Avoiding Water Intoxication in Babies
Using Infant Formula to Provide Healthy Nutrition for Baby
Dec 29, 2008
Keeping a baby healthy and safe is a parent’s primary role as caregiver. Breastmilk is the ideal first food for infants, but in situations where the mother is unable or uninterested in breastfeeding, infant formula is a healthy substitute. Infant formula can be relatively expensive, especially as many families struggle to make ends meet in a difficult economy, but it is essential that parents do not try and stretch their budget by adding extra water to their baby’s formula. Infant formula must be made by following the manufacturer’s instructions. Adding additional water to infant formula or trying to fill a baby up by supplementing with bottles of water can cause a dangerous condition called water intoxication and result in severe malnutrition.
Water Intoxication in Infants
Water plays an important role in maintaining a healthy body and as a general rule, it is very difficult for children and adults to drink too much water. Infants are more susceptible to water intoxication because their smaller size makes it easier to upset the delicate balance of electrolytes in their bodies. Water intoxication, although rare, is very serious. It can cause infant seizures, brain damage, or death if not treated immediately. Symptoms of water intoxication in infants include difficulty breathing, an irregular heartbeat, excessive crying as a result of intracranial pressure, lethargy, and vomiting.
Malnutrition as a Result of Diluting Infant Formula
Infants grow more in their first year of life than at any other time. Many babies grow to at least triple their birth weight by their first birthday. That amount of growth in that short period of time requires that parents meet their baby’s exact nutritional needs for healthy development. Breastmilk, infant formula, or a combination of the two, provides all of a baby’s nutritional needs for at least the first 6 months of life and makes up a huge portion of an infant’s diet through the first birthday. Diluting infant formula with water prevents a baby from getting valuable calories and nutrients that are essential to healthy development.
Resources to Help Parents Afford Infant Formula
Infant formula can be expensive and many parents struggle to find the money to pay for it. Breastmilk is a wonderful, affordable option and meets a baby’s nutritional needs perfectly. If breastfeeding is not an option, there are community resources to help parents afford infant formula. Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, is a government program designed to help supplement the nutritional needs of pregnant women, breastfeeding women, post-partum women, and children under the age of 5. WIC provides breastfeeding education and support, nutritional education, and basic foods, including infant formula, for anyone who meets the minimum program guidelines.
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