What kind of water do i feed my newborn?

Question

she is about three weeks and the doctor said it was ok to give her water sometimes, but we forgot to ask what kind. tap? pedilyte? poland spring? something else maybe? please help. And what should the tempature be? thanks.

Answer 1

Infants don't usually need water.  However, my doctor advised us that if we did give our son water when he was that young, it should not be more than 2oz a day.  Because they can suffer from water intoxication and we gave him boiled, room temperature tap water. He is now a healthy 18 month old.  

Answer 2

My pediatrician told me that newborns do not need water and from everything I have read that is true.  Newborns get all the water they need from formula or breast milk.  Water will only fill her up and then she will eat less.  I realize you are only suggesting giving her a little bit, but, it really is not necessary.  Do some research on this.  If you are set on giving her water, bottled, distilled would probably be the best.  As for the temp., room temperature.

Answer 3

They have bottled water for babies called "Nursery Water" it is in 1 gallon jugs and has a pink lid. It is purified and has added flouride to promote healthy tooth development. It is only about $1.25 a gallon. Very affordable :) It is in the bottled water section of your grocery store and also available at Walmart. :) Also, you can give her regular purified water and put flouride drops into it and it's the same thing. Your doctor can prescribe the drops to you. Hope this was helpful!

Answer 4

Cooled down, boiled water.

Answer 5

she doesn't need any water, unless you live where it is very hot. Then give her boiled water that is room temp.

Answer 6

THE LIQUID KIND!

Answer 7

You need to get a new doctor.

At three weeks, your daughter's tummy is so tiny and that space needs to be filled with nutrient-rich breastmilk or formula...NOT water.  She's growing at a very fast pace and giving her water is detrimental.  Not only that, but a slight imbalance in body pH can make her very sick- and giving her water will mess with her pH.

From kellymom.com:

For newborns (especially under 4-5 weeks), water supplements can be risky

Babies under two months should not be given supplemental water.

Water supplements are associated with increased bilirubin levels in jaundiced newborns.

Too much water can lead to a serious condition called oral water intoxication.

Water supplements fill baby up without adding calories, so water supplements can result in weight loss (or insufficient weight gain) for the baby.

Babies who get water supplements are less interested in nursing. If baby is not nursing as often as he should, it will take longer for mom's milk to come in and can delay or prevent mom from establishing an optimum milk supply.

Once your baby starts on solids (typically around 6 months), feel free to give baby water.  At that point, if you have city water (and live in the US)- you can give baby tap water.  Nursery water is a waste of money- also has high levels of flouride which is bad for baby.  Boiling tap water increases the concentration of flouride and other minerals and that's not good for baby.  Most bottled water is just tap water (check the label, I can almost guarantee you it'll say something along the lines of PWS which means "public water source").  If it'll make you feel better, get a Brita filter.  We have the cleanest water in the world and yet somehow marketing companies still convince us that we need to pay for bottled water.

Answer 8

Do not give your baby normal tap water or bottled water. There are chemicals that are hard for them to digest and will make them spit up more times than you can count. The best water for your baby is DISTILLED. It is sold at any supermarket in the pharmacy section. In Canada we get 4 litres for $2 so it isn't expensive.  I have been using only distilled for my baby's formula and juice since her birth and she is now 7 months and never been sick and barely spits up. Some people will say tap water is fine, but if doctors say to boil your nipples and bottles to remove toxins then how is it safe to drink?? Trust me on this one, use Distilled water and make sure it actually says distilled and not just spring water or reverse osmosis water.  Good Luck.

Answer 9

nursery water  

Answer 10

your child does not need water for at least 6 months. Please look fr another doctor.

Infants  can get water intoxication from too much water that young.  

Answer 11

There is this really great water in any grocery store near the bottled water, it's called Nursery Water. It has extra nutrients in it for your baby. My whole family has used it, including myself since it came out. Hope this helps! Also, you can check out my site for more helpful child care tips if you like.

Answer 12

H2O

Answer 13

I bought nursery water (it comes in a regular water jug but it is specially made for babies), i gave it to my children at room temp.

Answer 14

Any water is fine.  Room temp.

Answer 15

PediLyte  is the heavy duty, oh my kid is dehydrated liquid that doctors recommend to to balanced fluids into a child rapidly.

Right now plain bottled, boiled or filtered water should work  Should be temperature comfortable to drip on inside of your wrist.  It is an acceptable way of intoducing liquids other than mom's milk into your child's diet. Not much, and talk to your doctor

Please be careful about allowing your child to breath NON filtered air for the the first years.  Keep them inside on filtered clean air as much as possible.  If your nursry and home do no have a air filtering system buy one.  Also invest in portable tanks which allow you to take your filtered air and baby  in to the world for doctors appointments etc.  Other than that baby should be sequestered in  a sterile enviroment as much as possible.  Home schooling your older children will help.  Do not allow anyone to touch your child without hand washng or santation and gloves and masks (when you suspect illness) for the first three years.  By that time his or her delicate immune system will be developed enough to deal with the systems you have in place.

