Water For Babies – When to start? How to offer and How much to give?
With summer just about to hit, I feel it’s good to talk about Dehydration in short and tell you more about Water for babies. I’ve seen parents introducing water very early and assuming babies need more water during summer just like we do.
Signs of Dehydration in Babies
• Less than 6 wet diapers
• Fewer Bowel Movements
• Sunken Eyes or Wrinkled Skin
• Cracked lips
• Dark yellow urine
• Very cool, discolored hands and feet
• Excessively fussy or sleepy
Check the below useful links from our blog
- Finger food for babies and toddlers
- Weight Gain Recipes
- 7 months Indian baby food chart
- Porridge recipe collections for babies
Side effects of early introduction of water to babies
• It can make the baby full and avoid breastmilk or formula, the only source of nutrition at this age.
• As breastmilk production solely depends on how much the baby drinks, eventually mother’s milk will start reducing.
• Unnecessary water intake will reduce the ability to absorb nutrients present in breastmilk or formula milk
• Excess water can dilute sodium concentration in the baby’s body and can lead to seizures, coma, brain damage, and death – This is also called Water intoxication.
• Weight Loss can be another major worry. With additional water intake babies reduce main food intake and over time your baby won’t have the necessary calories to gain the appropriate weight.
• In the very early days if a baby is fed water or glucose water there are high-risk chances of jaundice due to increased bilirubin levels, excessive weight loss leading to longer hospital stays.
When should we start giving water to babies?
It’s right to start introducing water to babies along with solids. Post 6 months amidst feeding them spoons of food you can offer few sips of water. One should not worry about the baby not drinking much water as at this stage they will be receiving all the hydration from mother’s milk or formula, that’s until a year. This is a new taste and just like they reject some food, few babies may not like to drink water.
Benefits of giving water to babies
It’s not always harmful but when giving in the correct method and just as much as needed it can be fruitful for babies to feed on a few sips of water.
• Helps improve bowel movement and prevents constipation with the introduction of solids
• Keeps joints and tissues lubricated
• Nourishes the skin
• Helps maintain blood volume
How much water does your baby need?
• 6 months to 1 year – 100 to 150 ml of water
• 1-year plus – No restriction
Breastmilk or Formula Milk remains the main food for babies until a year. Even after introducing solids you need not push your baby to have more water as it’s taken care of by Breastmilk or Formula.
How to offer water to babies?
Boiled and cooled or purified water is good for babies. Do not offer water that has been through the water softening process.
Sippy cups or just normal tumblers or open cups are good for babies from the beginning. It may be a little hard in the beginning but it’s harder to transition them later from bottle to an open cup. This also helps them work on their fine motor skills and develop mouth muscle control required to drink from an open cup. Let them spill and learn a very natural process.
Video: Water For Babies – When to start? How to offer and How much to give?
- Video in Hindi – छोटे बच्चो को पानी कबसे दे सकते है? कितना & कैसे देना चाहिए?
- Video in Kannada – ಶಿಶುಗಳಿಗೆ ನೀರು ಯಾವಾಗ? ಎಷ್ಟು? ಕೊಡಬೇಕು? ಬೇಸಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಡಬಹುದೇ?
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