What happens if a newborn drinks too much water?

Generally speaking, if the baby is exclusively breastfed, there is generally no need to feed the baby additional water. If the baby is formula-fed, generally the baby needs to be fed water between two meals of milk powder, but it must be in moderation. Never feed too much. If the baby drinks too much water, it will cause water poisoning, and it will also increase the burden on the kidneys and affect the baby's physical health. Therefore, it is important to feed the baby in moderation.

What happens if your baby drinks too much water?

If babies drink too much water, they may easily suffer from "water poisoning". It is understood that "water intoxication" generally occurs in infants under 6 months old, mainly because the kidney function of infants will not reach the normal standard of adults until after the age of 1. Once the baby consumes too much water, the kidneys will not be able to excrete the excess water in the body in time, and the water accumulates in the blood, causing the sodium ion concentration to be excessively diluted, resulting in hyponatremia and causing water intoxication.

Babies suffering from "water poisoning" will experience symptoms such as drowsiness, irritability, anorexia, vomiting, hypothermia, systemic convulsions, and even coma and death.

Tip: For babies who drink formula milk, parents must brew the milk in the correct proportion to avoid the milk being too diluted, causing the baby to consume too much water and cause water poisoning. For babies who have started eating complementary foods after 6 months, you can add appropriate amount of water to the baby after eating or between meals. This can help the baby clean the mouth and is beneficial to the health of teeth.

What happens if your baby drinks too much water?

If babies drink too much water, they may easily suffer from "water poisoning". It is understood that "water intoxication" generally occurs in infants under 6 months old, mainly because the kidney function of infants will not reach the normal standard of adults until after the age of 1. Once the baby consumes too much water, the kidneys will not be able to excrete the excess water in the body in time, and the water accumulates in the blood, causing the sodium ion concentration to be excessively diluted, resulting in hyponatremia and causing water intoxication.

Babies suffering from "water poisoning" will experience symptoms such as drowsiness, irritability, anorexia, vomiting, hypothermia, systemic convulsions, and even coma and death.

What happens if your baby drinks too much water?

Tip: For babies who drink formula milk, parents must brew the milk in the correct proportion to avoid the milk being too diluted, causing the baby to consume too much water and cause water poisoning. For babies who have started eating complementary foods after 6 months, you can add appropriate amount of water to the baby after eating or between meals. This can help the baby clean the mouth and is beneficial to the health of teeth.

In addition, babies also need proper hydration when they are sick with a fever, sweat a lot in the summer, or feel little evaporation after turning on the heater in the winter.

What kind of water is not suitable for babies to drink?

1. Purified water - pure but without nutrition

During the purification process, industrial pollutants, microorganisms and impurities are removed from the water, and various available macroelements and most trace elements are also removed.

Drinking purified water for a long time may interfere with the stability of the body's internal environment. Therefore, it is not suitable for babies to drink it alone for a long time.

2. Distilled water - no bacteria and no nutrients

Distilled water refers to pure water prepared by distillation (distillation equipment vaporizes water and then condenses it). It can be divided into single and multiple distilled water, which is widely used in medical treatment, scientific research, production and life. Distilled water kills all bacteria during the production process and also removes trace elements.

You can drink distilled water, but not too much. This is mainly because distilled water does not contain the mineral elements necessary for babies, and drinking too much is not good for the baby's health.