Be sure to boil all toys that allow it, and use  the right soaps on ther clothes.  Not having the problem of a child getting dirty will save you LOTS in laundry.  Check with your doctors about what solutions are good for killing germs on plastics etc  Perhaps your child should only play with toys made from natural materails like paper that can be tossed. Then woven paper blocks would be nice. You can learn to do that in craft books.

No paints or crayons of course, no pencils or play clays, no color wash markers, because we do not know if those are really safe and a child could put them in their mouths.  Put pictures up high enough that little fingers cannot get them.  Celing art is allowed, especially when babies are small.

Crib toys, no, too dangerous.  might not be safe, might be made of toxic materials no matter what the tag says.  Get white cotten and bleach it, then wash it and make sheets out of it. You can make your own baby quilts quite the same way, but the blocks should be most white, few colors, because we cannot trust the dye contents of fabric.  If you can find natural dyes you can make a subdued but dignified baby quilt.

<G>  GET It?  

A person needs to eat a pound of dirt before they die.

Answer 16

Filtered tap water or bottled..Dasani is the best water based on filtration, nutrients, chemicals etc...

if you can afford a water filtration system you should get one because plastic leaks into the water of water bottles and they aren't pH balanced..

I got the best filtration system out right now for $3000 (they offer financing)..if you saw what was in water you'd get it right away...it's the greatest and i can't drink "regular" water anymore...anyways let me know if you want some info on it..

it should be lukewarm..if its hot it will burn her and if it's cold it will give her a stomach ache...

hope this helps..

congrats on the new baby BTW :o)

Answer 17

You can buy jugs of nursery water at any grocery store...it's the best water for babies and its cheap..only a little over a dollar for a jug...

Answer 18

I just gave my son warm bottled water in his bottle.

Answer 19

I would recommend nursery water.  Even bottled spring water has some minerals and stuff in it that your baby doesn't need.  Nursery water is made for babies, and even has fluoride for dental health.

Answer 20

Just a comment on the boiled tap water:

Obviously this will be cheapest, but you need to do more than boil it in the kettle. To kill things like cripto-spiridium you need to boil it for ten minutes.

Boiling in the kettle will kill 99% of bugs, but the ones it won't kill, like cs can make you very sick. Those bugs might kill a baby. The chances of having these bugs in the water are remote (depending on where you live), but why take the risk.

Answer 21

distilled water

like from the store in a gallon container.

room temperature is best.

a couple of ounces a day will do just fine.

Answer 22

I personally would be buying the spring water they sell at the shops as it's the cleanest. But it depends what the water is like wherever you are I suppose (I am located in australia and our water supply is very low, so I won't even drink the tap water). Give your dr a call and double check with them but I would imagine either buying the clean pure stuff or tap water if you have a filter on it.  

Answer 23

room temperature.

use fresh bottled water.

better yet, use a glass bottle instead of a plastic bottle.

Answer 24

I have been giving my little one Nursery Water since she was born because that was the kind the pediatrician told me I could use.  With a baby that young you can give them the clear pedilyte, my daughter was very sick with projectile vomiting the first few weeks and I gave her that and she liked it.  Most pediatrician's don't mind if you call the office and ask them any questions.  This was my first baby and I was nervous about everything so I called and asked and they gave me answers and said that they were happy that I was asking questions instead of guessing.  It never hurts to ask!

Answer 25

My paediatrician recommended using either bottled water (making sure the bottle wasn't BPA or steilized water )boil water in the kettle, let it cool to luke warm temp). Your baby will probably like room temp water so if you are using bottled, heat it up to luke warm.

Answer 26

for my eldest son, i used kirkland water from Costco and boiled it when i got back home. for my youngest, i've been using that brand with the sesame characters on it.  (forgot the brand name) but i boil the water in that too...

I would just say that you buy regular baby water and just boil it to kill off any other germs in there.. and you can give your baby whatever temperature water just as long as its not so hot. i would go with luke warm but that's my opinion. you can even call your doctor to ask.

Answer 27

for the first year my daughter only had nursery water  loved it  

Answer 28

i was told sterile water at room temp.

