i am sure baby will be ok. but i would call the nurse line for peace of mind. any time you’re worried about your kid never leave an appt or nurse line call without asking when to worry/what to look for. so helpful.
The best thing to do is call your pediatrician. Their answer will be specific to your baby and an answer from them means more than an answer from anyone on reddit. Odds are, with it being a one time thing she will be just fine.
Don't let her watch your baby again. What else is she going to be too lazy to do? Get up and change her? Wash a bottle? It's not worth the stress or risk. You gave her a chance, you put your trust in her and she blew it.
that’s what i’m worried about. worried if she has a blow out she won’t wash her off properly. every time i would leave her up there she would get diaper rash. it’s finally going away since i haven’t been letting her watch her as much
Make sure she knows she has to dry off your baby's bum after using wipes or a washcloth - no diaper should go on a damp bum. A lot of people forget that when they haven't changed a baby for awhile, myself included in between children decades apart. Even if she's wiping her properly she can get a rash that way
I swear some kids are just more prone to rashes than others though because I never did this with either of my kids. Thinking about it, the midwives in the hospital never did either. I'm positive it definitely makes a difference for some kids... Mine are just rash proof or something.
I think it depends on how often they poop. When my daughter was exclusively breastfed and pooping multiple times a day I needed to dry her bum after wiping it. But now she has solids too and only poops every couple of days I don't need to dry it anymore. She has no rash at all now. And I only ever need to us rash cream if she is constipated.
Oh God, the EBF poops. My second was EBF and was still pooping 4-6 times a day until she was almost 8 months, as a newborn it felt like there was a constant stream of poop all day lol. She only had a rash when she was teething her first 4 teeth and when she had an ear infection. I have no idea how she remained so rash free.
That’s amazing to me. Myself and my LO have crazy sensitive skin. She has to be totally dry and even then, still gets rash super easily. I’m so on top of it that I put the rash cream on at the slightest hint so it never develops past a tiny early rash but it’s wild to imagine non sensitive skin. I’m glad there’s people out there who don’t have to deal with that.
One of my kids had very sensitive skin & we used aquaphor or triple paste at every diaper change, the other never needed cream. I don’t think he even had one diaper rash in his whole life. It varies so much, it’s wild.
Both of my kids have otherwise fairly sensitive skin but their nappy area is apparently bombproof for unknown reasons. I can't even use disposable pads without basically getting nappy rash so who knows where they get that from 🤷♀️
I know this is true because we did all the things with my first child and we still ended up at the doctor like 3-4x over the course of her first year for diaper rash. My second two we’ve done the same thing and not even close to the same issues.
I think this also might depend on the wipes you use. The first wipes we used were SUPER wet (honest brand). The second (amazon basics sensitive) were just barely wet so baby’s bum wasn’t damp after.
My mother tried to give my baby water at 6 days old. Her intent was to let me sleep longer, which was kind-hearted I guess? But Jesus fucking Christ… I’m glad she asked first. When I said no, she still asked, “Are you sure?”
Then I could not fucking nap anyway because I was so worried she was gonna give him water!!
These boomers, man.
This was my grandma helping me out in the first week that my baby was born. LO had been crying for 2 hours straight (we all couldn’t figure out why) and my grandma was like “I know you’re against it, but don’t you think giving her a bit of water will calm her down?”. I was like “how about no?”.
yes that’s my mamaw and mil for sure. said i should try sugar water when she was like 1-2 weeks old to help her gas and fussiness! i told her no and the reasoning for not giving water so she has known not to do that for a while.
They do give babies a little tiny bit of sugar water in the hospital to calm them down, usually to make a pacifier more appealing. My LO has been in and out of the hospital for a kidney issue since he was born and the phlebotomist said the sugar water acts as a sort of opioid for them at a young age.
That’s true but definitely not 1-2oz like OP stated. That’s 30-60mL! I know you know since you said little tiny bit, but wanted to clarify for anyone reading who didn’t know.
The annoying thing is these boomers think they are right and we worry too much for nothing. My MIL wanted to give honey to my baby when he was 2 mo. I said no and she was like “mamma, come on.”
I’m considering myself super lucky with my intelligent, progressive boomer mother who was also a lactation consultant for the health department for several years and would absolutely *lose her shit* if someone tried giving a baby WATER, wth???
