Water for Babies – How much do they need?

The Requirement of water depends upon the baby’s age

For the babies under 6 Months

Normally the newborn babies don’t require supplementation of water until 6 months.

The babies meet their water requirement through the breast milk or by the formula milk. It is same with the people who live in the hot climate or even during the summer season.

A study conducted on water requirements of breastfed infants in hot climate shown that infants do well even without supplementing water (1,2).

Formula fed babies can be given a sip of water when required from 5-6 months or as recommended by your doctor and giving a sip doesn’t harm the baby.

For 6-12 months baby

By the time you feed solids for your baby one can give a sip or two during the meal. Avoid giving the excess amount of water to your baby as it may lead to water intoxication.

After 12 months

One can give water to the baby in a sippy cup whenever the baby feels thirsty.

Avoid These

It’s better to avoid giving straws to children as they may sip air while drinking water or juice which is not safe.

During the 1^st year try to avoid giving marketed fruit drinks or herbal drinks or energy drinks for the babies, as most of them contain sugars and can harm developing teeth and also it makes your baby habituated to sweet drinks.

Avoid most of the drinks that contain artificial sweeteners.

Try to avoid fizzy drinks and hot drinks too.