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Drinking too much water can be deadly for an infant, and even small amounts offer little benefit to babies. Water is key to adult health, but babies get fully hydrated from drinking breast milk. When an infants drink too much water, the sodium levels drop too lo, this hinders the process of nutrients, which can cause seizures, coma and death.
According to pediatric nurse Danielle Stringer, for the first six months of infants lives, they are better off getting all of their calories and water from breast milk or baby formula. Drinking water can deprive babies of calories that they need in the first six months of their lives, leading to malnutrition and death.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that infants should consume exclusively breast milk – if at all possible – for the first six months of their lives, and continuing with supplemented soft foods and drinks through their first year. When babies drink too much water, it knocks their sodium to fluid ratio out of balance, and they can die of water intoxication.
Their bodies will try to overcompensate by having the cells take on more water, which will result in swelling all over the body, including the brain, which can result in seizures, coma or brain death. In rare cases when a baby is given an inordinate amount of water, this can happen suddenly, it’s more likely to occur with small doses of water, over time.
Long before they seize, a lot of babies will just start to show signs of malnutrition, such as losing weight and swelling. Their tiny, rapidly growing bodies need about all the calories they can get, meaning they need nourishment – in the form of breast milk or baby formula – about every two to four hours. Breast milk is about 88 percent water, so new mothers that can breastfeed need not worry that their infants could get dehydrated.
At six months old, you can offer water to your baby in a sippy cup, but they don’t typically need it because they are still getting breast milk or formula. Between six and 12 months old, it is safe for infants to have two to four ounces of water, but even then, interestingly, babies are smart enough that they’re mainly not interested in water at that age, and parents need to know that that’s totally okay for them.
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