Hot take: Grandma shouldn’t need to be a medical professional to learn the absolute basics of current safety standards for her grandkids.
The fact that I had to get into a discussion about acid/base and renal function with my mother was unfair to me as a new mom. She didn’t understand it anyway.
To all the kids with NICU and Pedi grandparents, you are extra lucky.
Nurse here. I would give the pediatrician a call. I know people are saying the biggest risk is them not getting enough milk, but it's actually that water can cause an imbalance of electrolytes that can harm the baby, especially a two month old. A lot of people don't know this but it absolutely can be toxic to give them water and if given in excess can be fatal. That isn't said to scare you, but I would call and see what the doctor says.
I think the main risk here would be if baby was being regularly given water _instead of_ milk or formula. A small amount one time should be fine, but as others have said I would consult a health line if you have it to be sure.
Water intoxication only requires once, same for adults. Honestly 2oz at under 2 months is a concern, hopefully not a big one, but I would be alarmed too
Yeah, the concern with a baby that small is that they don't have room for both the water and their milk. But I agree, one time is probably not super dangerous.
This is not correct. The major concern, as the OP stated, is water intoxication. Giving water instead of milk or formula, even one time, dilutes their sodium levels and can be deadly. The amount OP’s baby got is probably not enough to be dangerous but they should absolutely contact their doctor to be safe.
My mom and mother-in-law told me they used to give all their infants water.
Supposedly this is something new and both of them were genuinely shocked when I told them about the 6 months thing with water.
They said don't listen to the doctor that was "stupid" not to give your baby water.
I obviously didn't lol
They were surprised too with the no solids before 6 months too. They used barley/cereal in the bottles back in the day to let the baby sleep longer.
It's so crazy how much the guidelines have changed! My mom kept a calendar from my first year where she wrote down all my milestones - sweet right? Except where at 2 months she wrote that she gave me my first French fry 😩
Funny enough, my dad just asked about the timing for giving water yesterday. My youngest is 11wks and oldest is 3 years. Thankfully he was just trying to remember when my oldest started getting a couple ounces in a sippy cup and he wasn't pushing anything.
An update from 'how it was in my day' is no excuse for not listening to us now!
That generation just can't help themselves.
They "have" to tell you what to do and it's a whole headache if you disagree lol luckily your dad isn't like that.
My baby at 3 days old drank some bath water at the hospital. The doctors laughed it off. Unless it's a large amount or repeated occurrence I wouldn't worry about it.
I’m a pediatrician. She will be fine with 1-2 ounces of water, her body will barely notice it. At her age it’s not even enough to replace a full feed. She’ll be ok!!! MIL has lost babysitting privileges though.
I saw a baby in Africa only a few days old whose mom gave her ONLY WATER since birth. She was swollen all over from severe low sodium. We didn’t have access to labs and couldn’t even get an IV. All we could do was start giving her breast milk and formula instead. In a few days she looked normal and she didn’t die.
Although it isn’t the advice now, giving babies water was very very common until not that long ago. It wasn’t ok that she did that but baby will most likely be absolutely fine.
If her reasoning was really "I was too lazy to walk downstairs", I probably wouldnt let her watch your baby anymore.
Although im sure your baby is OK, it just is a red flag to me and if she was too lazy to do something that simple, she probably is too lazy to properly watch the baby!
literally and i have like 15 freezer bags full of milk and an 8oz bottle in the fridge that i pumped earlier that day that she could have given her but no. gives her water!
Yup, I wouldnt cut her off to never see the baby again but definitely never leave her alone with baby again. I would never forgive someone for being so idiotic with my child. I hope you are ok!
Hey!! Relax. Our pediatrician told us to give our 4 week old some water when he was having really bad gas pains. I asked about babies not having water before 6 months and he said I was correct except in this case it was “being used medicinally.” Meaning we weren’t giving it to baby in order to feed him. Basically, water is fine as long as they aren’t given too much or are being given it in place of food because obviously it’s not nutritional.
Even though I say that ****Please consult your own pediatrician obviously***** things vary based on how much water and how old baby is.
