I don't know when you're "supposed" to start giving them water, but my DD is almost 9 months old and only recently has she had even a sip of water here and there, and that's only because she's grabbing mine and I'm letting her experiment, not because I'm worried about her hydration.

I would think that breastmilk alone would be fine for at least the first year, but hopefully someone with more knowledge on the subject will chime in.

 

Babies get all they need from your bm. I generally don't introduce water until I start introducing solids at 6 months, and even then not until they are eating quite a bit (rather than a few tablespoons of baby food) so that's probably more like 7 months. And even then it's not a lot because they are still bf so much.

 

Wait till he eats a lot more solids. Bm is 80% water so none is needed right now. It can be dangerous for their kidneys.

 

Thanks, everyone!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiara7 Wait till he eats a lot more solids. Bm is 80% water so none is needed right now. It can be dangerous for their kidneys.

I never read that -- I don't give 5 MO DD water, but she LOVES drinking out of my water bottle. She doesn't manage to drink too much, but she does get some... should I be concerned?

 

We give a bit of water now that we are doing some solids. It is more about learning at this point because I put it in a sippy cup, and my baby loves it. She doesn't have more than a few sips a day at this point.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by wendypf I never read that -- I don't give 5 MO DD water, but she LOVES drinking out of my water bottle. She doesn't manage to drink too much, but she does get some... should I be concerned?

Cant find the kidney link right now (not at home), but here's the water intoxication link:

http://parenting.ivillage.com/newbor...00.htmlhttp://

Quote:

Water supplementation in an infant can lead to oral water intoxication. When this happens, the sodium in his bloodstream becomes so diluted that the baby's body is unable to function properly. This can result in an altered mental state, abnormally low body temperature, bloating, and even seizures (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 1997;151:830-32).

 

I asked my pedi about that last month (when DD3 was 9 months old) and he said no need unless it gets really hot. In our case, introducing it would be for practice with the cup. So DD3 hasn't had water yet, she's 10.5 months old. I did introduce water to DD1 and DD2 at 6 months of age (small sips to practice with their cup).

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiara7 Wait till he eats a lot more solids. Bm is 80% water so none is needed right now. It can be dangerous for their kidneys.

I don't mean to split hairs, but if bm is 80% water, then why is water dangerous to their kidneys?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by dianna11 I don't mean to split hairs, but if bm is 80% water, then why is water dangerous to their kidneys?

Its not that water itself is dangerous to their kidneys, but that too much water is dangerous. Since they get all of their water needs from BM, the addition of more water could be dangerous.

We give a sippy cup of water whenever we are playing with food (doing BLW), so that didn't happen until after 6 months. I like to have water with my meals, so I assume that my children would like some as well. They don't get much for the first few months, due to figuring out the sippy and not really liking the taste of water. My daughter has figured out the sippy, but when she gets a mouthful of water she lets it dribble right out.

 

I feel that as long as you're in tune with your little one, and let them lead the way, all is well. Our 7 1/2 mo son has been drinking water for about 2 1/2 months. He literally grabbed my cup one day, while i was holding it, and strained to reach to drink. I let him try and he loved it! I thought, at first, he was just wanting to put the cup in his mouth like everything else at that age. We gave him water in a little stainless steel shot glass and to this day he reaches up both hands when he sees it coming. No sippy cups for us! With that said, he gets maybe 1 oz a day and doesn't want much. Yes, too much can be harmful but not a little, IF they want it. Our son has NO interest in food yet at all but loves his water! It does get very dry here in VT in the winter so I for sure don't think it's hurting him.

We also have dear friends in GA that are a part of a community that strongly believe in giving water from day one. Interesting.

 

I think that what the excerpt previously posted means by dangerous is that babies electrolytes can become unbalanced easier than adults can. What I understand from my doc and the LLL's book is that a baby is gets all of the fluids s/he needs from our breastmilk, and BM is the perfect electrolyte beverage for him/her.

I do know that water can introduce unfriendly elements to a young babies gut, though I am not well educated on the matter.