What Do You Need To Know About Water For Infants?
There is no common and unanimous opinion on the doping of children in different countries of the world. Because the water for infants is not as safe as parents might think. While in civilized countries there is no problem with access to quality, clean, safe drinking water, in Asia and Africa, water is second gold, and sources of quality water for children are not so accessible. Sometimes even a small amount is enough to harm the fragile young body. Parents must understand that even seemingly clean water can be dangerous to a child because of impurities and germs.
Water For Infants: Disadvantages
WHO experts talk about possible problems in children’s bodies that can provoke seemingly completely harmless water. Among the leading dangers: is the possibility of violations of intestinal microbiocenosis, and provocation of dysbiosis. The baby is born sterile, infestation with microbes of the skin, mucous membranes, and intestinal lumen occurs in the first days, due to the intake of maternal milk and bacteria from the skin of his chest. They are known to the mother and the baby, there are ready antibodies to them in the milk, they populate the intestines and do not provoke any disruption. Water, no matter how clean it is – is not sterile, the microbes in it are unfamiliar babies, and they take root badly, with a “fight”.
Breast Milk Can Provide a Drinking Regime
Mother’s milk is at once the food of the baby, due to the proteins, fat, and carbohydrate components, and multivitamins – due to the mineral and vitamin components, and drinking, due to water, sterile and perfectly structured by the mother’s body for the needs of the child. When the baby is attached to the breast, he first drinks, getting a rare and sweet front milk, and then thoroughly eats thick, fatty, and dense back milk. But if in the background of this harmonious process is doping with water, you can upset the balance. This is fraught with dangerous germs in the baby’s tummy, if not from the water, so from a pacifier and a bottle, or spoon. Also threatens intestinal disorders. According to researchers, those babies who in addition to the breast in the first six months were not given anything, not even water, are less likely to suffer from intestinal dysbiosis and kidney overload. After the baby is born, not all of its organs and systems are fully mature. Yes, the kidneys are still perfecting and adjusting their work to remove excess salts and water from the body, and with them – the spent metabolites. Mother’s milk is ideal in the balance of salt and pH, it does not load the kidneys, because the excess salts and fluids are not given, and excreted only waste leftovers are eliminated. But water is not only H2O molecules, but also many salts, which are not easy for the kidneys to cope with, and they have to strain to remove excess fluid and salt compounds.
So When Should I Give Water to My Baby?
With the beginning of complementary feeding, babies are offered water between feedings: often, small and little by little, they are taught to drink. The volume will increase as needed, and the child himself will show how much he wants and can drink. But it is not necessary to give her more than that amount. The formula for calculating water for drinking (not all liquid) per day is 20-30 ml per 1 kg of a child’s weight. The child may not drink this entire volume, which is acceptable in the absence of signs of dehydration. You should be guided by these limits and take into account the individual characteristics of the baby.
Water supplementation starts with pure water. Any other drink – tea, compote, morsels – has its taste and if a child learns to drink it, then it will be difficult to accustom him to water. Water has no taste and will not arouse the baby’s interest.
Not every mother breastfeeds her baby, and there may be many reasons for this. But babies can drink water if she is on artificial feeding. It is best to use special bottled water. Such water is usually subjected to more stringent control of purification. In no case should the water be further sweetened, the child will not quench his thirst with such water. Also, do not offer juice as a drink.
Dill Water
Some children are given dill water. It reduces colic and eliminates bowel disorders and gas, which are typical for children under three to four months. However, this method is more suitable for babies with artificial feeding. And at first, clean drinking water is introduced, and then switch to dill water. It is better not to give such a remedy to an infant, and with severe colic and flatulence, dill water should be drunk by a nursing mother. Healing composition through milk will still get into the baby’s body. Brew dill yourself or buy a ready-made drug in the pharmacy.
In The End
Every baby is an individual and decides for himself whether to drink it or not, and the most important thing for parents is to provide him with comfortable conditions, dress properly, and offer water between feedings.