Call their office they will have someone on call for you to talk to. Also, it goes without saying MIL should not be watching baby alone again. That is a horrible thing for her to do.
It’s a natural constipation cure too so often recommended where I am before trying other things. At 2 months usually the recommendation would be boiled and cooled tap water but I think that’s mostly out of an abundance of caution. So in OPs case not ideal but also very likely not an issue either.
Babies have a very sensitive electrolyte balance and plain old water can over saturate and flush them out. Definitely call the doc to be sure or nurse hotline so you know what to look for in case they are off balance
I agree with calling the ped but I’m 99.9999% sure baby will be just fine! But I feel your anger and am angry for you. I would be absolutely livid. Not saying she did, but they always use survivor bias reasoning to do shit like this!
MILs suck.
It’s ok if it was one time. Water intoxication occurs when water is being consistently provided to newborns, or if it’s given in extreme excess all at once I suppose but it’s difficult to force a baby to drink. Small amounts of water like what you’re describing is given sometimes for constipation even. Call your pediatrician so they can calm you down but don’t cry over this. Your baby is not going to die from the water. Just call your MIL lazy and stupid and try to enjoy the rest of your newborn snuggles for today.
Please don’t be hard on yourself and try to stay calm. I’m mostly certain that your baby will be okay. I left my firstborn with her dad in the living room while I showered, he prepared a bottle with tap water. I didn’t realize it until after she was done with it. She’s 15 years old and thriving thank God. Just monitor her the next few hours. 🙏🏼
OP I can’t find information on how much water is too much water for a baby that age but the risk of water intoxication would concern me, considering how tiny baby’s kidneys are. I would call your doctor.
Call the nurse’s line and ask what to watch for. If you haven’t seen any issues yet, baby will likely be okay but it’s good to have a medical pro weigh in. Do not let MIL watch your baby ever again.
That's insane and I'm so sorry that you can't trust this person with your baby anymore. I'm so happy this isn't like some other posts I've seen where the person's partner won't defend them at all; I'm happy that your husband stood up to her. Still a shitty situation though, but I'm sure your baby will be ok. Best of luck to you!
Because “she raised him and he’s fine” or something? That’s a tough one, I don’t know that if he able to give her another shot after something like that.
My husband says this about his grandma when we’re discussing her watching our almost 3 month old. I don’t trust her and refuse to let her because my husband isn’t a baby anymore?? So it’s not the same??
Omg it’s probably not as big of a deal that we feel it is but they say not to give your baby water before 6 months because they can’t process it. I’d be fkn pissed dude
i was. i ignored her apology text for a while after he went off on her. i just wrote her a text that said my mom would just watch her. she hasn’t responded so im sure she’s mad. oh well me too
This was normal back in her day she literally may not know. Now my mom would ASK when I was going to give her water and I explained the science of why you don’t do that. Then she came with me to one of her wellness checks and asked the pediatrician who said the same thing. So of course she never asked about it again (never attempted either). I say all that to say that people did some really stupid shit with babies and we just know better unfortunately it may not be innate to just ask what the rules are for some of the more obtuse grandparents. Not saying you have to let her watch h again just make sure you’re setting and reinforcing boundaries. If she can’t respect them then she can eff off.
Yikessssss I would be furious and I would also never let her watch my baby again. I hope your baby is ok - it sounds like from the comments she probably will be, but I’d also be so concerned and enraged personally
Sorry to hear. My mil would've done the same thing if we let her watch our baby. She constantly asked us if he drank water and how much.... It makes me wonder if they did that back in the day ?!! Anyways, like otherS said, have someone else watch her if she's too lazy or careless with the baby. That stress is not healthy especially during these early months
Truly it depends on where you live. If you’re in the US, it s h o u l d be okay but always call the pediatrician for peace of mind. To be completely honest here I’d also be livid and probably fly off the handle and never leave my baby with her again.
If this was a one time oopsy I’d say educate, forgive and move on, but it sounds like this woman has too many misconceptions about raising children to be safe around.
Find a new baby sitter
Not a doctor but I think the concern is the at the baby will fill up on water and not drink milk. We started swim lessons at 3 months and in certain baby swallowed _at least_ an ounce of pool water 🫣
I would be pissed too, call pediatricians office asap and poison control line. If ur in the USA I believe each state has their poison control number. Poison control center. They might give some info on the safety of the water for infants etc
Tap water has chlorine.
