Is it normal for an 8 month old to hate water? We've tried giving her water since she was 6 months old, at her pediatricians suggestion. She'll dive for the bottle or sippy at first when she thinks it's milk, but as soon as she discovers it's water, she'll pucker up her lips and refuse to take it at all. We even tried giving her water that's been bottled, thinking that maybe the water from the fridge might have a strange taste to it because of the pipes or something.

My MIL insists that we should give her water with a little diluted apple juice in it. But it seems to me that it would defeat the point. If we were just trying to keep her hydrated, that might be a good idea. But what we're trying to slowly do is get her accustomed to drinking plain water when she's thirsty but not hungry. It seems like sweet water might just make it worse. We did try that a few times just to see if it'd make any difference, and she will drink water that's been sweetened with juice.

Are our expectations too high for an 8 month old? When did you successfully get your baby to drink water?