How Do I Get My 5 Year Old to Drink More Water?

I agree with the "cool water bottle" idea. I have a 3yo and a 16mo and they love when I give them "juice" I put about 20% juice and 80% water. both V8 an juicy juice make new juices that have veggies in them...got to figure you have to sneak veggies in where ever you can.

my kids love slushies- I just take some crushed ice and mix it with the watered down juice

for the chapped lips, try putting some aquaphor on her lips at night and find a fun chapstick for during the day

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I squeeze fresh lemon into my kids water bottles and they think it's lemonade!! And it gives them alittle extra Vit C.

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My almost 5 year old wasn't much of a water drinker either. Maybe you could buy special cool cups "just for water" & let him have them around the house as he plays. We found some character cups w/ lids & straws. My son also really likes the flavored water (Propel or fruit H2O). It's a bit expensive, but it's one way to get him to drink something other than juice. When we have it on hand, he's much more likely to ask for lemon or grape water than for other drinks. :)

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My boys always respond well to positive reinforcement, so maybe promote a sticker project or something similar that you do in your family for drinking water every day...hope this helps a little!

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Children will naturaly take in what they need. If he isn't sick, and doesn't seem to be dehydrated I wouldn't worry about it.

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I bought child-sized hydration backpacks for my children (9, 5, 3), and they love them. If I think that they are becoming dehydrated, I get them out and they wear them while they play and take sips from the drinking tubes much more often than they otherwise would. I got them at Recreation Outlet in American Fork, but Out-N-Back, Park's Sportsman, or REI (maybe even Sportsmans Wearhouse or Cabella's) would have them, too. Be sure to use Aquafor or Vaseline on their lips so they won't crack.

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I'm not a huge fan of crystal light because of the nutrasweet, so i give mine half 100% fruit juice half water. They have fun bright colored water bottles and they can have as many refills as they want. You could try making fun shaped ice cubes to put in his cup.

One thing my 5 y.o. son just got this year from school is that water makes you grow and he decided he wants to grow to be the biggest kid in his class (theres only two kids taller than him this year). Maybe showing him how a plant needs lots of water to grow will help show him that people need lots of water to grow too. Try encouraging him to want to grow bigger or to make his lips stop hurting by drinking more. Play up the health values of lots of water and it may help him understand that he needs to drink more.

Another thing you could do is tell him he has to stay at the table for meals until his whole glass is empty.

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