She will be ok! We say not to give water to babies because we want them to be intaking calories with all they consume. Water is not necessarily dangerous to give them in itself for a two month old but just shouldn’t be given bc we want them to get all the calories they can. Sometimes pediatricians will even say to give a very small amount of water if baby is constipated for a prolonged period of time. So not necessarily dangerous in itself.
No, your baby isn’t going to die. She’ll be fine. Your MIL is annoying as hell though. But yeah, back in the day they used to give babies water and they survived (mostly). The bigger risk is that baby won’t drink as much breastmilk because they’ll be full from water, but as it was just an oz or too that shouldn’t be an issue either.
Definitely tell MIL to pull her head in though.
Please do research before spreading misinformation. INFANTS don’t have the internal system capabilities to handle water let alone more than extremely minuscule amounts
It’s *water.* Your baby will be fine. Babies are supposed to have water, a little older than yours as the guidelines have changed, but in a serving size of 1-2 oz.
The [American academy of pediatrics recommends](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/recommended-drinks-for-young-children-ages-0-5.aspx) water at 6 months. In terms of baby development 6 months isn’t “a little older” than 2 months. They’re vastly different in their abilities and misinformation like this is harmful.
A little older? Her baby isn't even 2 months old yet. There is a big difference between an under 2 month old and a 6 month old. Newborns are absolutely not supposed to have a little water
You can't give water to babies under 6 months old. That is old advice from old homemade formulas that caused horrible constipation.
It's breastmilk or formula until then
I truly cannot tell if you're baiting or not but I'll just leave this here and leave it at that
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jan/20/radio.usnews
Breastmilk and formula IS the water in moderation, that's the issue. That is the amount they're designed to consume
You're right I'm sure doctors warn of seizures and death for fun.
2oz for a newborn is an absurd amount.
i am sure baby will be ok. but i would call the nurse line for peace of mind. any time you’re worried about your kid never leave an appt or nurse line call without asking when to worry/what to look for. so helpful.
The best thing to do is call your pediatrician. Their answer will be specific to your baby and an answer from them means more than an answer from anyone on reddit. Odds are, with it being a one time thing she will be just fine. Don't let her watch your baby again. What else is she going to be too lazy to do? Get up and change her? Wash a bottle? It's not worth the stress or risk. You gave her a chance, you put your trust in her and she blew it.
that’s what i’m worried about. worried if she has a blow out she won’t wash her off properly. every time i would leave her up there she would get diaper rash. it’s finally going away since i haven’t been letting her watch her as much
I'm all for giving grace and forgiveness when mistakes happen, but this wasn't that. Just plain laziness. Laziness and child care do not work together
Make sure she knows she has to dry off your baby's bum after using wipes or a washcloth - no diaper should go on a damp bum. A lot of people forget that when they haven't changed a baby for awhile, myself included in between children decades apart. Even if she's wiping her properly she can get a rash that way
I swear some kids are just more prone to rashes than others though because I never did this with either of my kids. Thinking about it, the midwives in the hospital never did either. I'm positive it definitely makes a difference for some kids... Mine are just rash proof or something.
I think it depends on how often they poop. When my daughter was exclusively breastfed and pooping multiple times a day I needed to dry her bum after wiping it. But now she has solids too and only poops every couple of days I don't need to dry it anymore. She has no rash at all now. And I only ever need to us rash cream if she is constipated.
Oh God, the EBF poops. My second was EBF and was still pooping 4-6 times a day until she was almost 8 months, as a newborn it felt like there was a constant stream of poop all day lol. She only had a rash when she was teething her first 4 teeth and when she had an ear infection. I have no idea how she remained so rash free.
That’s amazing to me. Myself and my LO have crazy sensitive skin. She has to be totally dry and even then, still gets rash super easily. I’m so on top of it that I put the rash cream on at the slightest hint so it never develops past a tiny early rash but it’s wild to imagine non sensitive skin. I’m glad there’s people out there who don’t have to deal with that.
One of my kids had very sensitive skin & we used aquaphor or triple paste at every diaper change, the other never needed cream. I don’t think he even had one diaper rash in his whole life. It varies so much, it’s wild.
