He Water It is one of those basic elements that every human being needs to live and that we eat several times a day. It is so present in our lives that many people believe that babies, like adults, need to drink water often.
The reality is that reason is not lacking, only that it is something to clarify. Babies need to drink water, just like adults (in fact they need much more than adults), but the water they have to drink must always be accompanied by nutrients. If not, babies would run serious risks of malnutrition, filling their stomachs with water (which does not provide nutrients or calories) without the possibility of giving food at various times of the day for this reason.
If you are wondering what I mean by "water with nutrients", it is very simple: breast milk or, failing that, artificial milk. Next we will explain when they can start offering water, well, dry, and how much they may need.
Babies need much more water than adults
It seems nonsense to say that please nobody give water to babies if we consider that babies need much more water than adults, but it is so.
In Babies and more How much water should my child drink?70% of the body weight of an infant (baby 1 to 24 months) is water, while in adults that proportion is 50%. When containing their little bodies a greater proportion of water need to take 10-15% of their weight in water every day, while we adults are enough with 2-4%. If we made a proportional calculation and drank the same thing that infants should drink, we would probably die, because it amounts to about 10 liters of water a day.
As I said, said so, it seems that parents have to carry a bottle full of water in their hands constantly and yet this is not only not so, but until six months do not need to test the water, nor is it recommended that they do.
Water up to six months
The babies they need approximately 700 ml of water until the sixth month of life. This amount of water comes from breast milk on demand or bottles of artificial milk.
Babies eat often. Those who drink breast milk do it sometimes every hour and others let more time go by, while those who drink artificial milk do it every 2-3 hours, sometimes more, sometimes less. They eat often because they need to eat often. His stomach is very small and the energy they consume to live and grow is much greater, in proportion, than the energy we need, basically because we don't have to grow or triple our weight in a year.
This means that in addition to eating often, they need what they eat to be loaded with nutrients and energy (small stomach = little very concentrated food).
In Babies and more Although it is very hot, it is usually not necessary to give babies water before six monthsIf it occurred to someone to give a baby a bottle of water one day, he would be temporarily malnourished, if he did it every day, he would be taking unnecessary risks. I think that no adult can think of replacing food with a stomach full of water or at least not as a daily eating habit.
As an example, I will comment on the case of a 3-month-old African girl who I was visiting every month with some concern (at 3, 4 and 5 months) to assess her weight, because she earned little of what could be expected for a baby who drinks exclusively breast milk. I asked my mother if I gave her a demand, if the demand was every time the girl asked or if she limited her shots and she always told me that she always gave him that the girl asked.
At one point, during the five-month visit, the mother took out a bottle of water filled to the top, offered it to the girl and she drank water for a long time.
- Do you already give him water? - I asked in amazement. -Yes, he likes it a lot… he drinks a lot - he answered.
Obviously I recommended that he drink much less or directly nothing and I explained that it was most likely that the girl gained little weight, simply because every time she drank water, she stopped eating food.
So, recapitulating, the recommendation is: Do not give water to babies during the first six months of life.
Water between seven months and the year
Breastfed children, as a general rule, continue to breastfeed frequently even when they have started complementary feeding. This means that they do not usually need any extra water, although nothing would happen if they eat food that could make them thirsty (I can only think of cookies), they are offered some water in case they want to drink it.
I say cookies because the rest of the foods that are usually offered to them are rather rich in water (vegetables with meat, fruit and cereals, which are made with milk or water).
Non-breastfed children, on the other hand, make fewer milk shots at the start of complementary feeding (many only drink it in the morning and at night) and for this reason they are more likely to need water during the day. It is advisable to offer and to take whatever they need.
Water between the year and three years
In this period of time Children should drink approximately 1.3 liters of water. This amount is obtained by adding the water that comes from food and that children drink. Let's say that subtracting a child of these ages should drink, more or less, about 0.9 liters / day, equivalent to about four glasses of water.
In Babies and more Caries alert: too many children quench their thirst with non-water drinksIt is not necessary to control the quantities
After commenting on how much water children at different ages need, I am obliged to suggest that you forget the data offered, lest a mother (or father) begin to insist on her child, water in hand, to drink it .
In the same way that healthy adults have no idea how much water we drink daily, It is not necessary to know how much water our children should drink because nature devised a very effective and safe system that forces us to drink water from time to time: thirst.
Children are thirsty too, so if we respect their thirst, they themselves will drink the water they need. If they are babies and do not ask for "Water!", They are offered and that they are the ones who swallow or those who directly turn their faces away.
In Babies and more What is the healthiest and most refreshing drink for children?Photos | iStockphoto and Klearchos Kapoutsis on Flickr In Babies and more | The importance of water in children's diet, With heat, keep the baby well hydrated, Bottled waters more suitable for babies
