When can a newborn drink water
When can babies drink water?
When can babies drink water? | Pregnancy Birth and Baby beginning of content3-minute read
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If your baby is under 6 months old, they only need to drink breastmilk or infant formula. From 6 months of age, you can give your baby small amounts of water, if needed, in addition to their breastmilk or formula feeds.
Why is water not suitable for babies younger than 6 months?
Before 6 months, breastmilk or formula is both food and drink for your baby. It is all they need, even in hot weather. Giving your baby water may mean they drink less breastmilk or formula. This can put them at risk of not getting enough milk or formula to grow properly. Giving your baby a lot of water or excessively diluted formula over a short time can also make them very unwell.
When can I give water to my baby?
If your baby is around 6 months old, you can offer small amounts of cooled boiled tap water but you should not replace their breastmilk or formula feeds. Breastmilk or formula should still be their main drink up to 12 months of age.
After 12 months, their main drink should be water and cow's milk or breastmilk. You can offer water or milk in a cup. There's no need to boil tap water once your baby has reached 12 months.
If your baby has just started on solids, start with a few sips of water from a cup when they are eating. This is so they can learn about drinking from a cup and it can also help prevent constipation due to the increased bulk of their poo. The aim is to get them used to drinking from a cup as this will be their main way of drinking from 12 months on.
What about in hot weather?
In hot weather, it is important to offer more frequent breastfeeds or bottle-feeds if your baby is under 6 months. Do not offer water unless recommended by a doctor.
Your baby may want to drink more than usual but for shorter periods. If you breastfeed, you should also make sure you drink enough water.
To make breastfeeding more comfortable for you and your baby in hot weather:
- place a towel, sheet or pillowcase between yourself and your baby
- lie down to breastfeed to reduce skin contact
Your baby is properly hydrated (getting enough fluids) if they have 6 to 8 pale wet nappies over 24 hours.
What if my baby has a fever?
If your baby has a fever, is under 6 months and is breastfed, you may need to offer extra breastfeeds. If they are under 6 months and formula-fed, you can offer smaller amounts of formula more frequently. Do not offer water unless advised by a doctor.
If your baby is older than 6 months, continue to breastfeed or bottle feed. You can offer water in between feeds. The most important thing to check is whether your child is getting enough fluids.
Call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby on 1800 882 436 to speak to a maternal child health nurse for advice and support.
What about other drinks?
Fruit juice, soft drinks and cordial are not suitable for babies under 12 months old.
Caffeinated drinks such as tea, coffee and energy drinks — and, of course, alcohol — are not suitable for children of any age.
Sources:
Australian Breastfeeding Association (Keeping baby cool in the heat), National Health and Medical Research Council (Infant Feeding Guidelines), NSW Health (Babies and children in hot weather), Raising Children Network (Fever), Raising Children Network (Healthy drinks for kids and teenagers), Royal Children's Hospital (Guide to foods for baby’s first year), World Health Organization (Why can’t we give water to a breastfeeding baby before 6 months, even when it is hot?)Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.
Last reviewed: July 2020
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Related pages
- Healthy drinks for kids
- Feeding your baby with formula
- Breastfeeding your baby
- Balancing introducing solids with milk feeds
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When Is It Safe to Give Water to Infants?
Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors
In this Article
- How Infants Stay Hydrated
- When Babies Can Start Drinking Water
- Making Sure Water Is Baby-Safe
- Risks of Water for Infants
- Water as Your Baby Grows
If you have a baby, you’re probably concerned about making sure they have enough water and nutrients to stay healthy.
Even though your baby drinks breast milk or formula, is that enough to keep them hydrated? Yes. Here’s what you need to know.
How Infants Stay Hydrated
As an adult, water is the most hydrating thing you can drink. It quenches your thirst and helps all of your systems stay balanced.
But children under a year old don’t need water like adults do. It can actually be dangerous for them. Babies get all their hydration from breast milk or formula.