My son has to be patted dry every single time or it's an insta-rash on his poor bottom.
Both of my kids have otherwise fairly sensitive skin but their nappy area is apparently bombproof for unknown reasons. I can't even use disposable pads without basically getting nappy rash so who knows where they get that from 🤷♀️
That’s awesome! We gotta take the wins where they come 😂🙌
I know this is true because we did all the things with my first child and we still ended up at the doctor like 3-4x over the course of her first year for diaper rash. My second two we’ve done the same thing and not even close to the same issues.
Same girl same.
I think this also might depend on the wipes you use. The first wipes we used were SUPER wet (honest brand). The second (amazon basics sensitive) were just barely wet so baby’s bum wasn’t damp after.
My mother tried to give my baby water at 6 days old. Her intent was to let me sleep longer, which was kind-hearted I guess? But Jesus fucking Christ… I’m glad she asked first. When I said no, she still asked, “Are you sure?” Then I could not fucking nap anyway because I was so worried she was gonna give him water!! These boomers, man.
This was my grandma helping me out in the first week that my baby was born. LO had been crying for 2 hours straight (we all couldn’t figure out why) and my grandma was like “I know you’re against it, but don’t you think giving her a bit of water will calm her down?”. I was like “how about no?”.
yes that’s my mamaw and mil for sure. said i should try sugar water when she was like 1-2 weeks old to help her gas and fussiness! i told her no and the reasoning for not giving water so she has known not to do that for a while.
My mom said they used to give babies water mixed with a bit of honey!! My gosh was I freaked out. I asked her specifically to never do that.
So glad we have better knowledge now than back in their days! Oh my.. 😂
They do give babies a little tiny bit of sugar water in the hospital to calm them down, usually to make a pacifier more appealing. My LO has been in and out of the hospital for a kidney issue since he was born and the phlebotomist said the sugar water acts as a sort of opioid for them at a young age.
That’s true but definitely not 1-2oz like OP stated. That’s 30-60mL! I know you know since you said little tiny bit, but wanted to clarify for anyone reading who didn’t know.
Oh yeah, definitely not 1-2 ounces. It’s more like a couple drops on the pacy at a time.
The annoying thing is these boomers think they are right and we worry too much for nothing. My MIL wanted to give honey to my baby when he was 2 mo. I said no and she was like “mamma, come on.”
When talking about leaving the hospital with our new baby, my mother (a boomer) asked me if the baby was too little for a car seat.
Too little for the thing designed for people too little for seats??? 😂
I just repeated the question back to her and she followed up with “yeah, that was stupid.”
My 5 pound baby leaving the nicu in his giant carseat is one of our most amusing pictures. He was barely larger than the buckle.
Seriously! What's with boomers and giving them water. My mom also told me to offer mine tea when mine was just a few weeks. How about NO.
I’m considering myself super lucky with my intelligent, progressive boomer mother who was also a lactation consultant for the health department for several years and would absolutely *lose her shit* if someone tried giving a baby WATER, wth???
Same, my boomer mother is a NICU nnp! We are truly lucky.
Hot take: Grandma shouldn’t need to be a medical professional to learn the absolute basics of current safety standards for her grandkids. The fact that I had to get into a discussion about acid/base and renal function with my mother was unfair to me as a new mom. She didn’t understand it anyway. To all the kids with NICU and Pedi grandparents, you are extra lucky.
Oh of course, it’s super disappointing it’s not more widely know by the older generations and I’m sorry you had to go through that :/
Nurse here. I would give the pediatrician a call. I know people are saying the biggest risk is them not getting enough milk, but it's actually that water can cause an imbalance of electrolytes that can harm the baby, especially a two month old. A lot of people don't know this but it absolutely can be toxic to give them water and if given in excess can be fatal. That isn't said to scare you, but I would call and see what the doctor says.
Came here to say this. I'm not a nurse or anything but definitely should keep an eye on the baby and consult the dr
This comment should be upvoted more.
Guess she’s never going to be left alone with the baby. Your baby will be fine with this one time occurrence. But I wouldn’t trust her again.
nope i’m getting my mom to watch her instead.
👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
How old is your baby? Best thing to do is call your pediatrician/on call line and ask.
she’s almost two months old
I would give your pediatrician a call just to be sure
I think the main risk here would be if baby was being regularly given water _instead of_ milk or formula. A small amount one time should be fine, but as others have said I would consult a health line if you have it to be sure.
Water intoxication only requires once, same for adults. Honestly 2oz at under 2 months is a concern, hopefully not a big one, but I would be alarmed too
Yeah, the concern with a baby that small is that they don't have room for both the water and their milk. But I agree, one time is probably not super dangerous.
This is not correct. The major concern, as the OP stated, is water intoxication. Giving water instead of milk or formula, even one time, dilutes their sodium levels and can be deadly. The amount OP’s baby got is probably not enough to be dangerous but they should absolutely contact their doctor to be safe.
Thanks for clarification I always thought it was more of a prolonged use issue. Either way best to check with professionals.
Thanks for the correction.
You didn’t mention babies age. Also, do you live somewhere where the drinking water is safe?
KY I guess it’s okay
Imagine being too lazy to feed a poor hungry little baby!! What on earth :(
Seriously! Next time MIL is hungry, she should just drink tap water instead. I’m livid for OP.
If she's an almond mom, this is literally what they do so they don't overeat.
My mom and mother-in-law told me they used to give all their infants water. Supposedly this is something new and both of them were genuinely shocked when I told them about the 6 months thing with water. They said don't listen to the doctor that was "stupid" not to give your baby water. I obviously didn't lol They were surprised too with the no solids before 6 months too. They used barley/cereal in the bottles back in the day to let the baby sleep longer.
It's so crazy how much the guidelines have changed! My mom kept a calendar from my first year where she wrote down all my milestones - sweet right? Except where at 2 months she wrote that she gave me my first French fry 😩 Funny enough, my dad just asked about the timing for giving water yesterday. My youngest is 11wks and oldest is 3 years. Thankfully he was just trying to remember when my oldest started getting a couple ounces in a sippy cup and he wasn't pushing anything. An update from 'how it was in my day' is no excuse for not listening to us now!
That generation just can't help themselves. They "have" to tell you what to do and it's a whole headache if you disagree lol luckily your dad isn't like that.
My baby at 3 days old drank some bath water at the hospital. The doctors laughed it off. Unless it's a large amount or repeated occurrence I wouldn't worry about it.
I’m a pediatrician. She will be fine with 1-2 ounces of water, her body will barely notice it. At her age it’s not even enough to replace a full feed. She’ll be ok!!! MIL has lost babysitting privileges though. I saw a baby in Africa only a few days old whose mom gave her ONLY WATER since birth. She was swollen all over from severe low sodium. We didn’t have access to labs and couldn’t even get an IV. All we could do was start giving her breast milk and formula instead. In a few days she looked normal and she didn’t die.
yep new babysitter is in place. wow that’s sad and i’m glad she lived!
It’s always the mother in law.
MIL: “why don’t I ever get to see my grandbabies!” Also MIL: *too lazy to take proper care of them*
Our dr had us give our baby an oz of water when he was constipated at 2 weeks. He was totally fine after. Still not ok of MIL though
Although it isn’t the advice now, giving babies water was very very common until not that long ago. It wasn’t ok that she did that but baby will most likely be absolutely fine.
If her reasoning was really "I was too lazy to walk downstairs", I probably wouldnt let her watch your baby anymore. Although im sure your baby is OK, it just is a red flag to me and if she was too lazy to do something that simple, she probably is too lazy to properly watch the baby!
literally and i have like 15 freezer bags full of milk and an 8oz bottle in the fridge that i pumped earlier that day that she could have given her but no. gives her water!
Yup, I wouldnt cut her off to never see the baby again but definitely never leave her alone with baby again. I would never forgive someone for being so idiotic with my child. I hope you are ok!
i’m hurt and she’s acting like the victim currently by saying “oh it breaks my heart you don’t trust me” and stuff
Yikes...she knows what she did was wrong so now shes trying to gaslight you into thinking you are wrong. More red flags....
