Wondering when babies can drink water in addition to breast milk or formula?

Picayune ones generally don't need water for the starting time few months — and even when you lot exercise add H2O to the mix, your baby volition only need a few sips.

Here's what every parent needs to know about when babies can start drinking water.

Can babies drink water?

Babies should only brainstorm drinking sips of water once they start eating solid foods. Before then, babies get the hydration they demand from formula and/or breast milk.

When tin babies drink h2o?

So whentin you requite h2o to your infant? Well-nigh experts suggest that you look until you've started solids, when your petty i is around 6 months old. You can start solids between 4 and six months onetime, merely experts recommend waiting until your baby is closer to 6 months in near cases.

Once your baby starts drinking water, offer a little at a fourth dimension from a sippy cup if she'll take it. Babies commonly can't get too much water from a cup (only a bottle) — plus it'southward good exercise for when all of babe's drinks will come from a cup.

If your little one volition only drinkable water from a bottle for the time being, that'due south okay as long as you monitor (and limit) how much she's getting.

How much h2o can my babe drink?

From nearly half-dozen months on, babies need four to 6 ounces of water a twenty-four hour period, or just over half a cup of water. But ask your pediatrician how much your little one needs before your baby starts drinking water.

Drinking From a Cup

Why can't very young babies potable water?

Infants get all the h2o they need from breast milk or formula, which will go along them well-hydrated. There are likewise risks associated with giving a infant water earlier she'south one-time enough, including:

Continue Reading Below

  • Nutrient deficiencies
  • Weight loss
  • Chemic imbalances

Risks of giving your infant water besides shortly

Very little babies can't drink h2o because of the following risks:

  • A lack of nutrients. Babies who satisfy their ambition and their need to suck with bottles of h2o miss out on important nutrients they get from breast milk and formula feedings.
  • Bereft weight gain. If your baby regularly drinks h2o in addition to breast milk or formula, she isn't filling up on food. Over time, that means your baby won't take the calories she needs to gain the appropriate amount of weight.
  • Decreased milk supply. If yous're breastfeeding, giving your baby water can ultimately decrease your milk supply, since babies who make full on water will feed less at the chest.
  • Chemical imbalances. Letting your baby drink large amounts of water can lead to h2o intoxication, a potentially unsafe condition where electrolytes (like sodium) in a babe's bloodstream become diluted. This tin can impact a infant's normal trunk functions, resulting in symptoms like low torso temperature or seizures.

Benefits of giving your baby water

H2o benefits older babies 6 months and up by helping them stay hydrated, which:

  • Transports nutrients and oxygen to cells while helping remove waste matter
  • Keeps joints and tissues lubricated
  • Maintains blood volume
  • Eliminates the need for fruit juice (which pediatricians propose avoiding earlier the historic period of 1 anyway — and so only offering it in very express quantities, if at all)

Should babies drink h2o when information technology'due south hot outside?

Many doctors recommend that babies potable pocket-size sips of h2o when it'southward very hot outside to reduce the gamble of dehydration, but be sure to check with your child's pediatrician first.

Signs of dehydration in babies

If you're concerned that your child isn't getting enough fluids because she's sick or it's extremely hot outside, picket out for these signs of dehydration in babies:

  • Fewer than six wet diapers in 24 hours
  • Dark yellowish urine
  • Cracked lips
  • Tearless crying (crying with few or no tears)
  • Dry skin that doesn't bounciness dorsum when gently pressed
  • Sunken eyes
  • Listlessness
  • Sunken fontanelle (the "soft spot" on the top of her head)
  • Farthermost fussiness
  • Unusual sleepiness
  • Cold hands and feet

When to call the medico

If your baby is sick with diarrhea and/or is airsickness, call your child'south doctor for tips to ensure your picayune one stays hydrated. Also call the pediatrician if your child shows whatsoever signs of dehydration.

1 terminal tip: Say no to fruit juice until your baby's at least ane year old, if at all. Not merely does juice fill upwardly your infant's tiny tummy, leaving less room for milk and food, but the sugar in juice can crusade tum cramping and diarrhea in young babies.

Although friends and relatives might say it'southward necessary to offer babies water in the first months of life, it's best to hold off until your piffling i starts solids to avert potential wellness issues. Yous'll be regularly serving the clear stuff before you know information technology!