What water should be given to the youngest children - whether tap water is good for a baby? What are the recommendations for older kids? Since when tap water suitable for baby? What can be done to make tap water taste better for children? You will find the answers in the text below.
The fact that it is water that we should choose to quench our thirst has long been said and written. Juices or other drinks, carbonated and non-carbonated, only seemingly extinguish them, because after a while we feel thirsty again. We should instill the habit of drinking water in our children from an early agewhat we wrote about here. The question is, what water should it be - can it come from the tap?
Since when do we give children water?
Most moms will surely remember the rule that up to 6 months of age, breastfed infants do not need to be supplemented. Mother's milk is the most appropriate product here, which will both feed and drink the baby, depending on its needs. The question of giving water usually arises from the age of 7 months, when it is time to expand the diet.
In the case of children who are fed or fed with modified milk, good quality water is needed both for mixing the milk powder and for possibly refilling it, especially in hot weather..
Tap water for babies: only boiled
Bottled spring water is best for babies up to 6 months of age. We can also choose mineral, non-mineralized water with a low level of sodium and sulphates (we wrote about the requirements for bottled water for children and babies here).
Until the age of 1, the water given to children, also bottled, should be boiled beforehand - they should not drink water directly from the tap. It is very important that both spring and mineral water as well as tap water for babies are brought to the boil first. - after boiling it is safer for the immature digestive system of a baby.
Since when is the tap water for a child?
Since we already know that only tap water is suitable for an infant after boiling, the question remains, what about older children? Since when does tap water for a child no longer need to be boiled? Some parents are afraid of giving it to their children over the age of 1, others - on the contrary.
Good drinking water quality is influenced by its proper quality chemical composition and microbiological purity. In the case of tap water, microbiological purity is ensured by treatment with chlorine, ozone and carbon filters.
According to scientists, there are currently no objections to the quality and purity of tap water that is under constant control. Sanitary and chemical standards for bottled and tap water are similar, the difference is in the amount of minerals - e.g. magnesium, calcium, potassium or sodium ions. However, you must take into account that The water from the water treatment plant reaches the apartments with kilometers of pipes, and their condition affects the quality of the water - this is especially true of older buildings and installations. The so-called biofilm (i.e. a kind of membrane, which is a cluster of many bacterial cells) responsible for changing the microbiological parameters of water, and thus - its health benefits, not to mention the taste sensations. BecauseRegardless of age, the child should not drink the water poured directly from the tap. In addition, children should not be given well water, as well as Oligocene water due to the potential contamination with nitrates and nitrites as well as microbial contamination.
Or maybe filtered tap water for babies?
What if the taste and water quality were improved with the help of a filter jug? Is it a solution that has been entering our homes more and more confidently for several years. This is for a number of reasons. First - economic considerations. The prices of such products are sometimes encouraging, you can often find discounts or promotional campaigns in stores, recommending the addition of spare filters to the jug. After the conversion, it may turn out that by buying a jug in a package with filters for 3 months, we will save a minimum of several dozen zlotys every month, giving up or significantly reducing the purchase of bottled water. There is also another benefit: less plastic will end up in our garbage can.
However, filtered tap water for babies should also be boiled before serving.
When is tap water filtering useful?
Filter jugs are especially recommended for use in places where the chlorine used to purify water is strongly felt. The same applies to pollution from water pipes. Additionally, filters remove some heavy metals from water and also soften it - filtering reduces water hardness by about seventy percent. The water drunk after filtering differs significantly in taste. Therefore, if the tap water in our place of residence is safe to drink, and the taste is not to our liking, the filter jug should solve this problem.
Using tap water filters for a child
So that the jug we use for filtering cleans tap water well and increases its taste, we must absolutely adhere to the filter replacement deadline. This is necessary to avoid the growth of microorganisms in the filter, which could cause abdominal pain, diarrhea etc. We should also remember that the water from the jug should be drunk within 24 hours of filling it, because its transparent walls enable the growth of microorganisms in the water depth. This happens especially when the jugs are placed in very sunny rooms.
