Dehydration in babies: Doctors bust the myths

Bengaluru: With the city under the grip of a heat wave, health experts suggest that anxious new parents and guardians should to let go off a few myths related to keeping the infants and neonates hydrated, as they may only cause more harm for the baby.

"The tendency to keep the baby warm despite the temperature going about 37 or 40 degrees is not at all necessary and can lead to dehydration and harms the child,” said Dr Asha Benakappa, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health.

She said the awareness about the importance of breast milk and its role in keeping dehydration at bay was crucial. Luckily our institute has not seen any severe dehydration cases this time, she added.

"Babies lose 10 per cent of their body weight in the first ten days after birth and that is not a reason to hit the panic button. Improper feeding and formula feeds can cause more harm to them and they might catch diarrhoea. Also, the tendency to keep the baby warm is extremely unwanted," said Dr Bhaskar Shenoy, HOD Pediatrics, Manipal hospital. He felt providing cow milk, formula milk and feeds to the newborn can also lead to hypernatremic dehydration. Hence they should be provided only breast milk.

He also advised new mothers and pregnant mothers to take adequate liquids and soups, fluids as well. Dr Anita Mohan, gynaecologist advises pregnant women and new mothers to increase their water intake which also reduces the chances of them having urinary tract infection.

"Pregnant women should avoid the sun and have lots of water and water-based drinks like buttermilk or tender coconut. For new mothers, since breast milk is the only source for nutrition for babies, they should keep themselves hydrated to prevent dehydration in newborns," she said.