Pedialyte and formula

[SpaceGal]

My DS is a formula baby...and with the hot weather sometimes he's not willing to eat as much and I'm worried he'll get dehydrated. So I started giving him a little pedialyte on the hotter days. When he does start taking the pedialyte I try to give him formula but he won't take it sometimes so I give him the pedialyte just so he has some fluids. He's 3.5 months old and the pediatrician told me no water yet. Does anyone else do this or have suggestions for summer feeding?? I don't give him pedialyte all the time just one the super hot sweaty days. Is this bad to do?? I just thought hmm...am I doing the right thing and I wanted to check with other moms.

I would definitely check with your pediatrician. My understanding is that Pedialyte is really only supposed to be used for illness-related dehydration.

I think at his age just formula is the best source of hydration. Could the formula be too warm or anything like that?

Holli

[DebbieJ]

I'd just stick with the formula.

And I second the recommendation to check with your pediatrician. I bet you could call and talk to a nurse about it.

~ deb
DS 12/03
And a niece or nephew arriving in early August!

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[lilycat88]

Unless your pediatrician says give Pedialyte, I'd stick to formula. I'm thinking along the same lines as Holli. Try different temps for the formula. Susanna was a June baby and when we switched to exclusively formula at about 5-6 weeks I found that if we were outside or if she was warm, she didn't want the formula warm. We would give it to her right out of the fridge or cooler bag and she would eat much better than if we warmed it. Some kids refuse cold formula but it worked for us.

Jamelin
DD Susanna 6/29/04

[dr mom]

Infant formula is designed to meet all your baby's nutrutional needs, including proteins, fats and vitamins that are important for a growing brain. Those essential nutrients are not found in Pedialyte, which contains electrolytes and carbohydrates. The reason your pediatrician recommended against giving DS water is because his tiny tummy (about the size of his fist) will fill up quickly with just a few ounces of water, and he won't be hungry for the milk he needs to grow. Same problem with Pedialyte - it's displacing the nutrition that he needs to get from milk.

Your concern about dehydration is valid - small babies have more difficulty regulating their body temperature than adults do. Keep DS indoors as much as possible on really hot days, dress him appropriately (no more layers of clothing than you wear) and use the AC to keep your home's temp comfortable. (we usually set ours around 75 in the summertime)

In VERY hot weather, some peds say that it is ok to give small volumes of water (1/2 - 1 oz) AFTER baby has been offered milk and has eaten to satiety. I would use water, NOT Pedialyte, and check with your ped first...your ped may have an opinion about tap vs bottled water, or whether to boil the water first.

[SpaceGal]

Thank you ladies for your insight. I defnitely haven't given him a lot Pedialyte just a bit here and there in between feedings at most I think 4oz over the past 5 or 6 days. I will definitley try the cold formula method...maybe that will make a difference. I worry so much that he's sweating and not wetting as many diapers. Summer are good and bad...just as are winters. What sucks is the we just moved into a new house and don't have AC and right now we haven't had much time to get the house "summerize" it was just so surprising when the heat wave snuck up on us. Usually in the daytime I run over to a mall or something like that to stay cool...or even the basement. But when we're out it's hard to keep him in all the time. I'll definitely check with my pediatrician.