How to introduce your baby to drinking water
At 6 months old, your baby can and should be drinking water alongside (and between) meals. Between now and 12 months is the ideal time for your child to learn the important skill of drinking from an open cup.
Learning to drink from a cup will take some time—including some messy trial and error—as holding, lifting, tipping, and drinking requires the following:
- proper tongue and mouth placement
- hand-eye coordination
- physical strength
Some advice about water
Once your baby starts on solids, drinking water helps prevent constipation. It also helps aid digestion, normalize blood pressure, and regulate body temperature. You can offer your child any kind of safe drinking water, including bottled, filtered, well, or public water. Some things to keep in mind:
- Most municipal water systems in the United States treat tap water with fluoride, which helps protect teeth from developing cavities. You can ask your local municipality for details.
- Well water is generally safe, but you can have it tested for nitrates, which are commonly found in the soil, to determine its safety. In excess, nitrates can cause acute respiratory infections in children and negatively impact the hemoglobin in a baby’s blood1, among other things.
- Avoid seltzer, club soda, or any other carbonated beverages. A baby’s digestive tract just isn’t ready for carbonation.
Start serving water in an open cup, with or without a straw
Helping your child drink from an open cup, with or without a straw, can get messy—and feel like a lot of work at first—but it’s an ideal introduction to drinking all manner of liquids.
Think about serving a few ounces of water at mealtime. The best way to do this is with an open small cup, or a tiny cup that may or may not have handles. (You can buy small open cups that have handles, or you can buy sippy cups with handles and lids, and simply remove the lids.)
Sipping through a straw is another great skill your baby is ready to learn at 6 months. It might take some time to figure this one out! Don’t expect your little one to just “get it.” We’ve detailed two methods of introducing straws below—one with a pipette, and the other with a honey bear straw cup.
The purpose of introducing your baby to drinking water in an open cup is not necessarily to ensure that your baby drinks 4 to 8 ounces of liquid per day (the recommended amount for a 6-month old)2. It is to get your baby used to the idea of regularly drinking water, which aids in digestion and regulating other important bodily functions. Using an open cup also gives your baby the opportunity to learn important motor skills and reduces the number of transitions (i.e, if you start with a sippy cup, you don’t have to make two transitions–just one).
Sippy cups are bad for your baby’s development.
How to introduce an open cup:
- Pour a small amount of water into a cup.
- Help your baby hold the sides of the cup, then gently guide it toward the mouth
- Tip the cup toward your baby’s mouth for 1 second, allowing a little water to enter it, then return the cup to level.
- Your baby is watching you. Model what drinking out of a cup should look (and sound) like: You can gulp, smack your lips, and even say “ahh” when you’re finished. Repeat this over and over at every meal, until your baby starts drinking from a cup independently and unprompted.
How to introduce a straw using the “pipette” approach:
- Grab a straw and a glass of water.
- Put the straw in about an inch of water. Put your thumb over the top of the straw (capping it will keep the water in the straw).
- Put the other end of the straw into your baby’s mouth, and slowly lift your thumb as your baby sucks.
- Keep practicing.
How to introduce a straw using the “honey bear straw cup” approach:
- Add water to an empty honey bear straw cup (which you can buy or make with an empty and well-cleaned honey bear jar and a straw), then cap it with the lid.
- Slide the straw through the honey opening in the lid until it reaches the bottom of the container.
- Gently squeeze the bottom of the container, such that water visibly goes up the straw. (This visual helps babies figure out the cause and effect of sucking on the straw.)
- Prompt your child to place lips around the straw, then squeeze the honey bear until water emerges from the straw into your baby’s mouth.
- Encourage your baby to suck more water out when squeezing, then swallow.
Remember that at the beginning, drinking water can get messy. Your baby is learning a new skill, so take this on with patience, and be prepared for a little mess.
References
1 https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/nitrate_2013/docs/nitrate_patient-education.pdf
2 https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Recommended-Drinks-for-Young-Children-Ages-0-5.aspx
Additional resources
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