Do FF babies need to drink water?

[Curly]

This thread has certainly gone off on a tangent! It does say on my tin of formula not to change the proportions except under medical advice. So to my mind that says that there can be valid reasons for changing the mix and that MCHNs and paeds who do advise this aren't necessarily talking rubbish as most people on this thread seem to think.

I have no plans for adding more water to DD's formula and never did - I was wondering about separate drinks of water.

It just worries me that there are people on this thread who HAVE been advised to mix the formula differently by a MCHN or paed and that they may not continue to do that based on the suggestions of people in this thread. This is why I said that I felt that if anyone had doubts about the advice they had received after reading comments on this thread, they should go back to the source of the advice and question them further before discontinuing.

I say this with love, truly, I always post suggestions genuinely wanting to help the OP - but I would not disregard instructions from a paed or MCHN based on advice I received in a forum. Not without checking first. I'm a cautious girl at heart.

[Glamourcide]

I couldn't get my bub to drink plain water until she was around five months old. She was formula fed and she would throw a massive tantrum if I offered her water instead of formula... it really had me panicked because the weather here gets really, really hot and humid in summer and we didn't have air-con so I was concerned that she could get dehydrated. My GP also suggested watering down her feeds but she could tell the difference and refused them, too, so I just kept giving her formula and offering her water and then one day, as if by magic, she just decided she wanted water and now she is happy to drink it all the time.
Just offer water in a sippy cup, although sometimes older bubs will want to have it in a 'grown-up' cup and will only take it if you let them share your glass of water. It's messy, but it's only water so if that's what they're into, let them backwash everywhere