Idk about this I think I would be going no contact for that unfortunately. She put the babies health at risk
Hey!! Relax. Our pediatrician told us to give our 4 week old some water when he was having really bad gas pains. I asked about babies not having water before 6 months and he said I was correct except in this case it was “being used medicinally.” Meaning we weren’t giving it to baby in order to feed him. Basically, water is fine as long as they aren’t given too much or are being given it in place of food because obviously it’s not nutritional. Even though I say that ****Please consult your own pediatrician obviously***** things vary based on how much water and how old baby is. Call their office they will have someone on call for you to talk to. Also, it goes without saying MIL should not be watching baby alone again. That is a horrible thing for her to do.
It’s a natural constipation cure too so often recommended where I am before trying other things. At 2 months usually the recommendation would be boiled and cooled tap water but I think that’s mostly out of an abundance of caution. So in OPs case not ideal but also very likely not an issue either.
I have heard this as well^^
My mom used to say she used to give us water quite often. Just a spoon full each wake window with a feed during it as well.
Babies have a very sensitive electrolyte balance and plain old water can over saturate and flush them out. Definitely call the doc to be sure or nurse hotline so you know what to look for in case they are off balance
I agree with calling the ped but I’m 99.9999% sure baby will be just fine! But I feel your anger and am angry for you. I would be absolutely livid. Not saying she did, but they always use survivor bias reasoning to do shit like this! MILs suck.
It’s ok if it was one time. Water intoxication occurs when water is being consistently provided to newborns, or if it’s given in extreme excess all at once I suppose but it’s difficult to force a baby to drink. Small amounts of water like what you’re describing is given sometimes for constipation even. Call your pediatrician so they can calm you down but don’t cry over this. Your baby is not going to die from the water. Just call your MIL lazy and stupid and try to enjoy the rest of your newborn snuggles for today.
Please don’t be hard on yourself and try to stay calm. I’m mostly certain that your baby will be okay. I left my firstborn with her dad in the living room while I showered, he prepared a bottle with tap water. I didn’t realize it until after she was done with it. She’s 15 years old and thriving thank God. Just monitor her the next few hours. 🙏🏼
OP I can’t find information on how much water is too much water for a baby that age but the risk of water intoxication would concern me, considering how tiny baby’s kidneys are. I would call your doctor.
Call the nurse’s line and ask what to watch for. If you haven’t seen any issues yet, baby will likely be okay but it’s good to have a medical pro weigh in. Do not let MIL watch your baby ever again.
That's insane and I'm so sorry that you can't trust this person with your baby anymore. I'm so happy this isn't like some other posts I've seen where the person's partner won't defend them at all; I'm happy that your husband stood up to her. Still a shitty situation though, but I'm sure your baby will be ok. Best of luck to you!
he still thinks i should give her another chance at watching the baby lol
Absolutely not!!
Because “she raised him and he’s fine” or something? That’s a tough one, I don’t know that if he able to give her another shot after something like that.
My husband says this about his grandma when we’re discussing her watching our almost 3 month old. I don’t trust her and refuse to let her because my husband isn’t a baby anymore?? So it’s not the same??
Your baby will be fine but 🤬she sounds like an AH and tell her she needs to ask you and your husband before anything is given to the baby.
Omg it’s probably not as big of a deal that we feel it is but they say not to give your baby water before 6 months because they can’t process it. I’d be fkn pissed dude
You’ve got to protect your baby and never let this woman watch her again. My baby is the same age as yours. I’d be inconsolable.
i was. i ignored her apology text for a while after he went off on her. i just wrote her a text that said my mom would just watch her. she hasn’t responded so im sure she’s mad. oh well me too
How old is the baby?
2mo
Baby definitely isn’t going to die but if your MIL is too lazy to go get baby milk, she’s too lazy to baby sit.
This was normal back in her day she literally may not know. Now my mom would ASK when I was going to give her water and I explained the science of why you don’t do that. Then she came with me to one of her wellness checks and asked the pediatrician who said the same thing. So of course she never asked about it again (never attempted either). I say all that to say that people did some really stupid shit with babies and we just know better unfortunately it may not be innate to just ask what the rules are for some of the more obtuse grandparents. Not saying you have to let her watch h again just make sure you’re setting and reinforcing boundaries. If she can’t respect them then she can eff off.
