Could giving water to your baby cause water poisoning in your baby? Should breastfed babies be given water?
For expectant mothers caring for a baby for the first time, many aspects are unfamiliar or even completely overwhelming. Therefore, they need to be careful when doing anything, and they will also have a lot of questions in the process of taking care of the baby. New mothers who have paid attention to the knowledge of infant feeding should know that there is a saying that if the baby who is breastfed is given water, it may cause poisoning. This statement worries many new mothers, because in real life, many new mothers actually breastfeed their children while giving their children an appropriate amount of water. From a scientific point of view, doing this Is it right or wrong? Does breastfeeding still need to give water to the child? If water is fed, will it really cause the child to have a toxic reaction, thus affecting the child's health?
In our traditional view, feeding a baby with warm water between feedings can effectively prevent dehydration. However, the current "New Viewpoint of Breastfeeding" proposed by UNICEF believes that under normal circumstances, breastfeeding Your baby does not need to add any food and drink, including water, for 6 months. However, formula feeding, mixed feeding, and exclusive breastfeeding are different for hydrating your baby. Under normal circumstances, when the baby is breastfeeding, the mother should give appropriate water when needed according to the specific situation of the baby.
Viewpoint 1: The main component of breast milk is water, which is enough to meet the baby's normal water needs.
By analyzing the composition of breast milk, the main component of breast milk is actually water, reaching 87.5%. This water is enough for the baby. Under normal circumstances, if the mother's breast milk meets the needs of the baby and the quality of the breast milk is high, then the heat and water of the breast milk can fully meet the metabolic needs of the baby, and there is no need to give the baby any more. water.
If a breastfed baby needs a relatively high amount of water, it can adjust itself by sucking on demand, so there is no need to give a breastfed baby water. Especially for babies under 6 months, there is absolutely no problem with exclusive breastfeeding, and there is no need for additional water, which mothers can rest assured.
When the weather is warmer, you'll find that your baby tends to feed more often, but only a few mouthfuls at a time. In this way, babies are able to eat more foremilk, which is thinner and less heated than fat-rich hindmilk. So let your baby eat more when he wants to so he can get plenty of water.
For babies who are exclusively breastfed, there is no need to add extra fluids until solid food is officially introduced (around 6 months). Conversely, giving water to your baby too early will make the water take up part of the stomach capacity, and the baby will become less active to suck, which will reduce the amount of milk they suck. It will not only affect the baby's milk intake, but also inhibit the baby's sucking ability, reducing the amount of milk they actively suck from the mother's breast. growth is unfavorable. A study in the United States found that drinking too much water can put pressure on infants' kidneys and may cause water intoxication, which is the biggest cause of seizures in infants, because sodium in the blood is diluted.
Viewpoint 2: When the baby's body is in a special period of water shortage, it is still necessary to give an appropriate amount of water.
Although breast milk contains a lot of water, enough to meet the baby's needs. But there is another idea that when the baby's body is in a special period of water shortage, it still needs to give the right amount of water. Each baby has his unique personality. Whether he needs to drink extra water mainly depends on the baby's own state. When the baby's body is in a special period of dehydration, it still needs to give an appropriate amount of water.
If the temperature at home is very hot and is not conducive to ventilation, the baby will become sweaty easily. If you find that the baby is constantly licking his lips with his tongue, or seeing his lips are dry, or when he needs to change a diaper, there is no urine. It's a reminder that the baby may be dehydrated! At this time, it is necessary to increase the amount of water your baby drinks.
When the baby has a high fever, severe diarrhea and dehydration, or takes sulfa drugs, the body loses some water, so it is necessary to feed some warm water to supplement the missing part of the water. But it must be noted that do not give him water before feeding, so as not to affect the feeding.
Breastfed babies, if they can rinse their mouths with water after drinking milk every time, for example, they can habitually give the baby two mouthfuls of water, which can remove the remaining milk residue in the mouth and keep the mouth clean and hygienic, which is also good for the health of the baby. Very beneficial!
In addition to exclusive breastfeeding, other formula-fed or mixed-fed babies must be given appropriate water. In addition, after the baby is 6 months old, it is also necessary to add an appropriate amount of water between meals, which is not only good for the healthy growth of the baby, but also helps the baby to be weaned in the future.
Point 3: You can only feed the baby boiled water, not juice or sugar water instead
For exclusive breastfeeding, babies under 6 months do not need to be hydrated alone. Babies who are artificially fed or mixed-fed need to be fed some water appropriately. After adding complementary foods, babies should also be hydrated. The "water" mentioned here is not juice or anything else, but boiled water.
In some places, it is customary to feed babies sugar water, which is actually a wrong practice. The six nutrients that babies need in six months are contained in breast milk, that is, the six essential nutrients that people need: protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water. These nutrients are easy for infants to digest and absorb, and their quality changes continuously as the infant grows and needs.
Sugar water contains a certain amount of energy, which will affect the baby's demand for breast milk, resulting in a decrease in breast milk secretion. In addition, the glycolysis of sugar in the gut to produce acid can cause bloating and diarrhea, increasing the risk of indigestion and other diseases in infants.
Summary: When breastfeeding your baby, it is usually not necessary to add too much water, because breast milk is rich in nutrients and water. However, if you encounter some special cases of serious dehydration in your baby, it is necessary to add water appropriately, so as to make up for the missing part of his body. In addition, babies who eat milk powder are prone to constipation, and the sodium content is relatively high, so it is necessary to add water to the baby between two meals of milk.