Specialized water for a newborn is a guarantee of the health and good mood of the baby. Why boiled water is harmful for a child Bottled water for children should be boiled

Boiling is one of the most reliable ways to process milk. Thermal disinfection frees the product from harmful bacteria and makes it safe to consume. Raw (not store-bought) milk is boiled without fail. Only in this form it can be given to children. The question remains whether it is necessary to boil pasteurized milk for a child and whether it makes sense to deprive the product of useful elements by re-processing it. Let's try to figure it out.

Boiling pasteurized milk for a baby - is it necessary?

During pasteurization, everything harmful is destroyed, but along with pathogenic bacteria, the product is deprived of useful elements.

Adults can drink a non-boiled drink without fear, as for children, you should not rush. There are several strong arguments in favor of reprocessing:

  • Pasteurized milk is packaged in a sealed container that prevents the penetration of harmful microorganisms, but it is recommended to consume the product immediately after opening. When buying a healthy drink, no one knows how well the heat treatment was carried out. If long-term storage is planned, it is better to boil and keep in the refrigerator.
  • The end result of pasteurization is unpredictable. Much depends on how and under what conditions the product was stored before processing. Violations are noted very often, if you are not sure of the quality and freshness, it is better not to risk it.
  • Not all animals are healthy, many carry infectious diseases. During pasteurization, disease-causing organisms are destroyed, but their spores remain alive. In a favorable environment, they begin to multiply again.

Milk is a mixture of useful elements. It has everything you need for the development and growth of babies: vitamins, trace elements, fats, proteins and carbohydrates. As a feed for breastfeeding the pasteurized product is safe, but it is better not to give it to children under 2 years of age.


If, for some reason, the mother is unable to breastfeed, the best way nutrition up to 1 year - special adapted mixtures. It is possible to supplement the first feeding of an infant with a pasteurized drink, but only after additional heat treatment and not earlier than 9–11 months. A new product is introduced gradually and must be boiled, since at this age digestive system very weak and vulnerable.

During home processing, do not boil for a long time and at high temperatures. Cool the milk immediately and do not leave it in an open container. Heating several times is not recommended.

UHT milk in baby food

UHT products do not need to be boiled. All necessary disinfection processes include modern technology processing. Bacteria and their spores are completely destroyed, beneficial features are saved. UHT raw materials are subjected to the highest grade, so there is no doubt about its quality. When choosing UHT milk for your baby, don't waste time on additional processing. You can heat it up, it is not necessary to bring it to a boil. As for age restrictions, they apply only to babies under 1 year old.

findings

Nothing is better than breast milk, it will not be replaced by mixtures and store-bought dairy products. In cases where breastfeeding is not possible and a choice must be made, pasteurized milk may be given. Children under 3 years old are advised to boil the drink. UHT product does not require additional heat treatment.

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Water is necessary for a person for normal life, without it it is impossible to imagine life on Earth. But, with regards to newborns, the issue of water supplementation is very acute and there is no definite answer. Is it possible and necessary to give a newborn water, in particular boiled water?

Before dotting all the I, it is necessary to understand that the need for water supplementation directly depends on the type of nutrition of the baby, on the state of his health and climatic environmental conditions.


Back in 1989, the World Health Organization came to the conclusion that a child who is purely breastfed () does not need to be supplemented with water until the age of 6 months (before the start of complementary feeding). This is easily explained chemical composition women's milk (figures are approximate, since the composition of milk for each woman is different):

  • water 87%;
  • lactose (milk sugar) 6.5%;
  • fat 4%;
  • protein 1%;
  • vitamins and minerals 1.5%.


As you can see, water is the main component of milk. Nature is arranged in such a way that not a single mammal leads its newborn child to a watering hole, because by default the cub receives everything that is necessary and necessary with mother's milk. Yes, someone will say that we are people, not monkeys, cows, etc. But the essence of this does not change, we originated in the same way as other mammals as a result of a long process of evolution.

Women's milk is divided into anterior and hind. Foremilk is thinner, sweeter and leaner. It is white, but with a bluish tinge. It is his baby who drinks first, satisfying the needs for drinking. Then fat and nutritious hindmilk begins to flow into the baby's stomach, satisfying the need for nutrition. The hindmilk is yellowish, more concentrated.

By supplementing your baby with water before feeding, you run the risk of not getting your baby enough hindmilk, as he will fill his stomach with water and foremilk, which is practically devoid of nutrients, so the child needs for growth and development.

If you are already afraid to seem greedy, your conscience and the views of mothers and grandmothers gnaw at you because you don’t give to an infant water, drink from a spoon and after the main breastfeeding.

A baby needs to be given water in 3 cases


In general, there are situations when supplementing with water while breastfeeding is necessary:

  1. Outdoors or indoors, the temperature and humidity conditions are far from optimal (hot, stuffy, dry air, which means low humidity). Under such conditions, the child sweats, the body intensively loses moisture and salts, the mucous membranes dry up, and the process of dehydration slowly begins, which is deadly for the child. The child pees noticeably less often (less than 10-12 times a day). If it is not possible to apply the baby to the breast more often, supplement it with a little bit of clean, unboiled water (you can even dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 liter of water, saline will replenish the loss of salts by the body).
  2. Illness in a child with high temperature, vomiting and diarrhea (for example, rotavirus infection). The body of the child is rapidly dehydrated, therefore breast milk you won't get off here. It is necessary to connect rehydrating agents (for example, rehydron) or the most affordable rehydration solution at home (3 g of table salt + 18 g of sugar + 1 l pure water room temperature).
  3. A breastfed baby suffers from constipation or colic. From constipation, water with prunes or raisin water will help, and with colic, supplementing with dill water improves the situation.

