When Can Baby Drink Water?

When Can Baby Drink Water?

When babies are born, they thrive on mother’s milk, but you need to know at what age they transition from this to real food. Let’s start with simple water. When should babies start having water? Keep on reading to find out:

What Age Can Babies Drink Water?

This decision of when can baby drink water is totally up to the doctor to make, but in general, your baby should be able to stomach anything other than breast milk when he reaches the age of 6 months at the latest.

Anything before 6 months can be detrimental to the health of the baby. Six months is the perfect sweet spot, where your baby has developed enough immunity and digestive pattern that they can stomach other things which are not breast milk. So, try to wait till the 6 to 8-month mark before you try to give water to your baby.

Why Not Earlier?

When your baby is born, breast milk is like the lifeline of the baby. They need this milk to become stronger and to develop properly. Mother’s milk contains a lot of healthy nutrients and necessary minerals which are important for the baby to grow and thrive properly. Also, this is the only thing their small stomachs can digest and absorb in their bodies.

Mother’s milk is a very simple composition that can be broken down by the baby’s stomach and it will not give any weird side effects either. So, try to not even think about giving anything else to the baby before 6 months are up. 

How Should You Give Water To The Baby?

When it is time for the baby to have its first taste of water, make sure the water is boiled. There are many bacteria and microorganisms in impure water and you don’t want to give access to these bacteria to your baby’s stomach.

Also, make sure that the water isn’t too hot or too cold. It should be in between the realm of lukewarm and warm. This will also cut the chances of your baby getting a sore or blistered throat. Try to give them water in a sippy cup, as they can’t take sips from a full glass. 

How To Hydrate The Baby In Hotter Months?

You might be worried as to how can you keep the baby hydrated before the 6 months during the hotter months. Well, you can certainly do so, without having to feed your baby a drop of water.

First of all, mother’s milk contains enough water for the baby’s small body and it hydrates the baby just fine. Other than that, you can use cold and wet clothes and compress your baby’s body with them. It will help to regulate the body temperature of the baby and you won’t have to worry about anything. 

Conclusion

So, when can baby drink water? After 6 months. It’s very important that you slowly make this transition from breast milk to water to real food, you don’t want things to backfire. 

Read Also  Can Baby Have Honey?

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References:

1. healthline
2. whattoexpect
3. pregnancybirthbaby