water for babies`

should they have bottled water - if so distilled or mineral - or is it ok to use cooled down boiled water from the tap - we drink it ...!? someone (in UK) mentioned something about not giving water to babies that has been bolied twice? any insights?

It's been said not to give babies anything other than BM BUT living in Asia it is very common to give babies water. As you are in HK and the water pipes aren't the best i would give room tempture bottled water. It's probably not necessary for you to give your baby water though BM would be enough.

if you are on total BF, water isn't necessary i think as the foremilk is meant to quench the baby's thirst.


i give my baby formula so he takes water between feeds to prevent constipation.

When travelling, opening a bottle of distilled water is easy and convenient to use if mixing up feeds on flights, in hotels etc. However, when home in Hong Kong use boiled cool tap water to ensure baby receives the recommended fluoride.



Well Baby Clinic - 2849 1500

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Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org

we use a water purifier at home -- should we be boiling water that comes out of the purified tap or the normal tap in order for the baby to be getting enough flouride? Also, how about bottled mineral water? Is this suitable?

thanks matilda - one other question question - is it ok if you boil water twice - someone mentioned to me that this was not a good idea. -

I thought boiled and/or filtered water was ok but not distiled water, which Australian friends tell me should only be used to top up car batteries. Opinion appears to be divided on the health benefits, or otherwise, of drinking distilled water.

Sorry, the intention wasn't to confuse or scare you. Opinion is very much divided but below is an extract from a Australian web site, which essentially says drink distilled water in moderation; drinking distilled water constantly can harm your health. The information and contradictory opinions are everywhere on the internet. I would suggest you search through them and make your own decision on what is and is not best for your baby.



"Considering we are approximately 70-75% water, being well hydrated, especially during pregnancy is imperative. The body's water supply is involved in and responsible for nearly every bodily process, including digestion, absorption, circulation, excretion and the transport of nutrients. It is essential to drink about half your body weight in ounces/day (eg. 130 lbs = 65 oz)


Consuming a high quality water is of the utmost importance, investing in a reputable water purifier or purchasing purified or spring water is the way to go. Distilled water is fine in moderation, too much or drinking solely distilled actually robs your body of vital minerals."


"About the Author: Barbara Hodal is a chiropractor and owner of Crystal Baby Organics, an on line organic baby boutique. Visit us at http://www.crystalbabyorganics.com for more information on how you and your children can benefit from organic."

Ghie, you would not be harming your baby during pregnancy by drinking Volvic.


I don't know if any of you guys above have it in Hong Kong, but in Tokyo they have a special bottled 'baby water' that I used to buy which was very convenient. It came in either 500 ml bottles or I think 1.5 - 2.0 litre ones also. You could buy the bottles either separately or in cartons also which we would do for even more convenience. When I switched from breastmilk I mixed the formula with this and also gave my kids this straight from the bottle (no boiling etc.) The baby water is formulated especially for babies. There were a couple of different types but I'm certain that one of them was Pigeon - you may want to search around where you are. If I ran out of that, cooled boiled water was what I've always been told to use and I did. Mind you, we were always pretty stocked up.


When on the plane, we would take a couple of 500ml bottles in our carry-ons for the flight to mix up the feeds and it was no problem at all. Of course, all else failing if there was no other choice and if we were stuck without anything, we would give normal bottled water (like Volvic/Aqua/Mount Franklin etc.) as this would be better than unboiled tap water. You just do what you can at the time really. But, definitely try and get a hold of a carton of baby water.


Also, I was told with both kids that babies do not need additional water on top of breastmilk except if the weather is particularly hot and then just give a little at a time. The breastmilk is predominantly water anyway and of course, this makes sense.....the higher the mother's water intake, the fuller the breasts right?

Distilled water shouldn't really be given (I think fomr time to time is ok, but not always) - here you can buy Baby Alp (?) water from Citysuper/B2B/ToysRUs - it's mineral water but with a low mineral content. I breastfed so didn't give water until after 6 months anyway, and then for a while we used the baby water, or sometime boiled water, or more often just filtered tap water (simple jug filter) - same as we drink.

Baby Alp sounds like the same sort of thing I had in Tokyo then, just a different name for HK. It's great and you don't have any worries going through your mind when giving it to your baby.