I am looking for some ideas on getting my daughter who is 17 months to drink water. She will take a sip of it from her sippy cup and right away realizes it's not milk and she stops drinking it.
She has never really been excited about drinking juice either. I've tried watering the juice down and also the juice Gerber makes for children that you don't need to water down. I've tried giving this to my daughter straight and watered down and she doesn't seem to have any interest in it.
I am not sure if this is a normal reaction because of her age, or if she just needs to keep trying it. We have tried juice (apply and white grape) quite a bit, but she's just not interested in it.
What do other moms do to get their kids to drink water and/or juice?
just~me
Let her squeeze orange or
Let her squeeze orange or lemon slices into it? I used to rub lotion on my kids arms and show them how their cells just slurped up the moisture, because they were so thristy! Sing The Wiggles, "Gulp. Gulp, Drink Some Water"? Ring a bell for a "water break!" many times a day? Buy her a plant, so that she can water it and sip some for herself to? Perhaps a relentless campaign, will showly bring her on board with believing that it's something that she should do often.
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
I think it is Denny's that
I think it is Denny's that has little packets of coloring that kids can add to their water to make it blue, purple or red. My kids love that. Granted I don't know what is actually IN those packets, but maybe you could make her a pitcher of "pink" water using food coloring or something else food-safe.
On the other hand, we really want our kids to get used to drinking water in this climate. It is *so* important for their health, that maybe she just needs more time to get used to it. I don't give my kids juice except at breakfast, and at the rest of their meals they drink water or milk (cow's milk, by the way, is more than 80% water!)
Susan is mom to Alexander, Isabel, David and stepmom to Eric. Make sure your email address is current, we'll be giving out great prizes DAILY in September after our site makeover! Don't miss out!
I would put the water in
I would put the water in something other than the normal sippy cup. Maybe buy it bottled with those squeezy sports bottle lids or get a fun cup with a lid that she can use. At her age you may get a little bit if spills but hey its only water! I have even used those to go coffee cups and they can pretend they are having coffee like mom.
This was exactly what
This was exactly what happened with us! Our son would become very agitated if I put something other than milk in his sippy cup. So, we explored giving him water in different cups, too.
Ikea sells awesome and very inexpensive brightly colored plates, cups, and flatware. Sometimes, the color of the cup can be exciting enough. And, involve your little one in choosing their water cup. It made our son feel like he was part of a new and exciting process (even though it was just water).
I also started giving him more "watery" fruit, like de-seeded watermelon, fresh apples, cucumbers, etc. That way, he was naturally getting water in his diet.
Good luck!
Mouse_tales is a discussion leader in the East Valley for arizonamoms.com. She spends most of her days juggling her duties as a mom, wife, and business owner. Her three little kittens range in age from 4 to 13.
Another poster mentioned
Another poster mentioned water bottles. One Step Ahead sells water bottle caps that help kids drink from bottles without spilling(easy for them and nice for you).
Good timing with the
Good timing with the weather. As it heats up, it ought to be easy to talk someone into drinking water...especially when getting into and riding in a hot car.
with mine, all I ever tote around is water, so if they are thirsty, that's what we have. When given a choice of water or nothing, most kids won't complain too long about you not lugging a cooler with milk!
Let them pick out a fun straw cup with their favorite character on it. Party City has a ton.
Good luck.
17-18 months is also not too young to start to explain that you can't bring milk somewhere as it would go bad, spoil, get icky and gross, etc. etc.
good luck
Happy2BMommy, is a stay-at-home mom who just turned 40 (argh!) with a 7 yr. old daughter and a 5 yr. old son, and is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Scottsdale.
I wouldn't worry about the
I wouldn't worry about the juice was water is important. I try using different "big boy'' cups or a water bottle - anything different from the sippy - to encourage my 2 1/2 year old to drink water. he gets distracted by the container.
Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.
You can also try Mott's for
You can also try Mott's for Tots. It's half juice and half water with no added sugar in a juice box. My son loves these. Now if they could only make an organic version