We all know drinking water is an important part of our food and health habits. But drinking water is equally important as food and critical for babies too especially during weaning.
Why is water important?
Water is such an important aspect of a human being. Water constitutes the largest portion of our body mass. In an adult it is 60%. Even our organs are composed of water. Here is an interesting excerpt about water composition in our organs from usgs.gov
According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.
After reading this article I started drinking more water in hopes to scientifically get more brain. Who am I kidding? lol.
I wish I could tell my son how our bodies are created. Babies have the highest percentage of water around 78%. As they grow it reduces to upto 60%. So, for our growing kids it becomes much more essential everyday. And with seasonal and lifestyle changes it becomes more important to keep our children well hydrated.
7 Tips to introduce and feed drinking water for babies and young kids
Here are few things to take care when it come to introducing and feeding water to our little ones:
*✔Always give boiled and cooled water for babies and young kids. Usually till six months boiled water is suggested. But as a traditional practice in our culture kids til age of one year are given boiled water. It is upto parents afterwards to continue boiled or just clean drinking water
*✔Always take care of cleanliness and hygiene. Using clean bottles and glasses reduces the chances of many infections and diseases. Silverware is widely used in India for the same reason of being antibacterial, non toxic and boosting immunity.
*✔ It has been mentioned in various research and by the pediatrician that babies don’t need water till they are breastfeeding. So start feeding sips of water when babies are weaning. It is important to give only small sips because baby needs to absorb nutrients from other foods and should not fill stomach with water instead.
*✔Let the baby decide amount of water. Always look for signs of thirst and need for water and don’t force feed too much water
*✔Use accessories like bottles, sipper, cups, glass etc to encourage them for independent water drinking habit. Some good products are Philips Avent sipper, Munchkin miracle cup, Mee Mee bottles
*✔Develop good water drinking habits like – drink water after kids wake up, after every meal give them a few sips of water, let them drink some water before night sleep, before going to playgrounds
*✔ Always carry water bottle for kids and family. It’s a great practice as it helps reduce the use of one time plastic bottles and helps us to stay green and eco-friendly.
Additional information on essential functions of water in humans
I found an interesting info-graphic on same article about water and what it does for us humans
Checkout our video on some gyan about drinking water for babies and kids on YouTube – https://youtu.be/ZYP-wXca2X4
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Share your tips with us in comments below. I would love to add your inputs to this post.
19 replies on “Drinking water for babies and kids”
We have always known that a human body is 70% made up of water, but never knew so much about the significance of water in a human body. We are said to consume certain volume of water, but most of us never take it seriously, I might just start taking it more seriously now.
These are wonderful tips for parents with newly born or young children. I support your views on the importance of feeding clean water.
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I haven’t given any water to my babies till 6 months unless it was for preparing infant formula. Water is surely important now as they are growing so they have their own water bottles and they drink whenever they want.
Yup that’s best way to make them drink water .
I think even I needed this reminder and up my water intake in the winters. These are definitely wonderful tips definitely implementing them .
Absolutely!
Hi
This is a very vital information that you have shared. We have to understand how much water we need for our kids.
you have share so many trivia’s that I was unaware about. sharing your post with my SIL she is a new mom.
That’s so thoughtful. Gratitude 🙏
Thanks for sharing useful parenting tips. Today I learned about the hydration needs in newborns and toddlers. Thanks for sharing such useful information.
Funny thing is it even is great information for our health too. 😁
Thanks for sharing such great tips on parenting, this post will be really helpful for new parents.
Thoroughly informative and well-constructed post Urvashi. I will share it with my new mom friends.
Thank you so much Noor. 🥰
This is some cool information… I never really thought much about how much water babies need or they really need plain water other than milk! Thanks for sharing this!
It is necessary for kids as well as adults to intake proper amount of water every day. Thanks for the tips will share with my bhabhi
Water is the essence of life and hence utmost care has to be administered before giving it to little babies. Great article.
Amazing and beautiful post. Very useful and beneficial tips for mommies. Water is the healthiest drink for kids.we usually offer a cup of water at mealtime. Great thoughts.