[village idiot]

When I give my 11 month old dd solid food, I used to give her water in her sippy cup. She drinks so much (a couple of ounces at each feeding but that might be 3 times a day. It is usually 2 times a day) though that I'm afraid she will get too full on it and not nurse as much. So lately, I have been pumping bm to give to her during her meals. Ok, so I didn't do that last night or the night before because I am feeling lazy but I;m going to pump tonight.

I'm just curious. AM I being too anal about the water thing? What does everyone else give their dc to drink during solid food feedings?

TIA

 

[Tegan]

Well my son is only seven months, but I do give him water with his solids occasionally if I feel that it would be good to wash his food down with. I have heard that I should only be giving him 2 oz. at a time, though. I think that 4 oz. a day is kind of all they should be getting at this point, so as not to interfere with their bm consumption.

James sucks that water up like there's no tomorrow, but when he protests after he's had a lot of it, I just whip out my boob

That was a long, roundabout ramble, but I hope it made some sense. It's late

 

[Sustainer]

One trick if you want to make sure your baby is getting enough breastmilk is to always breastfeed right before a solid feeding session. If the baby gets enough fluid during the breastfeeding session, she probably won't need to drink as much water with the solid food.

 

[wombat]

I've always been so anti water but now at 8 1/2 mo, dd keeps getting so constipated, I'm thinking I should give her more water. She'll take a few sips if I offer it to her. I'm only giving her 1 solids meal a day (about 3 cubes of apples, pears or sweet potato). Somedays I don't give her any solids. Maybe some babies need more water. A couple of oz x 3 a day sounds a lot though.

 

[majazama]

IMO, Water is fine for babies. As long as it's not yucky chlorinated/flouridated water, let the baby drink. My baby gets everything from my breastmilk, but she LOVES water. I couldn't stop her. At 5 months she started drinking from a cup. She is in no way underweght (abve 100th percentiles). I think that sometimes the bm is very rich, especially if you haven't been drinking all that much water. I also give her diluted tea, which is full of minerals (such as nettle , raspberry leaf, mint...) When she first started drinking water, she would GULP it down. It sounded as though she was very thirsty. Every one is different though, so maybe your bm is more watery.

 

[nancg]

If you're feeling worried about it, just giving a regular cup is more messy, but also less likely to create any kind of sucking-confusion. Some kids do wean to a sippy cup. OTOH, this seems unlikely as long as water is all that is in the sippy cup.

N

 

[chellemarie]

I have a glass of water with me almost constantly at home. DS drinks from it all the time. He gets very sad if he doesn't get a sip.

I stopped to get a fountain soda last week and he was with me. After I filled the (giant) cup with Coke, he kept whimpering and grabbing for it. I wanted to hold up a huge sign, "I DO NOT GIVE THIS BABY COCA-COLA EVER!"

Except via pumped milk, I guess, since I pump shortly after my fix every day.

:

Anyway, I'm all for 2 oz in a cup. I'd use a cup that doesn't have a valve...or a lid, even.

 

[rachdoll]

My dd starting refusing ebm at the sitter's during the day at around 7.5 months, so at that point we began giving her water out of a sippy cup (the one with the straw - she loves it!) during the day, and then she would nurse like crazy at home. She is 15 months now, and loves water, but doesn't miss a chance to nurse. I think that as long as you are offering water instead of juice, and offering it mostly just at mealtime, there shouldn't be any problems. Hope this helps!

Aubrey gets excited anytime she sees a cup with a straw, so we always make sure that at least one of the cups at the table has water in it. And she knows where we keep the water on the night stands, so she wakes up (after nursing for two hours) and gets a sip of water herself. I think she's addicted to water, but I figure, of all the things she could possibly thirst for, water is just fine with me.

 

[village idiot]

Hey, mamas! Thanks for all the varied and wonderful responses. Glad to see that I'm not the only mama of a water loving baby. Dd gets upset if she can't get a sip of my water. lol. And the couple of times that I tried her on very very diluted juice, she acted like I was posioning her. You should have seen her face.
I have never used the valve on her sippy cups. I was afraid it would interfer with nursing to have her suck on this other protrusion, yk?

 

[MelissaEvans]

After DS started eating solids a bit more (about 10mo), I noticed his urine was... concentrated for lack of a better term. He was still nursing plenty (still haven't had a period, and he's 12mo now =) ), but I give him water when he's eats solids. Well, he eats solids if I'm eating and share with him; so I share my drink with him too. So it could be water or juice. But he just wants some sips, probably less than 1oz total.

 

[MammaJill]

I give my 10 month old water with meals in a sippy cup too. He takes about the same amount as your dd...2 oz or so. If I have to be away from him for a few hours, he will take a few oz of ebm to get by, but then he really wants mommy when I get home.

All he has ever had is breastmilk and water to drink. As long as she seems healthy/gaining weight, I would not worry.