Answer 29

I really wouldn't give her water for a while longer. She doesn't need it. . if she is "thirsty" then give her formula. But if you are going to do it, then I'd say nursery water or tap water, if u get city water. . about room temp is great.  Congrats on the new baby! =D

Answer 30

Guidelines for offering water to breastfed babies

Breastfed babies do not need water - keep in mind that breastmilk is 88% water. Even in the first few days after birth, before mom's milk has "come in", colostrum is all that is needed to keep baby well hydrated (assuming baby is nursing effectively). Per the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Supplements (water, glucose water, formula, and other fluids) should not be given to breastfeeding newborn infants unless ordered by a physician when a medical indication exists... During the first 6 months of age, even in hot climates, water and juice are unnecessary for breastfed infants and may introduce contaminants or allergens."

In addition, breastfed babies do not require water when it is very hot outside, assuming baby is allowed to nurse as needed. Baby can get all the liquids needed via breastmilk. A number of studies have determined that an exclusively breastfed baby does not need extra water - these studies have been done in various locations (both humid and dry) at temperatures ranging from 22-41°C (71.6-105.8°F) and 9-96% relative humidity [see references below].

Note: Formula fed babies do not routinely need extra water. Some sources do suggest offering water to a formula fed baby when it is very hot outside (though baby may prefer to get extra water from more frequent feeding), or when baby is sick with a fever (consult baby's doctor for guidelines).



For newborns (especially under 4-5 weeks), water supplements can be risky

Babies under two months should not be given supplemental water.

Water supplements are associated with increased bilirubin levels in jaundiced newborns.

Too much water can lead to a serious condition called oral water intoxication.

Water supplements fill baby up without adding calories, so water supplements can result in weight loss (or insufficient weight gain) for the baby.

Babies who get water supplements are less interested in nursing. If baby is not nursing as often as he should, it will take longer for mom's milk to come in and can delay or prevent mom from establishing an optimum milk supply.



For babies past the newborn stage

Too much water can interfere with breastfeeding because it fills baby up so that he nurses less. Babies need the nutrition and calories in breastmilk to grow - water has none of these.

Breastmilk has all the water your baby needs, even in very hot weather.

When your 4-6 month old baby is learning to use a cup, giving him a few sips of water a couple of times a day (no more than 2 ounces per 24 hours) is fine and fun.

Once baby starts solids, you might want to give him a few sips of expressed milk or water with his solids - some babies need this to prevent constipation.

  

Additional information

Exclusive Breastfeeding: The Only Water Source Young Infants Need FAQ Sheet No. 5 from the Linkages Project

Supplemental Water in Breastfed Infants by Jay Gordon, MD

Do Breastfed Babies Need Water? by Anne Smith, IBCLC

Should I give my baby water as well as breastmilk? by Annie VerSteeg, IBCLC

Water: Dangerous for newborns? by Debbi Donovan, IBCLC

Water for Babies: When is it appropriate to give your baby water? by Teresa Pitman

American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk. Pediatrics. 2005 Feb;115(2):496-506.



References

No need for water in hot weather

Almroth S, Bidinger PD. No need for water supplementation for exclusively breast-fed infants under hot and arid conditions. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1990;84:602-604. [This study took place in India at temperatures from 35-40°C and relative humidity of 10-35%.]

Almroth SG. Water requirements of breast-fed infants in a hot climate. Am J Clin Nutr. 1978 Jul;31(7):1154-7. [This study took place in Jamaica, at an average outdoor temperature of 27.6°C.]

Armelini PA, Gonzalez CF. Breast feeding and fluid intake in a hot climate. Clin Pediatr. 1979;18:424-425.

Ashraf RN, Jalil F, Aperia A, Lindblad BS. Additional water is not needed for healthy breast-fed babies in a hot climate. Acta Paediatr. 1993 Dec; 82(12): 1007-11. [This study took place in Lahore, Pakistan at temperatures from 27.4-40.7°C and relative humidity of 24-77%.]

Brown KH, Creed de Kanashiro H, del Aguila R, Lopez de Romana G, Black RE. Milk consumption and hydration status of exclusively breastfed infants in a warm climate. J Pediatr. 1986;108:677-680. [This study took place in Peru at temperatures from 26-33°C and relative humidity of 49-96%.]

Cohen RJ, Brown KH, Rivera LL, Dewey KG. Exclusively breastfed, low birthweight term infants do not need supplemental water. Acta Paediatr. 2000 May; 89(5): 550-2. [This study took place in Honduras at temperatures from 22-36°C and relative humidity of 37-86%.]

Goldberg NM, Adams E. Supplementary water for breast-fed babies in a hot and dry climate--not really a necessity. Arch Dis Child. 1983 Jan;58(1):73-4. [This study  

Answer 31

At this age I would not be giving a lot of water, it can fill there tummy's and the most important thing for them is formula or breast milk, all though my doctor did say breastfeed baby's should not get water, but any way if you are giving water use bottle water warm like you would if giving formula