When Babies Can Start Drinking Water
A baby should drink only breast milk or formula until they’re six months old. It has all the hydration and nutrition they need in the early months.
Even when you start giving them purees or table food at around 6 months of age, breast milk and formula are still more important than water. But you can begin to introduce it.
When babies are between 6 and 12 months of age, breast milk or formula continues to be a priority over water. But if you offer breast milk or formula first, you can then offer water, 2-3 ounces at a time.
At this age, 4-8 ounces a day of water is enough. More than that may lead to water intoxication.
Making Sure Water Is Baby-Safe
Before using water to mix baby formula or offering a baby water for the first time, consider testing your tap water. While tap water may have fluoride that helps prevent tooth decay, it could also contain levels of lead that are unsafe for babies.
Most tap water in the U.S. is safe, with a few exceptions:
- If you have untested well water.
- If your water source has recently been contaminated.
- If your baby has low immunity.
If you’re worried about lead exposure and traces of chemicals in your water, install a filtration system or use distilled water instead which can be easily purchased.
Considerations for mixing formula with water. If you use tap water to mix formula, mix only one bottle at a time. Don’t use tap water to mix formula in bulk amounts.
A similar rule applies to water that you’ve boiled.
Refrigerate boiled water within an hour, and throw it away if you don’t use it within 24 hours. Always allow the water to cool completely before mixing the formula. Hot water can burn your baby.
When you purchase formula, carefully follow the instructions on the container for mixing it with water. Instructions vary by brand. This will ensure your baby gets the right amount of nutrients and hydration.
Mixing in too much formula may lead to constipation or dehydration. Mixing in too little formula may lead to malnutrition or water intoxication.
Risks of Water for Infants
Drinking too much water at a young age is very dangerous. Water causes an imbalance in sodium levels that may lead to:
- Seizures
- Brain damage
- Coma
- Death
Water intoxication leads to changes in behavior such as:
- Confusion
- Drowsiness
- Muscle cramps and twitching
- Nausea and vomiting
- Difficulty breathing
- Weakness
Watch for signs of water intoxication and call your doctor immediately if you have any concerns.
Water as Your Baby Grows
Between the ages of 1 and 3, your toddler needs 4 cups of liquid per day. This is a transitional period that should include both water and breastmilk or formula. The older your child gets, the more water they need. There are several ways you can encourage your older child to drink enough water.
Flavor water with fresh fruit. Water is healthier than juice since many children’s juices are full of sugar. If your child prefers the taste of juice, use fresh fruit to flavor their water. Lemon, berries, mint, and cucumber are great additions.
Offer more fruits and vegetables. Encourage your child to eat more fruits and vegetables with high water content. These help them stay hydrated without forcing them to drink more water than they want. Hydrating vegetables include cucumber, tomato, zucchini, celery, and iceberg lettuce. Hydrating fruits include strawberries, watermelon, blueberries, cantaloupe, and grapefruit.
Make creative ice cubes and popsicles. Puree your fruit of choice with water and freeze it into ice cubes or popsicle molds.
Provide special drinkware. Use a fancy cup with favorite colors or characters. When you find ways to make water fun, your child is more likely to enjoy drinking it.
Should I give my child water from a bottle?
Many young mothers are interested in the question - is it necessary to give water to a newborn baby? In this case, the doctor gives a variety of advice - some argue that breastfed babies do not need additional water, others assure the opposite. To get an answer to this question, it is necessary to understand in more detail how and when the baby should be watered, and what water can be used for this.
Mother's breast milk, which the child receives from the first days of life, is both food and drink for him - it is known that on 90% it consists of water. Thus, the breastfed baby receives all the amount of fluid he needs.
Thanks to special enzymes, mother's milk has a beneficial effect on the digestion process. In addition, the female body is able to independently adapt to the needs of the baby, regulating the composition of breast milk. When the baby needs more liquid, he begins to breastfeed more, thus receiving more foremilk (it is less saturated), which not only quenches thirst well, but also restores electrolyte balance.
