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Getting kids to drink water
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Ok, this is probably a strange question and really has nothing to do with homeschooling, but I need some advice. I don’t think my children are drinking enough water. I don’t think they’re dehydrated, though. I’ll pour them a cup of water (maybe 6 oz.) in the morning, and they’ll have only drunk half by mid-afternoon. I encourage and remind them to take drinks all day, but it’s just little sips here and there. They’ll tell me they’re not thirsty or that they “just can’t drink anymore” when I tell them they haven’t had enough water. Inevitably, at bedtime, they’re both super thirsty and will drink a cup or more of water before going to bed. I want them to drink more during the day and less at night, although we have not had any wet beds or anything like that.
How do you get your kids to drink enough water, without constantly reminding them?
I have a super big cup that is insulated, that I fill with water… and my kids steal drinks from it all day long… LOL. probably not the best method.
All I can advise is making sure it is ice cold for them…
My husband has a ‘water jug’ he takes to work daily. When he gets home from work the boys go crazy of drinks out of the water jug, sooooo…I bought one for the counter top (always add lots of ice) and keep cups by it (paper or plastic) and they drink away.
Honestly, I don’t have any problems with my kids drinking enough water. My oldest always prefers water (he has a washable water bottle and uses it all the time) and my youngest always asks for ‘ice cold water’. My middle boy is my best eater, but drinks the least amount of water, unless it’s from the jug. He just thinks that’s so fun.
Making it accessible to them has probably been the key and it being cold. If it’s out of site, or I have to get it for them, seems to make it more of chore so why bother, kwim? HTH
Hi Lindsay, I keep the water accessible all day as well. But I never offer my kids anything else either. I keep their cups on the counter next to the refrigerator all day, and fill it and serve it to them at mealtimes. Even with that, I sometimes think they don’t drink enough, but with not serving anything else, I know they’ll drink when they’re thirsty and what they do get is pure hydration as opposed to teas, sodas, juices which dehydrate.
I like the jug idea!
I keep water accessible all day as well. Their cups stay on the table, with water in them, all day long. They just don’t stop to get drinks, unless I remind them to. I also don’t offer juice, milk, or cokes. We don’t even keep juice or cokes in the house. We just drink water. I guess I just know that 3-4 oz. of water all day long isn’t enough. It’s like their “thirst mechanism” isn’t triggered until right before bed, when they just want to chug it down. I want to stop that habit by encouraging more water drinking during the day, know what I mean?
My girls seem to drink a lot more when they have straws, water bottles, or flavored water i.e. Crystal Light lemonade (which I don’t like to do too often). I also don’t let them leave the table after a meal until their cup is empty. 🙂 It’s only half filled to begin with so not making them drink more than they need. Also I encourage them to begin drinking while they wait for me to get their plates ready.
My girls don’t like to drink much either except when they get hot, so they do drink a lot at least during summer time.
Tara
Lindsey,
Do your dc like oranges, lemon, lime, etc? You could slice some of their favorite fruits for them to squeeze into their water. Lemon is a good detoxifier, so it’s good for anyone anytime unless there is an allergy issue. It’s also kind of fun to squeeze the fruit into the water and have it floating there. My youngest used to love to do this. Now she doesn’t request the lemon much anymore, but for a while it sure did help her to drink more.
Could it be that they don’t like the taste? I never liked the taste of water, to be honest. Anywhere, from any sink, bottled, drinking fountain, cold, warm, didn’t matter. I just didn’t like the taste. And depending on your source of water, they may not care for the taste of the additives in it (or lack thereof). So as a kid, and actually up until very recently, you had to force me to drink water. I liked ice cubes, though… That may work, if they just suck on those (without chewing – don’t want any broken teeth there). I did, however, drink other things throughout the day – milk, soda/pop, juice, anything with a flavor, except flavored water (tasted disgusting LOL).
Thankfully, my kids got their daddy’s thirst habits. They all literally drink water all day long. Except for the toddler, who refuses to drink any water out of his cup, but he’ll take a few sips out of mine or Daddy’s or Sister’s….
