breast feeding and water?

Question

my son is going to be 4 months on november 16th i breast feed him should i be giving him water too? do about first step nestle rice cereal

SERIOUS QUESTIONS ONLY PLEASE!!! i am just curious if people gave there babies water i have heard that you should and you dont need to

Answer 1

I breast fed my son until he was 11 1/2 monthes old. He began on solids from 4 monthes. Cereals are the best form of solids at that age the rice ones are good and the ots are good too. at about 6 months u could start on vegetables. While u breast feed watter is not necessary because your breasts produce all the necessary vitamins and minerals. I used to give my son watter once in a while for kiks but its not needed. Its totally good to give them watter if u want.
Good luck with everything and Im glad u chose the best for your son u cant beat the brest milk.

sexy_mamI

Answer 2

Breast fed babies don't require any additional fluids until after 6 months. Cereal could be given between 4-6 months, if baby is showing signs of readiness or milk is not enough (if baby wants to feed more than 8 times per day. We started with the rice cereal a little over 5 months.

Answer 3

Hi I breast feed too. Sometimes you can offer the water as well as juice diluted. For example if the juice is mixed half juice and half with pre-boiled water that will probably be enough water. It depends on the little one if they want the water or not. There is also enough water in your breast milk to sustain the little one as well. I would maybe start with apple juice. So its not too strong for the little one

Do you make sure to drink plenty of liquids when you are breastfeeding. Breast milk is very diluted but very good for the little one. With my boys both of them required the extra pablem, rice cereal at least once a day as they were growing so fast and needed the extra.

Thats just what I did with my little ones.
good luck

Answer 4

There is plenty of water content in your breast milk. He does not need water. That could just make him feel full and not give him any of the nutrients he needs. If you want to give him rice cereal mix it with warm breast milk so it is very liquidy and let him try a few bites to see if he likes it.

Answer 5

Older babies who are given formula often need to be given water to prevent dehydration and constipation, particularly during hot weather.

But you're in luck! Breastfeeding provides your baby with all the hydration he needs, and it tailors itself to his specific needs. So in the summer, there's a bit more of that thirst-quenching foremilk and in the winter, more rich, energy-giving hindmilk. You don't need to supplement your breastmilk at all.

If I might make a suggestion regarding first solids: Cereal is pretty useless, nutritionally, and tends to be constipating as well. Some great first foods are sweet potatoes, avocados, and bananas. They're nutritionally dense, mash easily to a good consistency, and are easy on baby's tummy. I didn't start cereal with my daughter until much later (toward 10 months). Her first food was a piece of avocado in a self-feeder at close to 6 months, and she loooooved it. I loved knowing she was getting a ton of bioavailable nutrients in just that one food, rather than something that had to be artificially manipulated to be "good" for her.

Answer 6

Occasional sips of water won't hurt, but giving too much water to babies under 6 months old can interfere with his ability to absorb nutrients from your milk.

Answer 7

truthfully ingesting water facilitates you reside hydrated, yet additionally try teas (they make "nursing teas") and likewise soups. Your milk furnish would be maximum ample interior the morning and drop off because of the fact the day progresses...as your physique turns into extra drained and you're extra energetic. sturdy success! sustain the breast feeding :)

Answer 8

If you are breastfeeding as often as you should, your baby does not need water. I breastfeed my four and did not give them water. When they were a little older (after 6 mos.), if we were out and I thought they might need a drink, I would OCCASIONALLY give them a small amount of water. Really, breastfeeding should be enough.

Answer 9

There's all kinds of debate about whether cereal before 6 months is good for baby.

Lots of people give it before 6-months to get them to sleep longer. (Most books say this doesn't actually work and that adding cereal to a bottle is never a good idea. Wait till your baby can handle a spoon.) There's another opposing theory that introducing solids before 6-months can contribute to food allergies.

Most baby's digestive systems aren't ready to handle baby food until 6 months and many still have the "tongue thrust reflex" that makes it nearly impossible to feed them solids (with a spoon) anyway. Sneaking it into a bottle isn't necessary. If you try a spoon and it doesn’t work, don’t force the issue it will only frustrate both of you.

I breastfed (and still am at 11-months.) I started giving my daughter tiny little tastes of things (that weren't common allergens) off my finger at about 3-4 months, but not feeding her with a spoon.

I had a good sleeper so we never even needed to consider cereal before 6 months and we started with rice cereal 5 days before her 6-month birthday. We stuck with just cereals for a month before moving into veggies and fruits every 3 days (to rule out allergies) starting at 7-months. (I would've started these in her 6th month too, but I was waiting for her 6-month check-up to talk to her doctor and it had to be rescheduled.)

My baby has a very strong gag reflex (because of a slightly restricted esophagus - a condition that she was born with that should go away over the first 6-18 months.) When we introduced the fruits and veggies we had to water them down a bit and also needed to start giving her water in a bottle with her meals to help her wash things down a bit. We use water that's been boiled, cooled and put through a Britta. We hadn’t given her water before that. (See “When can my baby drink water” for more info… http://www.babycenter.com/plus/readyornot/articles/food/114?_DARGS=%2Fplus%2Freadyornot%2Fpoll.jhtml ) Giving a baby bottled water may not be recommended unless the quality of your water is very poor. (I've given my daughter some when we're away from home just because it's readily available.) Most municipal water systems add flouride to water which is important for teeth. (Not sure if I believe it after all that I do to my daughter's water, but the public health nurse told me that a Britta filter isn't fine enough to remove flouride.) We tried to give her juice starting at 8 months but she didn’t like it. (We'll be trying again soon when she starts daycare because I plan to still BF 3x a day and she needs to drink something there while I'm at work... She gets hysterical over formula.)

If you're going to give your baby solids before 6 months I'd recommend talking to your pediatrician first. Even with the conflicting recommendations from Health Canada (and the AAP? APA? in the U.S.) many pediatricians seem to recommend cereal before 6-months (i.e. at about 4-months) depending on the growth of the baby, the doctor can tell you how much would be appropriate.

Signs of readiness for solid food (Your baby probably won't do all these things — they're just clues to watch for.)
• Can hold head up
• Sits well in highchair
• Makes chewing motions
• Shows significant weight gain (birth weight has doubled)
• Shows interest in food
• Can close mouth around a spoon
• Can move food from front to back of mouth
• Can move tongue back and forth, but is losing tendency to push food out with tongue (tongue thrust reflex)
• Seems hungry after 8 to 10 feedings of breast milk or 40 oz. of formula in a day
• Is teething

What to feed
• Breast milk or formula, PLUS
• Semi-liquid iron-fortified rice cereal, THEN
• Other grain cereals like oats or barley

Mommy instincts are generally good ones.
As in all other things, let your baby be your guide.

Take care & good luck!

Answer 10

i heard it's bad to give them water at that age my dr said it good to give the baby juices now and if i wanted to feed him a little of something else to mix breast milk, formula or soymilk with the baby cereal not water. to tell u the truth i think it will tast nasty to the baby even if u mix water with the cereal! but thats my opinion!