If we take into account all of the above, we can decide that the baby does not need ordinary water as a drink at all. But in fact, sometimes it is necessary. However, giving water to a child who is not yet three months old is possible only on the recommendation of a pediatrician. Babies who are already 4 months old can drink water - this will not affect the breastfeeding process in any way. There are absolutely no contraindications to water if the baby drinks it with pleasure. On the contrary, you should be wary of a lack of fluids, which can cause much more harm to the child.
We must not forget that newborns have a very fast metabolism, due to which the loss of moisture can be very significant.
Water for baby during breastfeeding
You can give your baby water from about 4-5 months. It is best to do this not during feeding, but between them. When the baby feels thirsty, he will gladly drink water from the bottle. As for the norm of fluid for a child, this is a very individual question. As a rule, pediatricians advise giving babies about 100 mg of liquid per 1 kg of body weight, while the liquid includes breast milk. Water in this case will be from 30 to 70 ml.
The baby can drink water from an ordinary bottle with a nipple, you can also use a spoon for this (it will help to accustom the child to complementary foods, which will be needed soon). However, the main rule to remember is that the baby must drink water voluntarily, in no case should he be forced to do so.
Mixed or formula-fed baby water
Artificial feeding has significant differences from natural feeding.
The fact is that infant formula contains much more protein than mother's milk. A formula-fed baby has a special need for extra fluids. If you constantly give him a rich nutrient mixture, this can cause constipation. The additional water received by the baby will improve his well-being and contribute to the normal emptying of the intestines.
If the child is on mixed or artificial feeding, then you can start giving water to him a little earlier - already from 1 or 2 months of age. In this case, the water temperature should be cooler than the temperature of the nutrient mixture. Pediatricians assure that babies who are on artificial or mixed feeding definitely need water.
When can newborns be given water?
You can give your baby a drink immediately after eating. You can also drink it in between feedings. It is important to remember that babies have a very small stomach in volume, and they will not physically be able to drink a lot of water.
It is enough to give him 2-3 teaspoons of water. Gradually, this dose can be slightly increased.
There are situations in which the need for additional liquid for the baby increases dramatically - for example, when the child has been in a room that is too dry for a long time, or has become slightly overheated. Some parents are too afraid of catching a cold while bathing, and maintain a high temperature in his room - because of this, the humidity in the room decreases, and the baby's body is dehydrated. To prevent this from happening, the air temperature in the baby's room should be maintained at 20 degrees, and the humidity should be between 50 and 70%.
If the air in the room is too dry, the child begins to breathe rapidly, swallowing becomes difficult and colic begins. With overheating, which most often occurs in summer, the baby sweats more, as a result of which the body loses moisture. Signs of dehydration can be signs such as dry skin and mucous membranes, as well as infrequent urination.
Pediatricians agree that during illness, newborns need to be given water - for example, with colic, or at elevated temperature. The water in this case should be warm.
The child needs water in such cases:
- at a high temperature - you can give him a little drink from a spoon, and just moisten his lips with water;
- with diarrhea - you need to give the child a little drink, after which it is imperative to show it to the pediatrician;
- when there is fever without temperature - water can be given to the baby in a small amount;
- for constipation - the liquid will help to empty the intestines without discomfort for the child;
- when vomiting - water will prevent dehydration and cleanse the stomach;
- for hiccups - water will relieve spasm of the diaphragm, which happened from hypothermia, and also help to get rid of excess air in the stomach.
What kind of water should a baby drink?
Some parents are sure that only boiled water can be given to babies.
Actually it is not. When water is boiled, not all bacteria die in it. And in the composition of such water there are chloride compounds that are extremely harmful to babies. Water obtained from open sources can be no less dangerous, as it contains bacteria from the soil and nitrates. In no case should children be given carbonated or mineral medicinal water with a complex chemical composition. Water purified by home filters is also not suitable for babies.
