2 Questions

Babies don't need water as long as they are being exclusively breastfed because they get all the water they need from your milk. However, as soon as you start to bottle feed or wean onto solids then you should give your baby water. I certainly would not recommend putting sugar in it! That sounds totally bizarre! It just isn't necessary unless you want your child to get a sweet tooth and get bad teeth.


As for q-tips (or cotton buds as their called here), you can use them to clean the outside part of the ear but under no circumstances insert them into the ear!

Every Dr. Is different.
My Dr. Told me to give .Oni glucose water when we were still in the hospital. Glucose(sugar) water will not hurt a newborn baby. As they get older, you reduce the amount of sugar.

The only reason for the sugar is that it makes the water tasty enough to make the baba want to drink it.

Since she was born, i've fed .Oni every 4 hours, with water (sugar water) in between.

When she was about 2 months, he(her Dr.) told me to swap to 1/2 propel, 1/2 water. She prefers just water though. Nothing in it.

There are baby q-tips available.
The best time to clean the ears is immedietly after a bath, being that the wax is soft and easily removed. If you want to do it before her bath, simply moisten the q-tip.

The best way to decide on these matters is to ask her Dr. We can only tell you what *our* Dr.S have suggested, and it may not be right your your lil one!

Sarah

Hmmm...Interesting...I wonder if this is another one of those .American/u.K differences we love so much?

i know that I was advised not to give my son anything with sugar in, even when he started on solids it was frowned on for him to have anything sweet. Of course, now he's bigger he eats chocolate now and again.

Any other .U.K girls here been told the same as me or have I just got super-strict midwives and health visitors?

I guess i'll put in my 2 cents!

Do not use q-tips to clean her ears. A q-tip will just push the wax further into the ear. Use a cotton ball and clean the large "inside-outer" part (if that makes sense, lol), you don't need to touch the canal. The wax will work itself out on it's own.

I've heard not to give water before 6 months as it's not good for them. I've also heard that formula fed babies do not need water as they get enough from the formula (maybe that's only if you're using powder and mixing with water?).

Why do you want to give her water?

Actually some drs will tell you to put sugar/salt into water to keep baby rehydrated.....

Pedialyte/other rehydration drink only consist of water/salt and sugar.

As for q-tips you are not to use them on a baby they are actually really bad, they actually push the wax farther into the ear canal, just use a face cloth and wipe around. If the wax is hardened do it after a bath or use "auralgant" I think thats the spelling but it will soften the wax.

I just googled it because I couldn't remember why water is bad for infants. Here's a bit of what I found...

"for healthy adults, nothing seems to quench a thirst better than plain, pure water. We're encouraged to drink several glasses a day to keep our systems in balance. But for children under 1 year old – and especially during the first nine months of life – drinking too much water can be dangerous.

In fact, according to pediatricians like james p. Keating, md, medical director of the st. Louis children's hospital diagnostic center, too much water dilutes a baby's normal sodium levels and can lead to seizures, coma, brain damage and death.

breast milk or formula provides all the fluid healthy babies need. If a mother feels her baby needs to take additional water, it should be limited to two to three ounces at a time and should be offered only after the baby has satisfied his hunger with breast feeding or formula."

As with Dr.S, all information on the web is different. I do agree in part though with what you found.

I am to give .Oni *no less* than 8oz per day.

Also, if you read in the "what to expect the 1st year", if you can see your baby's soft spot, they are *severly* dehydrated. I've only seen .Oni's soft spot (and she was bald for a loooong time) maybe 3 times. And when I saw it, I immedietly hydrated her.

Maybe it's because it's sooo damn humid and hot down here that our babies need more hydration than others.

Reguardless of the info found, I will continue to give .Oni water everyday. I have since birth, and she's perfect.

But, like I said, ask your Dr.



sarah

If chu's thirsty and not hungry then I give him water. I was told that i'm allowed to. I was given premixed bottles of glucose water for him. I had him in may and during the summer if I had to take him out I would always bring a bottle of water. There have been plenty of times when he preferred water to additional formula. Now he'll sometimes cry if I give him milk when he would rather have water. At meal times he drinks water or diluted juice with his food. He has his formula fifteen minutes before I give him his food.

I love you .Sarah... You know that...

But I think (personally my opinion) giving a child sugar water is just asking for trouble. I mean, thats just asking for unhealthy weight gain and possible diabetic problems in the future. If thats what your doc told you to do, fine... But no one is perfect and doctors do make mistakes. Trust me. But just because a doctor said to do it doesnt make it right.

