Water

taraleanne

I was told we could introduce water when LO starts solids. How much water should we allow them to drink?? My LO is learning to drink from a straw cup (amazed at how fast he figured that out) and I'm sure he'd drink a great deal if I let him but I don't want water to fill his belly and have him too full to take a full breastfeed.   Thoughts?

EmR22

For babies past the newborn stage

 Too much water can interfere with breastfeeding because it fills baby up so that he nurses less.

 Babies need the nutrition and calories in breastmilk to grow – water has none of these. 

 Breastmilk has all the water your baby needs, even in very hot weather. 

When your 4-6 month old baby is learning to use a cup, giving him a few sips of water a couple of times a day (no more than 2 ounces per 24 hours) is fine and fun. 

Once baby starts solids, you might want to give him a few sips of expressed milk or water with his solids – some babies need this to prevent constipation. 

From kellymom. Personally I FF so we always gave formula in cup. I didn't ever give them water until much older.