Where can you get water that will not harm the child? It is best to buy it in a pharmacy. Special water for babies is labeled on the bottle, it contains the optimal amount of minerals for the baby. Water from the pharmacy does not need to be boiled, but after opening it can be stored for no more than a day, and only in the refrigerator. It is best to immediately pour such water into a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
Which water purification methods can be used for a baby?
The most economical and easiest option to provide your baby with high-quality drinking water is to buy a special "children's" water filter.
This can be a jug-type device - it is inexpensive, it is very easy to use such a filter, and the degree of water purification is very high - the device effectively removes chlorine, bacteria, pesticides and particles of mechanical impurities from ordinary tap water. For the manufacture of such filters, only high-quality safe plastic is used, which is approved by pediatricians. Water purified in this way can be used not only for feeding the baby, but also for preparing various decoctions and infant formulas.
Can I give my baby water during hiccups?
What is hiccups? This is an involuntary contraction of the muscles of the diaphragm and larynx. Babies are especially susceptible to hiccups, since their diaphragm muscles are characterized by increased excitability. Hypothermia, air entering the stomach, nervous overexcitation and accumulation of gases in the intestines often lead to hiccups.
As soon as a child has hiccups, you need to immediately eliminate its cause.
If the baby is cold, it needs to be warmed up. In order for air to come out of the stomach, the baby should be held in a “column”. A few sips of warm water will also help to cope with hiccups.
It is necessary to give water to a child with hiccups, as this measure will quickly eliminate the cause of discomfort.
If you do everything right and give water to the baby only when he really needs it, then there will be no harm - on the contrary, the child will receive the necessary amount of fluid for the normal functioning of the body.
Information about higher organizations
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Baby water
January 16, 2020
The birth of a baby is a long-awaited event. A tiny little man brings joy, troubles, fears, experiences into the life of parents. One concern has to do with nutrition. In particular, mothers are concerned about the issue of drinking. Can a newborn be given water? Which one is suitable for breastfeeding?
Photo 1 - The birth of a baby = pleasant chores
Is it okay to give water to newborns?Until the age of 6 months, the baby is fed with breast milk. Pediatricians, medical articles and TV shows talk about it. Experts unanimously say that babies should not be given juices, mashed potatoes, grated apple or carrots, sweet compotes and chamomile teas should not be made. You do not need to buy jars for the first feeding, even if they indicate the age of "from 1 month". You should not do all this if there is enough breast milk, and the mother herself eats fully. Some disagreement among doctors remains about food for formula-fed babies.
What are your views on water?
Photo 2 - Consult pediatricians about the diet of children
1. Up to 6 months, under normal conditions, breast milk replaces both water and food.2. If breast milk is too thick, fatty, then water will only benefit the baby.
3. On hot days, water is needed to maintain good health for both adults and children.
4. With viral infections, indigestion, constipation, infant jaundice, it is important to drink clean water for children.
Photo 3 - There are cases when water is needed as a medicine
The conclusion is simple: you can give water to newborns from the first days of life. The need for water up to 6 months and the amount of fluid should be consulted with a pediatrician.What kind of water to give newborns
Having decided that the baby needs water, the young mother begins to think about which one is safe to give to the newborn. It is easy to find reviews on the Internet that the right choice is boiled.
Is it so?
Photo 4 - Boiled water - dead
An important plus of boiled water is the absence of pathogenic microbes and viruses that die at high temperatures. By giving the child only boiled water, problems with intestinal disorders can be eliminated.Are there any downsides? Yes. Main two.
1. Boiling destroys not only bacteria, but also beneficial minerals contained in raw water. And they are necessary for health, proper cell division, bone growth.
2. Water boiled several times is dangerous to health. It should not be given to children and drunk by adults.
Thus, if you doubt the quality of water, boil it. Do it just once. Do not give your baby only boiled water to avoid a lack of minerals in the body.
The best choice of wise parents is prepared drinking water for children. It is natural, natural mineralization, clean, complies with state standards. An excellent example is the product of the Senezhskaya trademark - Malyutka.
