me and OH were out last night and his mum was looking after Arwyn. she'd finished the bottle i'd left for her just before we got back so his mum was feeding her cooled boiled water in her bottle when we got back. being a total novice and not wanting to seem stupid in front of her, is it ok to give her that? obviously she has experience of being a mum, i just felt a bit unhappy about her just doing it though

Yeh its fine Its not really needed until u start weaning but lots of mums give their babies cooled boiled water.

cooled boiled water is ok - after 6 months they can have normal tap water too. i would have been a bit peeved if she hadn't sterilised the bottle in between though, milky water!

yeah its fine. alfie has water all the time with his dinner as he no longer has milk at that time x

Boiled waters fine x
We were told to offer boiled water so i wouldnt worry xx

boiled water is fine, but it can cause quite 'loose' nappies until they reach about 6months...is why they suggest giving it to newborns for constipation

While I agree that its 'ok' and won't harm.... I personally would never have done it then unless for example it was very very hot weather!

A baby when BF asks for milk and gets milk...it doesn't get water out of a boob - so that's the natural way - surely it shouldn't be any different for a bottle fed baby..they get water as such mixed with the formula so its not likely that they 'need' extra water....but they do need the calories etc that would have been in the milk had they been given milk.

They ask cos they are hungry and need the calories - so why just fill them with water?

^ i think cos she is usually bf there wasn't anything else to give her!

The make up of breat milk and formula is different though. Breastmilk is much more watery, hence babies often needing more frequent, or longer feeds. And formula milk is heavier. I thought it was recommended to offer water in between (not instead of, obviously) feeds if formula fed as baies can often get constipated?

As i bf Sophia, i didnt realy offer her water befor six months unless she was off her milk and needed it to keep her hydrated. But if i had of formula fed, if i had noticed Sophia was having probs with poos, i would definately have offered her it.

But as a once off, there is no harm at all really, so long as i say, its an in between, not an instead, coz obv there is not much in water.

Hmm, overthinking this one rather a lot! LOL

MAndy xx

Like the others have said hun - cooled boiled water is fine. If she had polished off her milk and still wasn't satisfied then I think it was good of MIL to give her the water rather than panic and let her cry or be unsettled until mummy brought the milk home I'm sure she would never offer water instead of milk if she had it available.

xx

cheers ladies!
i'll just make sure i pump more for her next time