Cool boiled water - is it too early?

[kas]

My DS is three weeks old and eating (bf) like a trooper. But sometimes after a feed (within an hour or two) especially when it is really hot it is like he is hungry but only sucks for maybe 30 seconds and has had enough. I figured it is because he is hot and just wants to refresh his mouth. DH gave him some water last night in a bottle and he loved it. But my question is, is he to young for this? and how much should i allow him to have without getting to full before his next feed?

[christy]

kas we were told to use boiled water when Matilda was around 1 month the MCHN told us to use cooled boiled water for Matilda to help get rid of wind. She said around 5-15mls at a time.

[dee73]

I don't think any age is too young - I know lots of mums who have babes who suck too fast so are told to give a bit of water first to calm them down so they don't gulp their milk... My baby was given some water in the hospital when he was only 2 days old too.

As far as how much, I can't help with that. I guess just make sure he still gets the same amount of milk as usual?

[BellyBelly]

kas, breastmilk has enough water in it to quench thirst so don't think your breastmilk will be good for that The foremilk is more thirst quenching and hindmilk contains more fat.

[Mumma2three]

I gave cooled boiled water from the beginning.

[Phteven]

It seems to be one of those issues that lots of MCHN's disagree on. Personally I'm of the opinion that for a breasfed baby there is no need to give water until after they start solids - just so long as you keep your own fluids up bubs should be able to get all the fluids he needs from you.
As Kelly says the foremilk is more watery so he probably just needs a liitle bit to quench his thirst. If you don't give water then you don't need to worry that you're giving too much that said if you're finding it exhausting to keep up with feeds then maybe just a tiny amount like the 5-15mls that Christy suggested probably wouldn't hurt.

[kas]

Thanks ladies. I was mainly going to to do it as an option for when my nipples are still sore (still recovering from a poor latch just after birth-slowly getting better though) as an alternative in order to help them recouperate between feeds IYKWIM, as he only sucks a few times and is done so i figured abit of water would be ok until my (.)(.)'s had fully recovered.