On our planet, water is the main component of the human body. In order to live and function normally, the cells need enough water. With its lack, serious failures in the work of all body systems begin.
But does this apply to a newborn baby who is fed breast milk? Does he need to give extra water or does he get enough of it from breast milk? We will understand the nutritional features of infants and when it is possible to give vodichka to a newborn.
Features of breastfeeding
As you know, mother’s milk is an ideal nutrition for the baby, because it contains in its composition everything necessary for the proper development of the substance. The optimal combination of nutrients with trace elements positively affects the growth and healthy development of the child.
In addition, breast milk also has many important advantages:
- allows you to fill in the baby’s fragile digestive system with necessary enzymes in a gradual, very gentle mode;
- supports a healthy bacterial balance in the children's intestines;
- incorporates important antibodies that help a newborn activate immunity in confronting viruses and diseases;
- well-established breastfeeding provides the baby with all the necessary nutrition, as well as liquid, because breast milk consists of 90% water.
Why is breast milk necessary?
According to the latest recommendations of the Ministry of Health, until the first feeding, the child should eat only breast milk, and there is a qualified explanation for this:
- For the baby, there is no difference in hunger and thirst. His ventricle is still very small, the size of his fist, so drinking water will take the place of milk in the stomach, and this will deprive the crumb of much-needed nutrients without any benefit.
- Even the best quality water can be unsafe for the digestive system, and the ingestion of an external substance into the child’s body carries a real threat of dysbiosis.
- Mother's milk, as opposed to water, is completely harmless to the baby, pure and nutritious, beneficially affecting its immunity.
- Water received by a child up to three months of age overloads the kidneys; breast milk supplies the baby with just as much salt as it needs, and water removes them through the kidneys.
- Replacing feeding with water can disrupt the production of mother’s milk, because when a baby is breastfeeding, its production is stimulated. If you miss the moment of feeding, replacing it with water, the whole process may be disturbed. In addition, having become accustomed to effortlessly suck water from a bottle, the baby may even refuse to breast, and to get food you need to work hard.
- Water interferes with the process of excretion of bilirubin from the infant body and can lead to yellow skin pigmentation. Bilirubin comes out only with mother's milk, dissolving in milk fat.
In the light of such convincing arguments, there is no doubt that the child does not need water in the first months of his life, but it can also hinder his proper development. However, everyone understands that this liquid will still have to be introduced into the baby’s nutrition. But from what age can you give water to a newborn?
When can I start to milk my baby?
No matter how harmful the water is at first adapting the baby’s digestive and other systems to the surrounding reality, you still have to start doing it, because this world is designed in such a way that a person needs water for life. In this regard, young mothers are very concerned about the question of how much water can be given to a newborn, and how often should it be done? According to experts, water in the smallest quantities should appear in the nutrition of the baby with the introduction of additional feeding. In different children, this age varies.
If the process of breastfeeding is well established, the baby does not need any bait until the age of six months, except for mother's milk. But then came the moment when you can give newborn some water. From the very beginning of bait, the child should already be given a little water. It is best to start drinking it from a cup or use a special mug-drinker, because a six-month-old little one can already cope with these devices. It is necessary to finish the infant only with water, no juices and teas.
What should be the water?
In order not to harm your baby, you should clearly understand what kind of water you can give newborns.
According to the recommendations of doctors, it should be either pure water without any impurities, or structured melt, which is even better absorbed by the baby’s body. Today in pharmacies and some specialized points of sale there is a special purified water for babies, which is ideal for children's organisms that are not yet strong enough. It contains all the necessary salts and trace elements, so necessary for the healthy development of each child. But if you can’t buy such water, you can use ordinary tap water, previously boiled and cooled to a condition comfortable for the baby.
Which is not worth giving?
We have already figured out when it is possible to give vodichka to a newborn child. Remember that in no case can you use raw water from the tap, since it contains microelements that are too harmful for such a crumb, which can bring him a lot of trouble. To eliminate undesirable consequences, you should be very careful and serious about the issue of choosing water for drinking a child.
From the time when you can give newborn some water, you need to strictly follow the advice of doctors and use only special water, at least boiled, for drinking the baby. This will save the child from many troubles, and parents from worries and waste of nerves. Considering the frequent failures in the work of the intestines of the child, a logical question arises: is it possible to give dill water to a newborn? More about this later in the article.
