A child’s body is more sensitive than an adult’s, so the requirements for baby food and water are stricter. Water is equally important in the kid’s life as nutrition. It’s possible for babies to drink water from the first days of life if they’re bottle-fed and if they’re breastfed from about four months. For many generations, ordinary boiled water was used for children’s menus. This trend continues even now. However, it is essential to understand that water should be enriched with vitamins and minerals for normal growth and development.
What’s even more, water for kids can be of two types. The first is used for drinking, and the next is for organic baby formula dilution. The point is that drinking water is enriched with the needed substances for development. At the same time, the one used for formula preparation doesn’t have these elements because baby formula already has them.
Main Differences of Baby Water
The main difference between baby water and the regular one is the content. To receive the corresponding label on the package, speciality water for kids must pass the requirements that are quite tougher. Such water can be included in the child’s diet and not even boiled before consumption. However, the carbonated water adults drink is not suitable for children due to high mineralization.
The ideal composition of minerals in baby water should vary between 200 and 300 milligrams per liter. The full figure is 500 milligrams per litre. The optimal hardness of baby water is from 1.5–7 milligrams per liter. And the alkalinity of such water should not exceed 5 milligrams per litre. Here are the general standards of indicators of baby water, to which you need to pay special attention:
- potassium – 5-20 milligrams per liter;
- calcium – 60 milligrams per liter;
- magnesium – 10-35 milligrams per liter;
- sodium – 20 milligrams per liter;
- fluoride ion – 0.920 milligrams per liter;
- chlorides – 150 milligrams per liter;
- iodide ion – 40-60 micrograms per liter;
- sulphates – 150 milligrams per liter.
Lack of fluoride leads to dental diseases. Parents are advised to buy water containing iodine and fluorine. When buying water for kids, you should pay attention to its origin.
Some manufacturers enrich baby water with trace elements, such as calcium or iodine. If a child additionally consumes vitamins, then the water provided with the same elements will lead to an excess of useful substances and cause the development of diseases. So, due to a large amount of calcium, there is a deposition of stones in the kidneys and gall bladder. If water enriched with this trace element is given with the iodine preparation, there will be disturbances in the functioning of the thyroid gland.
In no case should baby water contains carbon dioxide or silver sediment because it harms the immature organism.
How to Choose Baby Water?
Unfortunately, not every manufacturer is reliable. Therefore, you should be very careful when choosing one for a kid. Be sure to pay attention to the appearance of the bottle and the water itself. There should be no sediment or visible impurities in it. The water should be clean, and the label should be as simple as possible. Some manufacturers use images of popular cartoon characters to design the packaging, thus catching the attention. However, it does not mean the water suits your little one.
If you combine them, the useful content of both water and formula will be lost. For instance, the best organic adapted feeding will have in the content omega 3 and 6, prebiotics, lactose(just the same found in breast milk), and so on. It ensures a kid receives everything for normal growth.
When to Start Giving Water to an Infant?
After two months, it is recommended to start providing a kid with water by offering it from a teaspoon. If a newborn suffers from intestinal disorders, you must give him water to remove toxins. The volume is calculated from the formula of 30 grams of water per 1 kg of the baby’s weight.