Breastfeeding and Water

I know You need to drink a lot of water, but never heard that for the baby. My 2 had exclusive breastmilk for the 1st 4 months. Never formula. I fed my 1st until almost 2. toward the end it was only at nap time & bed time. I'm still b-feeding my 2nd, she is 8 mos. old. I was b-fed until @ 2. Until I lifted my moms shirt in the grocery store, causing her extreme embarassment. lol. The docs say 4 months to start solids, My newest baby was watching us eat all the time and would stick out her tounge & move her mouth, so I started her on @ 2-3 oz of rice cereal before bed at @ 3 months. She did just fine. Hope this helps. K---------

Hi J.,
You dont have to give any water at all to your baby when your breastfeeding unless maybe its very hot and she may have any dehydration. You dont need to intoduce solids untill 6 mos old your baby will thrive on just breastmilk. but there is nothing wrong with giveing rice cereal at 4 or 5 months. you should breast feed for as long as you feel comfortable. I stopped with my last child at 2 mos and i am going to try to make it to 4 mos with this one, but it is an individual choice. They suggest you breastfeed for 1 year if you can,but like I said you are giveing the most important part right now and you should do what works for you. good Luck!

J.,
Any child, nursed or formula fed does not need water. They get all the liquids they need from your milk. As well, supplementing with anything between feedings will interfere with your ability to produce milk so it's not a good idea. Solids aren't nutritionally necessary at all, cereal included until at least 6 - 8 months of age. Before that it only detracts from the nutrition your baby gets from your milk and fills up their tummy with empty calories. Just remember you are providing your son with the most nutritionally complete food he will ever need for te first year of his life.

Now, as far as weaning? That is a very personal choice. the AAP states that a year is optimal. Again, this is because nothing can compare nutritionally to the milk only you can provide. Aside from that, of course you can decide for your baby at what point enough is enough. I personally fed my oldest until 14 months, at which point we had an accidental weaning. My second nursed exclusively for 6 months and continued regularly until 2, and still occasionally nurses. My third is 10 months now, was exclusively nursed until 7 1/2 months and still nurses regularly. I personally believe that a child will wean themselves when they are ready. But that's my take on it.

Congratulations on your new one, and kudos for again giving the breastfeeding this a go. I hope your son continues to nurse for as long as you feel is best for him.

Feel free to contact me if you'd like with any questions. And the book that was reccomended is a good one.

Blessings,
Rolinda

Infants do NOT need to be given water if they are breastfed. If you give a baby water, she may not take in as much breastmilk as she needs if her little tummy is full of water. The baby will get enough fluid intake from breastmilk alone.

I breastfed my son for one year (I actually had to stop due to a medical issue - had to take a medication that was not recommneded while breastfeeding). I intended to stop just after a year anyway. For my daughter, I think it was just over a year.

As for starting solids - anytime between 4-6 months is usually recommended.

Best of luck with your new baby!

Hi J.,

I didn't breastfeed for very long...but since babies are on just formula or breast milk for the first few months, I don't see why they would require more than your normal feedings. Ask your doctor to be sure, but he's already on a liquid diet, and as long as he is producing wet diapers, he's not dehydrated.

T.

Your breastmilk is all your baby needs. When babies get older, they can get "thirsty" but at 10 days old - all your baby knows is hunger. :) I always used a feeding pattern (I don't like to call it a schedule... because they always get mixed up). My pattern was to feed every 3 hours... 20 minutes per side. This way I knew my baby was well fed & wouldn't have to feed every time he cried or wimpered. I would try other soothing techniques at that time. A good reference for breast feeding is "Baby Wise". Great book. You might give it a try! Enjoy your new little one!!

hi J., i have a 7 month old now, and i never gave her any water between breastfeeding. my doctor said i didn't need to. and she turned out just fine. when she was first born she ate every hour to hor and a half. i only breastfed for about 3 months. i to didn't want to have the baby running up to my breast either. hope this helps

A.

I too am a stay at home mom with a 7 year old, and a 6 month old. Neither one took too well to the breast, due to me having inverted nipples. So both were formula babies. As far as the water goes, my doctor just told me my daughter can start having water. Their digestive system isn't like ours and needs time to build up a tolerance to be able to handle other liquids and solids. He told me I could start her on solids when she was 4 months. She wanted to eat and I told her I had tried some cereal so he said go for it if she can handle it.
So I had gotten stage ones and actually wrote down in a notebook the food give and the start date and if she had gotten a reaction. And I did the same food for 4 days, along with juices. I kept a good track and was glad because she can not have anything with a green vegetable or fruit in it right now. But now with her being 6 months, she can pretty much have anything, but if it's table food it has to be prepared right (meats must be minced and so on). The only things she is not allowed to have are nuts, and milk ( only formula till she's a year).
Not sure if any of this helped, but this is where I am with my 6 month old. Before you start anything though, talk to your doctor. Remember our parents grew up in a different generation, and things were done differently back then as well. So just keep that in mind as well.

I was always told not to give a baby under a year old water because of water intoxication. I only breastfed for 2 months though because with twins and healing from their birth (which was really rough) it was just too much and I had to supplement with formula because I wasn't producing enough for 2 babies. I would call your pediatrician. I call them for EVERYTHING. Just listen to your options and and press the one where you can speak to the nurse. She'll answer any questions that you have without any problems. The other thing I do is make notes of anything, no matter how small, and take a list with me into the pediatricians and just go down it, asking all of my questions. I hope this helps some!