The amount of water consumed varies from person to person, however, parents often worry that their child is drinking too much liquid per day. Much or little are not precise concepts. If a child drinks a lot of water, then the reason for this behavior needs to be established. It may turn out that there is no problem, but for peace of mind it is advisable to undergo a medical examination.
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Individuality
To begin with, you should understand one important fact - the question of establishing standards for fluid intake is individual. It is impossible to say exactly how much water a particular baby should drink. This indicator can be influenced by various factors.
Which ones exactly? Parents should take into account that the volume of fluid consumed per day is set in accordance with:
- child's growth;
- its weight;
- energy costs per day;
- metabolic rate in the body;
- environment and atmosphere;
- temperature;
- the general health of the child.
That is why it is quite difficult to establish the norm of fluid intake for a baby. For adults, this is about 2-2.5 liters per day. After all, for the average person, the listed indicators are approximately similar. And children are growing organisms. They need water in different quantities.
Heat and activity
Does your child drink a lot of water? The reasons for this phenomenon can be varied. There is usually no reason to panic. After all, the amount of fluid consumed is influenced by the atmosphere and activity of the child.
In hot weather, the body requires more water. That's why children drink more. And adults too. Don’t panic if, after an active day, your baby asks to drink again and again. Large energy costs are compensated by the fluid consumed.
Perhaps these are the most common phenomena. Before you panic, you need to make sure your child hasn't had a stressful day and is not hot. Mental stress can also be classified as activity. The body expends energy that needs to be returned.
Diet
Does your child drink a lot of water? The reasons for the phenomenon being studied are varied. Many parents begin to sound the alarm if, in their opinion, the baby asks to drink too often. In fact, you shouldn't do this. It is better to pay attention to the child’s diet.
Usually the baby receives some of the liquid with food. If the food is predominantly dry, then the lack of water will have to be compensated additionally. At such moments, the child becomes thirsty and asks for a drink. It's the same as eating dry food - even an adult will wash it down with food.
Therefore, it is recommended, first of all, to normalize the children's diet. Babies, as a rule, do not need water. But if there is a shortage of milk, it may be required. And you shouldn’t be surprised that your baby drinks. The main thing to remember is that everything is individual.
Drinks a lot during or after meals
Indeed, children often eat with a glass of water, even wash down soups with water. Parents are surprised and often worried, but there is nothing to worry about; remember yourself as a child; many of you probably had this habit. Why does this happen? There is a point that not all children favor food, it happens due to their mood or in principle, which is why there is difficulty in swallowing, this manifests itself - this is what. The food that he eats does not cause sufficient salivation in the child, and a strong desire to take it into his body, so he will chew for a long time, but simply cannot swallow it quickly. And pressure from an adult will not help in this matter; this is not pampering, but its perception. An adult can enjoy even the simplest food, but a child has other interests, and sometimes it can be very difficult to get him to sit at the table. Therefore, in order to quickly swallow, rather than chew one piece for ten minutes at a time, it is easier for a child to wash it down faster by pushing the food further. You can, of course, experiment with your favorite food, if you still have one, decorate the plate in a special way to interest the child, motivate him, sometimes it helps. But more often than not, these are just questions of growing up, when everything will fall into place.
It also happens that a child simply does not like the taste of a particular product or dish. Ask him what he likes and what he doesn’t, usually children show this freely, but there is another type - quiet ones. By drinking copious amounts of food after meals, children can also wash down a hated aftertaste that they can’t get rid of.
addictive
Why does a child drink a lot of water? Another interesting option is getting used to a pacifier or sippy cup. Mainly relevant for young children. That is, the child drinks with pleasure not on his own, but with the help of the specified devices. What is the rationale for this? It has already been said - habit.
In this situation, you will have to be patient and wean your baby from sucking a pacifier or sippy cup. It is required to offer the child regular water in a mug. With such addiction, drinking liquid (no matter what kind) is simply a way to get pleasure. You should not take your child to the doctor, but you will have to take a closer look at his behavior and do everything to wean him from the addiction.
Before bedtime
Quite often you can encounter complaints that children constantly ask to drink at night. Parents are alarmed by this behavior. Especially if the baby does not drink much liquid during the day.