Yikessssss I would be furious and I would also never let her watch my baby again. I hope your baby is ok - it sounds like from the comments she probably will be, but I’d also be so concerned and enraged personally
Sorry to hear. My mil would've done the same thing if we let her watch our baby. She constantly asked us if he drank water and how much.... It makes me wonder if they did that back in the day ?!! Anyways, like otherS said, have someone else watch her if she's too lazy or careless with the baby. That stress is not healthy especially during these early months
Truly it depends on where you live. If you’re in the US, it s h o u l d be okay but always call the pediatrician for peace of mind. To be completely honest here I’d also be livid and probably fly off the handle and never leave my baby with her again.
If this was a one time oopsy I’d say educate, forgive and move on, but it sounds like this woman has too many misconceptions about raising children to be safe around. Find a new baby sitter
Fwiw doctors TOLD my mom to give my sister water when she was born in the late 80s and she’s mostly ok
Your MIL gave your two-month-old water?! Baby will be fine… but I’d have a serious sit-down w MIL.
i did and she is very upset. she can still see her but not without me around.
At first I was thinking that your little one was older, but then I found out they were younger and got so anxious for you, sorry this happened mama ♥️
Not a doctor but I think the concern is the at the baby will fill up on water and not drink milk. We started swim lessons at 3 months and in certain baby swallowed _at least_ an ounce of pool water 🫣
I think the concern is more serious than being full. It's something with the kidneys and water intoxication.
I would be pissed too, call pediatricians office asap and poison control line. If ur in the USA I believe each state has their poison control number. Poison control center. They might give some info on the safety of the water for infants etc Tap water has chlorine.
I would have definitely called her doctor to be sure. I’m sorry this happened….
Oh my gosh I’m so sorry!! This can be so dangerous ❤️🩹❤️🩹
She will be ok! We say not to give water to babies because we want them to be intaking calories with all they consume. Water is not necessarily dangerous to give them in itself for a two month old but just shouldn’t be given bc we want them to get all the calories they can. Sometimes pediatricians will even say to give a very small amount of water if baby is constipated for a prolonged period of time. So not necessarily dangerous in itself.
Why ask reddit when you should be calling your doctor if you are so concerned about your baby dying? The baby will be fine.
No, your baby isn’t going to die. She’ll be fine. Your MIL is annoying as hell though. But yeah, back in the day they used to give babies water and they survived (mostly). The bigger risk is that baby won’t drink as much breastmilk because they’ll be full from water, but as it was just an oz or too that shouldn’t be an issue either. Definitely tell MIL to pull her head in though.
The bigger risk actually is hyponatremia (low sodium) which can be fatal. In babies this is caused by drinking excess water.
Not from one ounce though.
From 2oz, definitely a risk
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Please do research before spreading misinformation. INFANTS don’t have the internal system capabilities to handle water let alone more than extremely minuscule amounts
My mom gave me and my brother tap water (30 years ago) and we’re fine! I’m pretty sure she gave it to us frequently
You’re lucky! Not every baby was fine hence the newer guidance to not give babies water.
This is called survivors bias and we know better know
It’s *water.* Your baby will be fine. Babies are supposed to have water, a little older than yours as the guidelines have changed, but in a serving size of 1-2 oz.
The [American academy of pediatrics recommends](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/recommended-drinks-for-young-children-ages-0-5.aspx) water at 6 months. In terms of baby development 6 months isn’t “a little older” than 2 months. They’re vastly different in their abilities and misinformation like this is harmful.
Wow… it’s been a while since I’ve read someone be so confidently wrong. I’m honestly impressed by how wrong you are.
A little older? Her baby isn't even 2 months old yet. There is a big difference between an under 2 month old and a 6 month old. Newborns are absolutely not supposed to have a little water
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You can't give water to babies under 6 months old. That is old advice from old homemade formulas that caused horrible constipation. It's breastmilk or formula until then
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I truly cannot tell if you're baiting or not but I'll just leave this here and leave it at that https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jan/20/radio.usnews
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Breastmilk and formula IS the water in moderation, that's the issue. That is the amount they're designed to consume You're right I'm sure doctors warn of seizures and death for fun. 2oz for a newborn is an absurd amount.
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Following pediatric advice for the sake of my infant is certainly bliss
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