Can Babies Drink Filtered Water

Why it s unsafe to give water to babies 6 months and younger.

Can babies drink filtered water.

In fact a belly full of water might curb baby s appetite for milk which could compromise your child s nutrition. What chemicals and contaminants in tap water can affect my child. You can give filtered water to your baby to keep him hydrated with clean and healthy water. It is best to use filtered water using a filter that removes fluoride lead and nitrates when mixing you babies formula in order to ensure that the mixture is clean and safe.

Exposure to fluoride during infancy helps prevent tooth decay. You ll still need to boil filtered water before using it as a drink for your formula fed baby before he s six months old or to make formula milk. However regularly mixing powdered or liquid concentrate infant formula with fluoridated water might increase your child s risk of developing faint white lines or streaks on the teeth fluorosis if these kinds of formula are your child s main source of food. Visit ewg s water filter buying guide to find the best filter for your needs.

Filtered water can be relied upon to prepare baby formula being just as safe as bottled water. The goal for babies between 6 and 12 months is to ensure adequate. On the go use bottled or distilled water. Avoid empty calories just because your baby s old enough to safely drink water doesn t mean you re cleared to give them any beverage their heart desires.

After his first birthday when your baby s eating solids and drinking whole milk you can let him drink as much water as he likes. And once you ve prepared your baby s bottle throw away any formula they have not finished within one hour of serving. You can use a water filter if you want but make sure you follow the filter manufacturer s instructions. A good micron filter will remove most chemical contaminants and microbes.

Giving a baby younger than 6 months old too much water can interfere with his body s ability to absorb the nutrients in breast milk or formula. When it comes to infants the answer is they shouldn t. As long as baby s diet consists exclusively of breast milk or formula an infant doesn t need any water to stay healthy and hydrated early on. You can safely use fluoridated tap water to prepare infant formula.

In some cases highly filtered water may be called purified water which is legally required to contain less than 10 parts per million of contaminants. You can give your baby either tap or filtered water to drink either is fine as long as you re sure your tap water is safe and not contaminated of course. It all depends on how solids are introduced what kinds of solids are introduced and how often they re being consumed.