Seventy-nine Alpine kids (35 female and 44 male) were used to determine effects on liveweight gain of milk replacer consumed ad libitum (I) or with restricted consumption of water (II) or both water and dry matter (III). Kids began the 8-week experiment at 3 to 9 days after birth; a commercial milk replacer was fed twice daily. The I kids received ad libitum access to milk replacer with 14.3% dry matter; III kids received 14.3% dry matter milk replacer, with ad libitum access in week 1 and approximately 90, 80, and 70% of consumption by I kids in weeks 2, 3, and 4 to 8, respectively; and II kids received ad libitum access to 14.3% dry matter milk replacer in week 1, thereafter receiving a similar quantity of dry matter as I kids and limited water, with a milk replacer dry matter concentration of 15.7, 17.3, and 19.2% in weeks 2, 3, and 4 to 8, respectively. Milk replacer dry matter intake was 183, 172, and 157 g/day in weeks 1 to 4 (SE 5.6) and 219, 201, and 181 g/day (SE 6.4) in weeks 5 to 8; water intake was 1098, 853, and 939 g/day (SE 32.2) in weeks 1 to 4 and 1315, 911, and 1086 g/day (SE 34.6) in weeks 5 to 8 for I, II, and III, respectively. Liveweight gain was lowest among treatments (P<0.07) for III in weeks 1 to 4 (146, 131, and 118 g/day; SE 5.9) and 5 to 8 (137, 140, and 115 g/day; SE 7.2, for I, II, and III, respectively). However, sex influenced (P<0.05) treatment effects on liveweight gain in weeks 1 to 8 (female: 129, 120. and 117 g/day, and male: 155, 151, and 116 g/day for I, II, and III, respectively; SE 7.2). Milk replacer treatment did not affect liveweight gain in the subsequent 4-week period after weaning (P>0.05).