Help! My baby refuses to drink water!

K

Katebabe

Registered User
Hi,

My baby is now 5 months old. I've been trying hard to feed her water (between 2 feedings and when starting a feeding) but she just refuses that, keep turning her head when seeing a water bottle. She sometimes only drink 10-20ml water a day, sometimes even less. I feed her half breastmilk half formula nowadays but I will be starting to give her solid food soon. That is why I am getting more worried that she may get constipation easily.

Is there anything / any trick that I can try? Thanks for your advice!
 
My son was the same way! It's frustrating, right?... and you're always worried they're going to get dehydrated--it's not such a big deal now but my son was turning 5 months-old this past summer so the weather was hot. He would absolutely not drink water, even though we added juice to it or a bit of sugar--nothing helped. So, we just started adding more water to his formula (although some people would freak out if they heard this--really, this was the only way to get him more fluid at first--the boy wasn't having a poop for like 10-12 days and was crying and miserable!)

About the constipation--a few things helped. First, when I started him on solid foods, I blended pureed apples into everything (the sweetness would make him eat almost anything that had apples in it--even meat or other veggies)--I also added olive oil to his cereal with apples in it. Then later, I added a bit of pure maple syrup to his cereal (it has somewhat of a laxative effect in babies).

The thing that completely alleviated any constipation at all was that I started feeding him goat's milk when he was 8 months old--the brand I used was Meyers (you can get it at a Healthy Concepts in Causeway Bay)--not Karihome, which is a formula powder of goat's milk--whereas, Meyers is just pure goat's milk in powdered form. On the goat's milk he never got constipated at all. To supplement for vitamin D, I bought a liquid plant-based supplement that you can give to a baby that has bilberry juice in it for flavor--mixed that with frozen blueberry puree and he loved it!

Another trick we found is that our son loves ice. He wouldn't drink water but would suck on ice chips. Also, if we took any liquid and put it in ice form, he would accept it.

Give it a try and let me know if any of those work for you. Hope something does. :0)
 
have you tried changing the proportions of his formula? so for example if he drinks 150 ML of water that would mean 5 scoops of formula. try changing it to just 3 scoops so it's more water based.
 
Thank you

Thanks MLBW and Southside852 for your advice! It's good that I can learn from you here as Katelyn is my first baby so I'm not an experienced mother. I will try to adjust the proportion of formula. BTW, do you have any good recommendation of rice cereal? I am looking for something without sugar added and preferably organic.
 
When I first introduced my baby to water, I put it in a bottle and of course he didn't want it. Then I used a sippy cup and he started drinking more. Babies associate the bottle to milk so when something different is put in there, they don't like it. Try using a sippy cup or my friend tried giving water with a spoon and that worked for her. With the cereal, I use Healthy Times both the brown rice and barley (i think that's what it's called) and my baby likes it.

Good Luck!
 
I suggest you talk to your ped about it. giving too much water is often much more dangerous than not enough. giving formula in incorrect proportions can be very dangerous. it is a really good idea to run it by the doctor.
 
when we sleep trained our son at around 8 months old, my american doctor is actually the one who suggested re-working the proportions of the water to formula powder. he said there were no harmful effects, but if you are worried then definitely run it by your doctor as well.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice!
Fingerscrossed - I like the idea of using a cup. I will buy a baby training cup soon and try it out! Fingerscrossed!! :-D
 
My son wouldn't drink water at all--even from a baby cup so we had to try something different--he just didn't want water--not flavored water (with juice or sugar)--not any kind of water--at about 1-year-old he decided he was willing to drink from a sippy cup--so....I think it's fine to try it but some kids just don't want water, no matter what container you serve it in. Hope your baby is different, Katebabe :0)
 
My girls are 8 months old and still aren't keen on water - they take less than 30 mls a day . They've started to play with sippy cups but they don't really drink anything.If you're giving enough formula / breastmilk and getting wet nappies then at that age I really don't think you need to be too worried. For constipation you can add certain foods to the diet when you start solids - a little diluted prune juice mixed in with the rice works wonders :o)
 
Son hated prune juice too...that was the first thing we tried and we kept trying to add it in--diluted and in solid form (pureed prunes) but he never warmed up to them.
 
Hi Katebabe,

Just wondering why you are trying to supplement your baby's diet with water? At 5 months of age breastmilk/formula is the main source of nutrients for your baby and given that breastmilk is 87% water, as long as your baby is feeding regularly dehydration shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Sarah
 
I gave our son water quite early (3-4mths). Not much, an oz or less in between feeds. He was born in the middle of summer, and was hot/sweaty and wanted to feed continuously. And this was not during growth spurts. He also hated it, but slowly learned to drink it. He's now 6 yrs and till today, prefers water over juices.
 
Similar to Rani, we offered our son water before 6 months just as a test to see if he would take it which he did! As a result, he loves water and can switch back and forth between water and his formula without a problem. He drinks between 180-200 ML of water between meals during snack time. I think like many have said in this thread that some babies are just water drinkers while others are not. your baby will let you know when they are ready...
 
SarahinHK said:
Hi Katebabe,

Just wondering why you are trying to supplement your baby's diet with water? At 5 months of age breastmilk/formula is the main source of nutrients for your baby and given that breastmilk is 87% water, as long as your baby is feeding regularly dehydration shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Sarah
Click to expand...

Even babies who drink plenty of formula often get constipated (almost every one of my friends who used formula has had significant problems with constipation)--rarely an issue with breastmilk--and in the hot summers in HK it can be a pretty big issue. And when your baby is screaming in pain and has a hard tummy because they are so constipated from formula you have to supplement with something--no matter how you do it.

Most books I've looked at say that it's okay to start adding small amounts of other liquids at 4-6 months, depending on baby's development and ability to handle it.
 
rani said:
I gave our son water quite early (3-4mths). Not much, an oz or less in between feeds. He was born in the middle of summer, and was hot/sweaty and wanted to feed continuously. And this was not during growth spurts. He also hated it, but slowly learned to drink it. He's now 6 yrs and till today, prefers water over juices.
Click to expand...

We also offered our son water around this age but no luck--I just think some babies don't want water--or other liquids beside milk. And you can offer and offer but it's all about if and when the child decides he/she wants to accept.

It's so good your son likes water over juices--that's how my siblings and I are--because my mom only allowed us juice or soda on special occasions (birthdays). So, in the summer when other moms were making kool-aid and frozen juice pops for their kids, we were sucking on water ice pops! Love it! When I was about 5-years-old I attended a day camp and they offered me juice and I actually asked, "What is this? Can I have water?" :haha: I still drink at least two litres a day!
 
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