When the weather gets warm, parents often wonder and worry about their baby’s hydration. During an infant’s early weeks, parents are warned that water is dangerous for babies, so the very idea of putting water in a cup or bottle makes parents nervous even beyond the newborn stage. However, midway into your baby’s first year, offering water in a cup for fun and practice will be a learning activity that helps keep your baby cool (and wet!). What should you know about offering water to your young child?
From birth – 3 months:
No water for newborns. Newborns have tiny bellies, so a bottle of water would take the place of important milk calories needed for growth and development. And because a newborn’s body is small, too much water can alter the normal electrolyte balance necessary for heart and brain functioning. Bottom line, newborns should not be given water. Breastmilk or properly mixed formula will provide the correct balance of liquids needed for hydration and thirst, even when the weather is very hot.
From 4 – 6 months:
Not dangerous, not necessary. An ounce or two of water once a day at this stage isn’t dangerous, but isn’t necessary either. Breastfed babies may nurse for very short periods of time during hot weather, when they are thirsty (rather than hungry) and research shows that even in tropical environments when the weather is above 100°F every day, breastfed babies do not require any additional liquids. For formula fed babies, check with your pediatrician for recommendations. Some pediatricians will suggest offering an ounce or two of water in a bottle if the weather is very hot while others say stick to formula only. Water should not take the place of a breast or bottle feeding, and formula should never be diluted beyond the proper mixing directions in order to offer additional water.
Around 5 – 7 months:
Introducing a cup:
At this age, babies are interested in holding and mouthing objects, and may be ready to explore the skills of drinking from a cup. Choose a sippy cup without a valve initially, so that the cause and effect of tentative sucking pays off with an easy result of water. Pick a small-sized cup of 4 – 6 ounces, because it’s best to fill the cup all the way up to the top so that your baby won’t need to tilt the cup all the way up and lean her head back in order to get water (that’s a lot to coordinate)! A larger cup filled all the way up becomes too heavy for small hands to hold and easily manipulate. Make sure your baby is in a supported upright position when given the sippy cup. Your baby might cough and splutter a bit but will soon learn how to coordinate the sucking and swallowing required for drinking. Your baby might also enjoy squirting the water out of her mouth, and getting wet is part of the process. You can also offer sips from an open cup with assistance.
Water at this age is just for fun and practice. Your baby will still receive full hydration (and nutrition) from breastmilk or formula. Once started, common baby foods including pureed fruits and vegetables are also very high in water content and will add to their liquid intake.
What to put in the cup? Water! Just water.
Give your child a taste for water from early on. Water is the best and healthiest drink for children and adults. Filtered tap water is usually a safe and healthy option. Check with your area’s Department of Public Works to find a link to your town’s water source if you have concerns about lead or other contaminants, or want to know how your water is sourced or tested. Information about fluoride will also be publicly available. Bottled spring water and “nursery water” adds additional expense and environmental waste that may be unnecessary if your tap water is safe for drinking. If it is suggested that you boil water for cooking or drinking, bring to a boil for only 3 minutes, which is long enough to kill bacteria but short enough so as to avoid concentrating any minerals that might be in the water.
What about juice? Wait to introduce, then use sparingly if used at all.
Juice is really just Nature’s Kool-Aid and ounce per ounce, actually contains the same (or more!) sugar and calories than Coke and Pepsi! Sure, juice contains natural fruit sugar, but it’s still just sugar (and a lot of it), adding up to considerable extra calories without offering any significant nutritional benefits. Juice also bathes tiny teeth with sugar and can lead to dental cavities, especially when a sippy cup or bottle of juice – even diluted juice – is sampled frequently throughout the day or night. The concentrated sugar load in undiluted juice can also cause diarrhea or diaper rash.
Think of juice as a treat or add-on, but not as an important part of your child’s daily intake. When used, limit daily juice intake to 4 – 6 ounces a day in total, and dilute juice by 50% (for example, 2 ounces of juice and 2 ounces of water). Even though this reduces the total amount of sugar and calories, it’s still a sugar bath for the teeth.
A good approach is to put only water in a sippy cup for daytime use, and save milk or diluted juice to use at the table during meals, while practicing drinking from an open cup. Keeping to this policy of “only water in the sippy cup” will save you the unpleasant discovery of finding a sippy cup of moldy juice or milk that has rolled under the couch! (And hopefully you find it before your toddler does!)
Interested in this topic? Watch my webinar on introducing cups, straws, milk, “milks”, juice and water (also Baby-Led Weaning is covered in this webinar too)