As for water itself, I give it to .Caty whenever she has hiccups. I also mix her formula with nursery water every bottle since I used powedered soy formula. Water is healthy.... But too much of a good thing can alwas be bad.

As for cleaning their ears out.. Ive always been told not to... Even using the baby qtips are bad because you risk pushing the wax further back into the ear and causing problems. Your body has a unique way of taking care it itself... Let it be.

We use qtips in our ears, we don't use 'em for chu. I'm too scared, got an ear infection once when I was little from them. Wet cotton fibers stayed in my ear canal then of course they became a bacterial breeding ground... *shudders*

I didnt say her child was suffering .Jess... I just dont agree with it and if my doctor told me to do it i'd tell her where she could shove the sugar water. If there was a health necessity then thats different. But just asa substitute in between bottles? I dont see it necessary. Like I said, its my opinion, I dont judge people's decisions (especially .Sarahs, shes a waaay good mommy and i'd never do that) I just personally wouldnt do it myself.

I agree with sandra and iheart.
I have also done the research,
i would .N.E.V.E.R. Give my son sugar water casually, I think that is asking for trouble. And I dont give him any water anyway, unless he is sick and having diareah and needs the extra fluids.
And we wonder why the usa has such an obesity problem. Im sorry but I think some doctors are quacks.

Thanks for the replies everyone & all of your opinions on it. .I'm iffy on whether to give .Kaylee sugar water or not but since the day she was born & we were still in the hospital the doctor was telling me about it & at her last appointment he told me it wouldn't hurt to start givin her a little water here & there. I've only given it to her twice & it's only been an ounce both times because she didn't like it too much. My boyfriends mother (always has an opinion about everything) told me if I don't start giving her water now, she's not going to like it when she's older ... I don't think that's even close to being right but .I'm sure some of you know how grandparents can be at times ... As for her ears, .I'm leaving them alone ... I don't want her getting any infections or anything so .I'm gonna try the after her bath idea & just wipe them out with a cloth.

Oh & do stores sell those premade bottles of glucose water? Or do yah have to get something like that from a doctor? I don't think .I've ever seen them before ...

I've never heard that before about babies being dehydrated if you can see their soft spot ... I don't think i've ever seen .Kaylee's so I guess her formula is doing a good job... I'd be freaked out if I ever saw that lol, it scared me when I could .Feel it let alone see it ....

Thanks so much everyone ... There is definetly a lot I need to learn about being a mommy!!

I haven't given .Oni sugar water since she was about 2 months old.

Her Dr. Told me to switch to propel + water, but she prefers *plain water*.

I can *totally* see where yall are coming from with the sugar water. Totally. I'm *positive* that it would cause obesity, diabetic problems, etc. But plain water, there's nothing wrong with it.

Every Dr. Is different, as is every baby and mother. My outlook might be on the total opposite spectrum of yalls, but I still respect everyone's opinions!!

I don't give .Oni juice though. She's content with her water.

The soft spot issue is something that not many mommies know about. But it's alll in the "what to expect" book.

The water thing, is similar with the cereal issue....In my eyes.

Sarah

I don't get why your doctor would say to give her propel. Wouldn't you then have an even harder time transitioning her to plain water? I don't agree with giving a baby sugar water, but if you're going to then I do agree with giving them less and less sugar until eventually they're taking plain water. Propel is just going to make them want flavored water.

I'm glad oni likes plain water!

Well, the propel has calcium in it.

Basically, I think it's just a way to get the baby to actually *like* the water.
But the older they get, the more they're less concerned with what it tastes like, they just care if its wet!

Oni doesn't drink her water in a bottle. She'll only drink it in a sippy cup! We try over and over and over, and she refuses the bottle. She wants her cup!
But with formula, she'll take either/or. Cup, bottle, hell she doesn't care as long as she gets it!

I tasted the water mixed with propel, and it's tart as you know what! Blaah, I was like, I see why she won't drink it! That sh'ts gross!
So I gave her plain water, and she killed it!



sarah

Can I point out that glucose and regular sugar (like you put in tea or coffee) are two different things.

Glucose is one of the main building blocks of the body.
Sucrose is the regular sugar you put in your drinks.

If my doctor said give a baby sugar water - i'd laugh - but if he said glucose - now that is different.

Yes they are both types of sugar but the chemical build is slightly different giving it different qualities.