A newborn baby with pleasure sucks a breast or a bottle, regularly sends his natural needs, develops according to his age. Everything seems to be in order, but almost every mom has a lot of options for situations “Are we doing everything right?”. One such issue is the problem with the “thirst” of the baby. Can I give water to newborns, and does he need extra fluid, especially in the hot season?
Does a newborn baby need drinking water
It seems that drinking water is simply necessary for every person, especially a very small one. However, in the case of infants, not everything is so clear. So is it necessary to give normal water to a newborn or can you do without it? And if you can give water, then when, from what moment?
The need for baby’s drinking water depends on the method of feeding the baby: breast, artificial or mixed.
Video: Does a newborn baby drink water
Water for a newborn baby while breastfeeding
The dilemma with drinking water for the baby can be solved quickly by examining the composition of human milk. Breast milk in its composition contains 90% of water, the remaining 10% are fats, proteins, carbohydrates, essential trace elements and vitamins. As seen, when breastfeeding, the newborn receives a sufficient amount of water.
The question of whether to give water to newborns while breastfeeding has the following solution: the baby does not need water. After all, an excessive amount of liquid will fill a small volume of the baby’s stomach, and he will not have enough milk. As a result, the mother will have to pump out the excess, otherwise the amount of milk produced in the breast will drop sharply.
Up to two months to give the baby water is not worth it. In the third month in hot weather, if the baby sweats or dries in his mouth, you can offer him some water, but only from a spoon. Firstly, the use of a bottle with a nipple most often leads to refusal to suckle a breast (when a baby sucks from a bottle, it takes less effort). Secondly, there will be less feeding problems in the future, because the baby will already get used to using a spoon.
Most importantly, water should only be offered, but not forced to drink. This should be done between feedings in a small amount (one or two sips). The child “knows” best of all what they need: he wants to, will drink water, but no, he will simply spit it out. And it’s better to just put the baby more often in the breast during the hot time, because the first portion of milk is not very oily (it even differs in a bluish color) and the child may well do without water.
We read in detail:
Does the child need water with artificial and mixed feeding
In comparison with the composition of breast milk, adapted mixtures contain a greater amount of protein. Therefore,with artificial feeding the baby should be watered from the first day between feedings. The amount of water drunk does not need to be added to the volume of food, but drink the baby if necessary. Artificial babies can be drunk from a bottle or from a spoon.
With mixed feeding, you can give your baby some water, but in a slightly smaller amount. On average, a small child can drink 100-200 ml of water per day.
Hiccup water
Hiccups are a sudden contraction of the diaphragm and the walls of the larynx. For children up to a year hiccups are common, since the functions of the phrenic muscle at this age are easily excitable. In babies, the cause of hiccups may be hypothermia, air entering the stomach when feeding, thirst, nervous excitement, flatulence in the intestines.
To get rid of hiccups, you just need to eliminate its cause. When hypothermia is necessary to warm the baby. Air from the stomach will go away if you swear it vertically. The reason for hiccups will be eliminated by several sips of warm drinking water. The infusion of dill seed or a warm diaper laid on the tummy will help to remove gases in the intestines.
So, you can drink your baby with hiccups. Water will help relieve spasm of the diaphragm, eliminating the cause of hiccups.
What kind of water and when to give a newborn baby
Now in pharmacies and specialized children's stores you can buy special bottled water for newborns. Such water contains a balanced composition of salts and minerals for a certain age, which is indicated on the package. If it is impossible to buy such water, ordinary boiled and cooled to room temperature water is suitable.
Breastfeeding should be given water for up to six months in two cases: when he fever or diarrhea. But even with a disease, breast milk can do its job well. It will restore the lack of fluid resulting from sweating, and it can dissolve the medicine for the sick child. The child receives additional fluid with colic in the tummy when you give your baby a decoction of dill or fennel seed.
After six months, you can begin to give water along with complementary foods. It is best to pour it into the baby’s personal mug and drink from it or, in extreme cases, from a spoon. It is not necessary to use bottles with nipples for drinking a child.
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Video: whether to give water to a newborn baby
I do not agree with the author about the water for the smallest on the Guards. Our baby was born in the hot summer, did not stick to his chest and constantly spewed from overeating. The problem was solved when they began to give some water. pay attention to the fontanel - if you have fallen, then there is a lack of water. The child quickly displays water when he pisses. More than necessary, he won’t drink, unlike milk.
You gave water and he ate less, so he didn’t burp
Good or bad, I don't know
When the child begins to crawl, I think it’s possible, well, as by nature
My baby was an artificer, but yes - I was sure to finish him with some water. At first it was boiled, and then she began to take silver dew. I didn’t burp often - it happened several times - but this is because I overeat, most likely. And they got rid of colic with plantex (dill water).
Interestingly, how long will you live on one borsch?
Pure water is necessary for every living creature, regardless of age.
The mass of a child becomes larger, the more water he needs.
The issue of water is easily solved if you look at the world around. Not a single mammal, in the first months (some days), water its cubs with water. No monkey living in the hot African savannah does not water his cubs with water - only breast milk.
So why should a little man be stuffed with water?
I’m not a mom, but a grandmother. The child needs water and when the baby screams, you say that he is hungry. Milk or mixture is his food at this stage of life. When I am thirsty, I personally will not be saved by a piece of meat, a bowl of soup, or other products. But it’s not worth being equated with monkeys. They, i.e. monkeys, do not use diapers, do not swaddle their babies, do not give them vaccinations. If you have not forgotten, reflexes are divided into conditional and unconditioned. Eating, drinking, sleeping, reproducing offspring is laid by nature. And we feed the child milk (please note that we feed) not because he ordered it, but because it is so arranged, and to his taste he might have liked chocolate, juice or something else. And I'm not an uneducated grandmother, I have a higher medical education. I am for the fact that the child should drink water, and what kind, let the parents decide, based on the wealth of the family and other arguments.
The only sober comment by Aleksey. No need to climb into nature. No need to hammer the baby’s stomach, you are destroying his body. In milk, there is everything you need, just apply it to the baby more often, and forget about the regimen.
I don’t understand how milk can only be considered food. It is worth at least knowing the composition of milk. Few people know that there is anterior and posterior milk. To test this, it is enough to express the breast before and after feeding. With the front milk, the child quenches thirst, with the back it eats up.
really liked the article, learned a lot of new and informative, as well as useful for our baby.
I agree with Alexei and Oksana in full. But I am only surprised at the “educated” grandmother.
Well, how many people and specialists have so many opinions, and I think you need to blow some water one at a time with two little swabs, if the baby does not want it he will not drink water!
I agree with the author of the article: under normal conditions, that is, with sufficient humidity and cool weather, there is absolutely nothing to give the baby water. I would not give, but I have a special situation. We live in a very hot and dry climate, I myself drink water every half hour, because it just dries in my throat.Accordingly, we can conclude that my child is tormented by constant thirst. He asks for breasts during the day literally every hour. I can’t give the baby a breast so often, because the baby begins to overeat in this way, and accordingly to weight, there are problems with digestion, since he eats more food than he can digest. You always need to use sound logic simply. I began to give a little water to my baby, I began to ask for breasts less often, somewhere in 2.5-3 hours, eats well, does not spit up, as was the case with hourly feeding.
They tricked the head young. So I have a problem with my granddaughter. The second month I fight so that parents give water. Useless. It’s just painful to look at the torment of the child.