Does your child drink a lot of water at night? The reasons for this phenomenon are simple - this is the only way to calm down and fall asleep. Explained by the structure of the body. Most pediatricians consider this to be normal. Therefore, there is no need to sound the alarm and think about treatment.
Also, asking for something to drink is a common way for children to delay bedtime. If a child does not want to sleep, he will try to attract attention to himself. Requests can be different - for a drink, to go to the toilet, to tell a story, and so on. Therefore, at night, the need for fluid is either the only way to calm the body, or simple pampering, which allows you to delay sleep.
Reasons for drinking heavily
Excessive water consumption can be caused by poor nutrition in adolescents and young children. If a child prefers “dry” food to “liquid” food - soups, borscht, etc., then the body’s need for water will be increased. In most cases, these physiological features are not dangerous. To gradually accustom a child to liquid food, complex carbohydrates should be introduced into the diet - cereals, potatoes, fruit juices.
Today, many children have developed hyperactivity, which leads to frequent consumption of water. Moreover, if a child sweats and often asks to go to the toilet, then there is no reason to worry. When lethargy is observed due to heavy drinking, the child eats little, and loses weight, it is worth getting tested for diabetes.
Approximate norms
How much water should a child drink? In fact, as already said, the issue is controversial. Quite difficult to answer - there are many factors to consider. But still there is a small guideline.
According to established standards, you should monitor the child, his daily routine and diet, if it exceeds the following indicators:
- children under 3 years of age consume on average up to 800 milliliters of liquid per day;
- from 3 to 6 years (inclusive) - about 1 liter;
- from 7 to 12 - 1.2-1.7 liters;
- teenagers - 2-2.2 liters.
Accordingly, the indicated indicators are generally accepted standards. This does not mean that a child should consume exactly that much liquid. But these indicators should be relied upon. Liquid means not only water, but also soups, compotes, juices, and so on. This also needs to be taken into account.
Attention
Does your child drink a lot of water? The reasons are varied. Only rarely is this behavior a consequence of a disease. It's hard to believe, but quite often children ask their parents for a drink just to get attention. In fact, the body does not need liquid.
Pediatricians and child psychologists often point out that if a child begins to drink a lot, or rather, asks for water, it is recommended to take a closer look at his own behavior. Maybe the baby just doesn't have enough attention. In this situation, you first need to devote more time to the child. And then the need for additional attention will disappear by itself.
Drinks a lot and eats little
If a child washes everything down with plenty of water, then, of course, the stomach fills quickly and a feeling of false satiety comes, even when there is still a lot of food on the plate. In this case, adjust the amount of water at meals.
It is also worth mentioning the hot season, and when the child is too active, he will also constantly run around drinking to replenish the feeling of fullness in the stomach, but will not even think about food.
It’s another matter if all the above factors do not exist and the child, in addition to liquids, categorically refuses to eat, and in addition, any other symptoms appear that indicate illness and require seeing a doctor. We consider them below.
Infants
What should you do if your baby drinks a lot of water? The reasons for this phenomenon, as a rule, are slightly different from those that apply to older children. Breastfed babies do not need supplemental feeding. But some pediatricians recommend giving babies water. This is a good way to quench a child's thirst. Babies drink and eat often - the body processes the incoming substances in about 2 hours. Therefore, one should not be surprised that the baby drinks a lot.
Especially when it comes to artificial feeding. The thing is that this mixture is not breast milk. She only vaguely resembles him. Helps saturate the child's body, but at the same time promotes thirst. Breast milk consists of 80% water. Therefore, when breastfeeding, do not supplement with water. But with artificial feeding, one should not say that the baby drinks a lot.
Reasons for increased need for water in children
In hot weather, children need to drink plenty of water.
There may be different reasons for a child to drink heavily. Thus, thirst can occur after eating fatty or salty foods, staying in a stuffy and hot room, after intense physical activity, with fever, diarrhea and vomiting, etc.
