We all know that drinking water is essential for good health, but babies are too young to express whether they need to drink water or not. Some babies also don't like drinking water. So what can we do? Here are some tips from our editor to help you determine if your baby needs to drink water and how to avoid misconceptions about water consumption for babies!
How to Determine If Your Baby Needs to Drink Water
Maybe you want to know how much water in milliliters your baby needs to drink every day. Honestly, raising a child is not an experiment, so it's not possible to be that precise. Additionally, each baby has their own individual water needs.
1. Check the Color of Urine:
Normally, a baby's urine should be colorless or light yellow. If the urine is dark yellow, it means the baby is dehydrated. However, this doesn't apply to morning urine. During sleep, the body's metabolism slows down, resulting in less urine production, so morning urine may appear darker, which is normal.
2. Count the Frequency of Urination:
Usually, babies under 3 years old urinate 6-8 times a day. If your baby urinates less than 6 times a day, it means their body is dehydrated and they need to be hydrated promptly.
3. Check for Dry Skin and Lips:
If your baby's lips are dry and their skin has a lot of flakes and lacks luster, it indicates that their body lacks hydration.
Misconceptions About Baby's Water Consumption
1. Giving Extra "Water" to Children:
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, before babies start eating solid foods, they can get the necessary hydration from breast milk or formula. Within the first 6 months, breastfed or formula-fed babies usually don't need additional water or juice.
Since 85% of breast milk and formula are water, if the baby is not experiencing extra water loss due to diarrhea during regular feeding, there is no need to give them extra "water". By observing the color of their urine, you can accurately determine if the baby is dehydrated. Only if the urine is yellow (excluding morning urine), should additional hydration be provided.
2. Honey Water:
Although honey is a natural food, it hasn't undergone the process of sterilization, so it may contain botulinum spores. Babies under 1 year old have not fully developed their immune and gastrointestinal functions, so consuming honey may lead to infection and botulism.
Additionally, if you frequently give your child honey, fruit juice, or other sugary drinks, it can stimulate their taste buds and make them prefer sweet foods over the taste of breast milk or solid foods. This can result in a dislike for drinking plain water in the future.
3. Glucose Water:
In the past, some parents used to give their newborn babies glucose water for energy supplementation. Some parents still believe that consuming glucose water can help with jaundice.
In reality, the World Health Organization recommends that a baby's first food should be the milk from their mother's breast, rather than any other liquid.
The main point is that you may not even be aware of the potential harm of giving glucose water to your child! Glucose is a monosaccharide that can be directly absorbed by the body. After the baby consumes it, their blood sugar levels will increase rapidly. In order to control blood sugar, the body will accelerate insulin secretion. Once the sugar is quickly metabolized and blood sugar decreases, insulin secretion will decrease rapidly. As a result, giving glucose water stimulates the pancreas twice, causing significant damage to the baby's pancreas development.
Doctors advise that glucose is a medication and should not be consumed directly without low blood sugar conditions. Parents should not add it to their child's diet without proper guidance.
Methods to Encourage Baby to Drink More Water
1. Encouragement Strategy:
Use positive reinforcement like saying, "Good job, baby! You're not thirsty anymore after drinking water!" or "Children who drink more water are good children!" Your baby will cooperate with your requests in order to receive praise.
2. Setting an Example:
The role of parents is crucial in cultivating any habit. When you drink water, intentionally do it in front of your baby, making exaggerated movements to catch their attention. The power of setting an example is immeasurable! Don't waste any moment in cultivating good habits.
3. Fun Cups:
Babies are naturally attracted to things with animal patterns. Parents can try preparing two or three cups with different animal patterns and rotate them when feeding the baby water. Alternatively, use containers of different shapes to give water to the baby. This will make them find it fresh, interesting, and enjoyable to drink water.
4. Eliminate Beverages:
If you don't want your child to constantly hold a bottle of beverage, the first step for parents is to not buy or keep any beverages at home. Even if you occasionally let your child satisfy their cravings, they should finish it right away.