Otherwise he just loves his milk and rare bit of apple juice.Oh yeah, straws are a big thing in our house, too. I can’t drink anything out of a glass/cup without a straw, so of course my kids ask for straws, too:)
Summer is a great time to get kids used to drinking water, so the warmer spring days (coming soon!) are perfect to start. Our dollar store had these cute, colorful, translucent plastic jugs last year in advance of summer, with pouring lids and a handle on top and a spout like a commercial water cooler on the side. The jugs held about 1.5 quarts of liquid. They each had their own (at $1 a piece, that was easy), so we washed them every morning and filled them with ice water. Their cups stood nearby, so they used them often. (Of course, my son liked to just open his mouth under the spout and let it run right in…..well, it’s a boy thing, and at least he was drinking water!) My kids just like having their own special “stuff,” and water jugs/bottles are no exception.
At the end of the summer, when I got tired of having them cluttering the counter, we switched over to individual plastic water bottles (about 24 oz. each) that they could refill and take with them. A little more reminding is required in the fall and winter (hot chocolate and tea are so much more appealing!), but by that time, they were used to “No, drink some water” in response to “May I have some…..”
Sue
I think the replies have been good. We live in South Africa where it is dry and in this heat children can easily dehydrate. I have found the easiest is to just not have anything else to drink in the house. And iced water does help, pseronally I dislike room temp, lukewarm water. We actually freeze bottles of water, we fill them three-quarter full. Then in the morning I take a new bottle out the fridge and top up and set it on the counter, on a tray with cups. My youngest cannot manage alone but the others help themselves. I think a little lesson about “dark urine and kidney function” may have assisted. They were not great water drinkers but now they know it is all there is and that they must not dehydrate, so they drink. If they say they are not thirsty I make them drink 5 sips anyway. Sounds like a tyrant but lack of fluids can also cause constipation so I’d prefer to prevent it. We also take a small cooler bag in the car with water bottles when we go out to avoid buying juice or softdrinks and to keep the habit going.
My kids drink a ton of water. Why. . . because I keep nothing else but water and milk. And who can drink milk more than a glass a day? Also, dh and I only drink water. I don’t drink pop or anything. My thoughts, just set an example, get rid fo the other stuff and they will follow suite after awhile (also I didn’t read other posts short on time so if it’s the same sorry)_ Misty
We don’t have anything in the house but water and milk as well. I quit sodas years ago, and we have never allowed our children to drink sodas, except on the occassional time when we go out to eat. Even then, we usually all order water anyway.
I did slice some oranges, lemons and limes, and freeze them. Today, I put a couple of slices in their water and told them they would be like ice cubes that would flavor their water. They loved that! I will also look into some “fun” water bottles. They have fun cups, but they’re small and the water doesn’t stay cold long. My ds does love cold water, so maybe he would drink more if I did a better job of keeping it cold. I try to shy away from plastic bottles because of all the chemicals in plastic. So, maybe I can find a fun metal bottle for them.
Thank you all for your suggestions!
I second the ‘cooler in the car’ thing, too. I bought a small cooler (kind of like an insulated lunch box with a strap) for the car. Whenever we go anywhere (especially in the summer or all seasons, my kids are always thirsty) I take it along with bottled waters in ice. I am so against drive-thru sodas or picking up bottled waters at the gas station or grocery store/Walmart (I’m way too cheap), so I bring my own everywhere we go.
I also have a washable cup with lid and straw that I fill with ice water before we go anywhere so I have water when I’m driving. Nothing like trying to take a drink of water from a bottle when you’re trying to drive (can’t see and I end up with it down my chin, neck, shirt, etc:)
Do they like fruit a lot. It is more expensive than water but offers both nutrients and water all at one time. In the summer I load up on all the mellons which have lots of “water” in them and in the winter they love fruit smoothies and fruit pops made from frozen fruit. I know cold stuff in the winter, my kids love it though.
Otherwise he just loves his milk and rare bit of apple juice.
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