed to want more she started getting water in the sippy, I never really used a bottle for water (tho one of her sippys had a nipple of sorts). Mind you it is very hot here, and dd has always been very active, so she drinks a lot of water, I don't think it interferes with nursing tho. These days there's always a few half full sippys scattered around the house. Water was the first sign she learnt

[hallesmom]

We introduced a little bit of water w/ solids too-which she didn't really like (the solids part) But, I still gave her some water-probably around 7 months, in a sippy. She really didn't get it though for a couple of months. More often I would just give her some water through a straw out of my cup.

[TiredX2]

Honestly, DD got water from a regular cup really early--- just before she turned 5 months. It was a HOT memorial day weekend, we had been at the zoo all day, taken the MAX (mass transit) to a restaurant and we were all cooked. Her poppa was holding a cup of ice water and she just latched onto it--- hugging and licking it and taking sips. Didn't have the heart to stop here.

We then did the Avent sippy cups. She never really got a hang of them so around 10 months we just started doing regular cups (after which she started understanding sippys).

DS was born in August, so he got water later (not as hot, he just didn't want it).

[InochiZo]

I give DS water from the edge of a cup and a sippy cup. It took a little while for him to figure out that he had to suck from the spill proof sippy cup. He tends to cough from the edge of cup and has more control with the sippy cup but I still give him the cup occassionally for practice. I tip it up just enough for him to suck a little water out of the cup.
We started at about 8 mo with the cup and sippy cup. Some other mothers in a mom's group use straw sippy cups but mine are defective or something. They "taught" DC how to use/suck from the straw. The one's I bought don't have any release for air so after a few sucks it forms a vaccum and you can't suck any more out.

[HerthElde]

Dd is 13 months, and I've always given her water from a regular glass. I think I started giving her water around 7 months or so (around the time she started drinking it from the bath ). But I still really don't give her much (if it was summer I'd giver her more, I'm sure, but right now I really only giver her a little after meals), as she is tiny and I really feel it interferes with bm intake. Breastmilk is the most nutritionally dense food/liquid she gets and I really feel she still needs quite a lot.
I'm not a fan of sippy cups. She has a tendency to chew it up, and I just cringe at the idea of her ingesting that toxic plastic. I have given her a plastic cup from time to time, though, with just a bit of water, and she doesn't chew on the edge the way she does on the sippy spout. But that's just my dd, I don't know if other babies chew on their cups the same way she does.