Can a bottle-fed newborn drink water?

An artificial baby or a mixed-fed baby to give water is not something that is possible, but even necessary. An adapted infant formula contains much more protein compounds than human milk, so the baby needs more liquid to break it down and remove waste products. Very often children artificial feeding suffer from constipation, this is the main sign of lack of water in the body. It is necessary to supplement the child with water before feeding the mixture.

Boiled water is by no means the most useful thing that can be offered to a newborn child as a supplement. During boiling in water, only part of the bacteria is destroyed, but boiled water saturated with chloride compounds (including chloroform), which are very harmful to young children. Boiled water is dead, it does not contain the necessary minerals and salts. Of course, there will be no visible reasons and a sharp deterioration in the child's condition, but you have received food for thought!


High-quality and healthy water for feeding children should be purified at the molecular level. As a rule, such water is produced by drinking water plants, and bottles with children's drinking water should be labeled and have information that the product has been tested by the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (Russian Academy of Medical Sciences). Drinking bottled water for children differs from bottled water for adults in the content of minerals. It must be consumed raw, it does not need to be boiled.

Requirements for children's drinking water:

  • the total content of minerals is not more than 200-300 mg/l;
  • calcium not more than 60 mg/l;
  • potassium not more than 20 mg/l;
  • sodium not more than 20 mg/l;
  • magnesium not more than 35 mg/l.

Therefore, when choosing children's drinking water, pay attention to the mineral content so as not to purchase ordinary filtered water, which can easily be made at home. The water from the cooler is also bottled, but it is not intended for feeding children.


You can not give the baby to drink tap water, despite the fact that it is called drinking. It is undesirable for an adult to drink it without first passing it through the filter.

It is not necessary for a child to give water with sugar or even slightly sweeten it before the start of vigorous activity (""). This will lead to damage to the teeth or contribute to the development of thrush in the mouth (""). But an active crawling or running child needs a lot of energy, an easy source of which is just sweet water, water with honey, compote.

You can not give the baby mineral carbonated or still water, as it contains a large number of minerals that put unnecessary stress on the still weak kidneys.

Boiled water should not be given to newborns, as it is saturated with chloride compounds harmful to the child's body.

The question of introducing water into the diet baby will disappear with the introduction of complementary foods (""), and now enjoy infancy and observe the state of the crumbs, which will be the starting point, allowing you to understand whether a small body needs water or not.

What water to dilute infant formula?

This question worries many mothers. We will analyze whether it is worth buying water in a store or you can get by with the one that flows from the tap, and also whether it requires boiling.

Should I boil baby water for formula?

The answer to this question is clear - water for infant formula without fail requires boiling, if this water is from the tap. Boiling tap water allows you to solve the following problems:

    • kill bacteria,
    • reduce the concentration of chlorine,
  • reduce water hardness.

It is recommended to boil water for the complete destruction of bacteria for about 10 minutes, but in practice, mothers rarely boil for more than two to three minutes.

Important information! If boiled water sits for a long time, bacteria reappear in it. Also, boiling does not kill the botulinum bacterium and the hepatitis A virus.

Boiled water has a drawback - some useful substances die in it, so many mothers prefer to buy special bottled water for children.

Manufacturers assure that it is not necessary to boil it, it is enough to heat it to a temperature of 37C and dilute the mixture. But as a result of numerous inspections, violations were repeatedly revealed - the quality left much to be desired.

What water to dilute infant formula - tap or purchased

If you decide to buy baby water, boil it is still worth it. So you eliminate any dangers that may be in such a product. Roskontrol specialists checked popular brands of children's water and identified a number of violations.

1. Frutonyanya - in this water, as a result of the analysis, an excess of mercury indicators by 3 times was found. Also, at a temperature of 60C, bad smell. No violations were found for other parameters.

The cost is about 85 rubles per 5 liters.

2.Hipp - experts found a low content of potassium and fluorine, as well as a high concentration of nitrates, which are still within the normal range. Despite the high cost, the quality of this product is called into question.

The cost is about 86 rubles for 1.5 liters.

3. Malyshka - a minimum of violations was found in this water, namely, a slight excess of calcium and a smaller amount of fluorine compared to the declared indicators. In general, the product meets safety requirements, has no toxic and opportunistic substances.

The cost is about 115 rubles per 5 liters.

4. Agusha - in the water of the famous Russian manufacturer fluorine by 3.3 times less than normal. Also, buyers note stiffness - after boiling, a precipitate remains. For other indicators - smell, taste, composition, the experts did not have any complaints.

The cost is about 90 rubles for 5 liters.


Do I need to boil baby water to dissolve formula

Thus, we can conclude that even water bought in a store is not always safe for a baby. And the question what water to prepare infant formula, for many mothers, it is still decided in favor of tap, but boiled water.

    • Do not prepare the mixture from boiling water - the water must be cooled to a temperature of 37C or diluted with cool pre-boiled water.
    • If you live outside the city and use water from a well or well, for cooking baby food in this case, it is better to use purchased water.
    • A good alternative is to purchase a filter jug ​​for water purification, for example, from the Barrier company. The company produces children's filters that allow you to get a liquid that is optimal in composition for the child.
  • Water bought in a store can be stored after opening the package for no more than a day and only in the refrigerator. Buy liquid in glass or polycarbonate packaging (at the bottom of such a container is the number 7).