Suggestions Besides Juice to Drink

Hi M.,

My kids use to love juice and I even put it in their lunches until the doctor said give them water and cut down on the juice. Well they got tired of that so now I buy bottled water and give them the walmart brand of the sugar free grape type juice. You just drink a little bit of the water out and then put in one packet and shake it up.. and its really good. I really like the target brand stawberry lemonade as well. They all have zero calories.. Also instead of kool aid we brink the Wyler's lemonade that is sugar free. It's really good.

Good luck!

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Have you tried tea? There are some flavored teas.

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The water in our area has a distinctive after taste that is not pleasant. We use a brita water filter with the pitcher and keep it cold. We also let them fill up water bottles from the filtered container so that they each have their own. If your water tastes bad that may be why she/they don't want to drink straight water.
I would say bye-bye to the juice boxes whether she liked it or not. It is unhealthy. You might try the diluted juice in larger more economical containers, that should help.
It may come down to a test of wills and if that were the case, I would ensure her obedience. Do you let her refuse veggies? or other things that are good for her, taste unpleasant, but are necessary? Then you shouldn't with water either.
Good luck,
L.

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Hi M.,

If given the choice my kids would always choose coke or juice, but we established the house rule a long time ago that if your thirsty during the day, you drink water. If we go somewhere, each kid fills up a reusable water bottle for the activity (sports or any activity). Because we didn't give them a choice when they were young, they don't complain about it now.

We do allow them cokes and juice on occassion like when we go out to eat or a gatorade for the baseball game, but it's not a given that they will get it, more like a special treat.

Kids do not know what is best for them at such a young age, that's why they have us. If the juice is not available in the house, then your daughter will have no choice but to drink water or milk when she's thirsty.

Have you tried water in a juice box. One brand that I know of is Aqua 2 Go.

I read this in a magazine, and it sounds good, but I've never tried it. Fill up a pitcher of water, add a vanilla bean and a thinly sliced orange and let sit in the fridge for a few hours.

First, if I were you I would do away with the juice boxes. Buy the large juice bottles and then start to wean her. You will obviously be serving her the drink- she won't do it herself. I would start by filling her cup 3/4-2/3 with juice and the rest with water. Then after a few days or a week, go to half juice, half water. Next week, 1/4 juice, 3/4 water. At that point she's drinking mostly water and she should be used to it. She may complain at some point, just tell her this is how it is. Hopefully once you get to the very watered down juice, you can show her how to mix it and she'll comply. My son has only ever had juice this way and he drinks about 40 oz a day this way of it. Oh, wait, I just remembered something I thought of. When thinking of how to get my 3yo to pour his own drink, I remembered that I would mix it all in a pitcher. You could do that- the first week, make the pitcher the 1/4 water, 3/4 juice and so on- that way she can pour it herself and she won't mess up the ratios. When you do it this way, eventually it will be just like she's having that one juice box per day, plus a whole lot of water.

My 2 year old was the same way. I was going through juice like crazy. I started buying the Sunny Delight with 30% less sugar, but with it being oranje juice (ish) it was hard on his stomach. My husband starting drinking Crystal Light, and now our whole family is hooked. That's all we drink. I tell my son it's juice, he doesn't know the difference. He's not a big milk fan, I have to force that on him at least once a day. He wasn't too sure about the Crystal Light at first, but now that's all he ever wants. The only flavor we drink is the raspberry.

I would like you to do a little research before you give your kids too much "alternative sugars". If they are not recommended during pregnancy they can't be good for your kids - All the books and doctors don't recommend them. We use only organic juice with no sugar added. We also do chocolate milk, choclate soy milk and water. I try to limit juice & soda to 1 per day. They can have water/milk instead. I also will try fizzy water instead of plain water. They seem to like it. I also will use the freshly squeezed juices from Central Market. They aren't pasteurized, but they have some great choices.

Sustain is awesome! My kids love it and it only has 3 grams of sugar per serving. It is amazing. I get it from Melaleuca. If you would like to learn how you can shop with them give call or respond to this email. They have anything from health and wellness to keeping you and your home clean and free from harmful chemicals and everything has a money back guarantee! They have a wonderful special going on right now that ends June 30. I look forward to hearing from you. You can give me a call at ###-###-#### or you can respond to this post.

H. M.

Years ago, we invested in the Ozarka water fountain. The kids are welcome to drink water all day. For meals, I give them 1/2 cup of lemonade (pink or regular). On occasion I buy Very Fine juice from Sam's. Mostly they drink country time lemonade that I get from Costco. I just add water to it. They rarely drink juice pouches because it's more than what I give them to drink with meals. They only have those if we are out during the day and I pack a lunch.

Water is the best thing for them and they drink lots of it. With the water dispenser, it becomes a habit.

Powerade has a new drink called ZERO. It has zero calories, zero fat, zero carbs, 110 mg of sodium in a full bottle, 70 mg of potassium in a full bottle, and i think it has artifical sweetener. sp? Especially with the summer being as hot as it is, they need those electrolytes they are losing! Well good luck!

Hi M., What ever happened to Kool-aid??? They make an unsweeten Kool-aid,but if you can't find it use Splenda.I am diabetic and use this instead of drinking alot of diet Coke.

We don't do juice much around here, but when we do we buy V-Fusion. It is a blend of fruit and vegetable juice that actually gives them a serving of each with each glass. It still is pretty high in sugar, but at least it's not empty calories like regular juice. They do have a "light" version, but I think it's just the normal watered down a bit so I just water down the original instead. My older son likes the strawberry/banana and my younger son (the picker one) likes the blueberry/pomegranite.

I know where you are coming from. We had the same problem and since diabetes runs in my family and their teeth where getting in bad shape so I knew I had to do something about it. All they get now is water and allowed a glass of milk once a day, mostly at night. Of course, it wasn't easy, but I was serious about it, now they love water. Honestly, I tried other drinks, but if it wasn't the sugar, it was the sodium, calories, or plain and simply they just didn't like it, so water became my only option. When we are out of town and have to stop somewhere to eat, that's the only time, I allow them to drink soda.