Depending on the mechanism of thirst, the causes may be:
Physiological, i.e. caused by the following factors:
- weather conditions: in extreme heat, the child eats less, but drinks a lot, as the body loses fluid through sweat;
- microclimate in the room: special attention should be paid to the children's room, where the air temperature should not exceed 22 0C (optimally 18 0C), and the humidity should be at least 50%. In a dry and hot room, the child will drink a lot of fluids, but produce little urine (moisture is lost through sweat and evaporation from mucous membranes);
- physical activity: active children lose moisture through sweat during play or sports, so the need for fluid replenishment increases;
- nutrition: when infants are transferred to artificial nutrition or when complementary foods are introduced, there is a need for supplemental feeding; Thirst may appear in older children after eating fried, salty, fatty or sweet foods.
Psychological reasons are also different:
- habit: the child likes to drink liquid from a bottle with a nipple (satisfying the sucking reflex) or from a sippy cup;
- lack of attention: predominant drinking at night may be associated with the baby’s desire to draw the parents’ attention to himself, to get the desired contact with his mother after stopping breastfeeding;
- reluctance to go to bed: the baby makes far-fetched requests (for a drink, to go to the toilet, or others), while the child drinks a fairly large amount of water just to stay awake;
- stressful situations: a new social circle when entering kindergarten or school, conflicts in the family can cause thirst in the child along with an increase in the daily amount of urine.
Pathological, that is, associated with diseases:
- with diseases of the liver and gallbladder, bitterness appears in the mouth, which the child tries to get rid of by drinking water frequently;
- kidney diseases (bacterial urological infections) are accompanied not only by increased thirst, but also by fever, pain in the lower abdomen or lumbar region, swelling in the morning on the face and lower extremities, weakness, pallor of the skin, changes in the daily amount of urine;
- diabetes insipidus, associated with a lack of antidiuretic hormone produced by the pituitary gland (an endocrine gland located in the brain): the daily amount of urine increases significantly, which leads to abundant consumption of water to replenish fluid losses in the body;
- Diabetes mellitus is a serious endocrinological pathology, which is characterized, in addition to severe thirst and frequent urination, weakness, fatigue, drowsiness of the child, loss of body weight with increased appetite, itching, excessive sweating and other symptoms.
Often parents are faced with the problem of their child drinking repeatedly only at night. Sometimes your baby really gets thirsty if his room is hot and the air is dry. The body loses fluid through sweat and requires replenishment. But it also happens that a child who wakes up is simply accustomed to falling asleep only after eating or drinking. You need to get rid of such a habit through restrictions and patience.
Diseases
However, not everything is as simple as it seems. Sometimes you need to take a closer look at the baby. Perhaps constant thirst is a consequence of some serious illness. It is recommended to take a blood test and look at your sugar levels.
Does your child (4 years old) drink a lot of water? The reasons are different, if none of the previously listed are suitable, then you should consult a doctor. And first of all, as already mentioned, take a blood test “for sugar”. Constant dry mouth and thirst are common signs of diabetes.
There is also another form of the disease. This is normal diabetes. In this situation, children usually urinate frequently. And in large quantities. Therefore, they require a lot of fluid to replenish the water deficit in the body. As practice shows, craving for drinks due to a particular disease is very rare in children. There is no need to make an appointment with a pediatrician as soon as parents begin to think that their child is drinking a lot. It is recommended to first exclude all previously listed layouts. And only if there are suspiciously large excesses of the norm, take appropriate tests. Now it’s clear why the child drinks a lot of water. The reasons can be different, often they do not require treatment.
Thirsty food
It's no secret that food that is too salty and dry requires the body to consume more water. And also food with spices, and if it is fattier than what the child is used to. Or you change the child’s diet, introduce new foods that the child is not used to, which can also cause the child to drink a lot, and in the second case, he can simply wash down the unusual taste of foods.
During complementary feeding, infants also need to be given a little more water than usual. Of course, milk, like other products and ready-made dishes, contains moisture that goes towards the body, but it is still considered food and not drink, whereas to quench your thirst you need to drink clean water. Because other components of prepared water-based products can make you even more thirsty. For example, consuming drinks that contain sugar definitely causes even greater thirst, so after drinking them you constantly want to drink more and more; such drinks should be limited, as should the consumption of anything that contains sugar. Since in unlimited quantities it causes not only harmless thirst, but also disrupts metabolic processes and leads to serious diseases.
