Five things to know about drinking water for newborns

Do newborns need to be fed water? How old can a baby be before he or she can drink water? Can newborns drink sweetened water? These are questions that many parents want to know. Let's find out together!

1. Can I feed my baby water before meals?

Although drinking more water can speed up metabolism and is good for health, for babies, drinking water at inappropriate times can easily affect their bodies! One of the inappropriate times to feed water is before the baby eats. Drinking water before meals can dilute gastric juice, which is not conducive to food digestion. Drinking water can make the stomach bloated, which can also affect the baby's appetite.

Let your baby drink a small amount of water half an hour before meals. This can promote the secretion of saliva and help the baby digest food.

2. Can I feed my baby water before going to bed?

It is also not suitable to feed water to the baby before going to bed. Younger babies cannot fully control their urination after falling into deep sleep. If they drink too much water before going to bed, they are likely to suffer from nocturnal enuresis. Even without enuresis. Getting up several times a night to urinate also affects sleep. Therefore, mothers should try not to feed water to their babies within 2 hours before going to bed; if it is really necessary, try to control the amount of water, and just let the baby lick it to quench his thirst.

3. What is the most suitable temperature for babies to drink water?

Boiled water is the best drink for babies. After boiled water undergoes multiple layers of purification, the microorganisms in the water have been killed by high temperatures, and the calcium, magnesium and other elements in the water are very beneficial to the body. But be careful to give your baby fresh boiled water, because boiled water exposed to the air for more than 4 hours will lose more than 70% of its biological activity.

Studies have found that boiled water that is cooled to 20-25 degrees Celsius has specific biological activity. It is very close to the characteristics of the baby's body's cell fluid, so it has good affinity with the cells in the body and can easily penetrate the cell membrane and enter the cell. It can promote metabolism and enhance immune function.

Therefore, water that is too cold or too hot will damage the baby's delicate gastric mucosa and affect the digestive ability. Therefore, it is generally best for babies to drink boiled water at room temperature in summer, while in winter it is best to drink boiled water at around 40 degrees Celsius.

4. How much water is appropriate for babies to drink?

Factors such as age, room temperature, activity level, body temperature, and the water content in milk or food will affect your baby's water needs. Generally, for newborn babies, since they need to be fed more frequently, if the mother has sufficient milk, it is sufficient to feed them water 1 to 2 times a day. However, as the baby grows older, the number of times the baby is fed water and the amount of water fed each time should be appropriately increased.

When feeding the baby water, if he is unwilling to drink, parents should not force him, which means that the baby has enough water in his body. Generally speaking, babies under 3 years old should not drink more than 100 ml of water each time, and can increase to 150 ml for babies over 3 years old.

As long as the baby's urination is normal, you can let the baby drink small amounts of water multiple times according to the actual situation. If the baby sweats a lot, you should increase the frequency of the baby's drinking water instead of the amount of water he drinks.