Dill water: healing properties for babies
Adaptation processes of the digestive and nervous systems of infants do not always go as smoothly as mothers would like. Many babies begin to feel intestinal colic from three to four weeks old. For children, this is very painful and debilitating, because such intestinal manifestations can last about 2 to 4 hours, mostly closer to evening or at night, completely exhausting both the baby and his worried mother. Since for the most part such processes are observed up to 3-4 months, it is necessary to relieve a painful spasm using dill water.
This method of relieving intestinal cramps has been used for a very long time and is not transmitted through one generation. And although it has been used for a hundred years, it is still relevant and helps to calm the baby. But how often can you give dill water to a newborn? Kids have no other experience of taste sensations than the taste of mother’s milk, and dill water causes very positive emotions. She has a soft, sweet taste, unusual, but pleasant for a baby. You can start with one teaspoon before feeding and immediately after it. If the baby is on artificial feeding, then just add dill water to its nutrient mixture.
In case of problems with the gastrointestinal tract, older children can inject dill infusion through a syringe without a needle installed. And if, nevertheless, the baby refuses to take a healing infusion, mix it with breast milk and drink from a spoon.
Answering the question how much dill water can be given to a newborn, it should be noted that in different children this volume may differ. For example, children who are breast-fed, cost a smaller dose than the artificers. But in any case, you should start with the minimum dosage, while carefully observing the reaction of the baby. Just making sure that there is no allergic reaction, you can increase the volume of dill water to 4 teaspoons at a time. Only this should not be done immediately, but gradually, during the week, bringing the dose to four tablespoons 3-4 times throughout the day.
When does dill water work? Is it addictive?
The action of dill water begins after its intake - after 15-20 minutes. You can drink it for as long as the specific situation requires. It does not cause addiction. But if he does not have an effect or gives, but is too weak, you need to consult a pediatrician. He will either adjust the mother’s diet, or recommend another means that is more effective for the baby.
How to give dill water?
Offering dill water to the baby, you need to know how to give it correctly:
- You should start with one teaspoon, heated to room temperature. The next day, you can already apply this dosage three times, and subsequently increase the number of doses to five to seven per day.
- If after 15 minutes after taking the product, the baby remains as restless and does not release colic, the dosage can be increased.
- Dill water can not be used as a drink - in large quantities, it can provoke gas formation and increase pain in a child.
How often should a child be given water?
Another very important aspect in the matter of drinking a child: how many times can you give water to a newborn so as not to harm his body? After all, the same medicine does not recommend doing this daily, arguing that water does not affect the baby’s appetite badly. How to determine the optimal dose, which is useful for the baby and safe for his body? Ideally, infants under four months old should not be given water, but if offered, then no more than 60 ml per day. But this is an absolute maximum, children should not be given more than this norm.
Answering the question of how often you can give water to a newborn, it should be said that too often should not be. But the interval and the number of receptions do not matter much. Water can be given as necessary, only not to exceed the established boundaries of daily volumes.
Gradually accustoming the child to water, after reaching the age of two months, you can give him drink no more than 120 ml per day. When he turns one year old, the dose should gradually reach 150 ml. In general, the child’s body itself regulates the amount of water needed, so you should never force a baby to drink a daily dose.
Having successfully figured out when you can give newborn some water, we pay a little attention to how this should be done.
Useful tips for babies to drink properly
Getting to the gradual introduction of water into the diet of infants, you should pay attention to some important things. You can drink baby water with the help of such items:
- spoons;
- syringe;
- cups;
- special drinking mug.
You can, of course, do this with the help of a bottle, but this is the very last way, which can be used only when it is not possible to water the child in other ways. The nipple greatly facilitates the baby's drinking process, so that in the end he will not want to work already, extracting food from the breast, and will require nutrition through the nipple. In some cases, you can resort to plentifully moistened gauze, which, wrapping it on your finger, you can give it to the baby’s mouth. But if you have to resort to the help of a bottle, the nipple there should be the most tight.
When water is badly needed
Water should be given according to the recommendations of the pediatrician and in some critical cases when the fluid is simply necessary for the baby:
- at elevated temperatures - drink and regularly moisten the sponges;
- in heat without temperature - in small quantities;
- with diarrhea, constipation, vomiting;
- with hiccups - a few sips to relieve spasms of the diaphragm.
And it is also very important to offer water, but not to drink through force in any way. It is better to do this in between meals, and just a couple of sips. In hot summer time, you can often put the baby to the chest, because the first portion of breast milk is not saturated with fats and is perfectly able to give your baby a drink.