Toddler and Drinking Water

buy a new sippy cup and only use for water(they have cute ones out at kohls with bob the builder, trains, spiderman etc)....just offer it a lot...my daugher likes ice cubes in the water! they both love it super chilly...

Get rid of the juice. They donot NEED juice. It tastes so good that alot of kids don't drink milk or water anymore. My daughter was extremely attached her bottle and after one years old that's all I would put in it was water she learned to like her water pretty fast. Besides pediatricians only recommend ONE glass of juice a day or none at all. I know my neighbors 15mo. old is on strict orders from her pediatrician to not have any juice at all and no crackers she's kinda overweight.

I think that if a child is thirsty enough they'll drink plain water. I give my DD an option of water and tell her that she's already had milk and juice and now it's water. She can have more juice later. I get grief but it's water or nothing and it's her choice. She's 2.5 though. If your boy won't drink it then leave it out for him to take and he gets no substitues until he drinks the water. Kids like choices so maybe offer juice or water in the morning and tell him that once he's done with the juice he'll have to drink the water. If there is whining just remind him that he can drink the juice now but water comes next. Good luck.

H.,

I had a hard time getting all of my children to drink water. We tried a couple of different things, and these are the things that worked:

-getting a special cup to drink out of (they like water bottles with the cap that pops up)

-rent/buy an in-home water delivery system. The kids love to get the water themselves (with a little assistance from mom or dad)

-add a tiny drop of food coloring; let child pick the color

Good luck. I know it's not easy getting kids to drink water, but as they grow, they will drink more.

I agree that the juice needs to go. ITs empty calories and so bad for thier teeth. Yes, even 100% juice is not healthy. In moderation everything is ok, but if he's got a cup of juice all day its just not healthy, or good for his teeth.

I would just cut the juice back to one cup of it diluted a day. And then offer water the rest of the day. It'll take some time if he's used to having juice all day, but its not like he's going to dehydrate in a few days without juice. He'll get used to it, and it'll be so much better for him.

We have never given our son a full cup of juice. By this I mean we would only fill the cup 1/4 full of juice and the rest of it water. He is now 3 1/2 and we still do it the same way. However he also takes water plain. My daugher is 9 so I don't remember with her.

I would also agree with the ice cube idea as someone else mentioned.

I use to do daycare and I had many kids that wouldn't take water, from infant and up. I guess I have been giving my children water since they were infants, so they like it.

Good luck...

I mix half juice and half water and give it to my kids so they still like the taste. Once they get used to that I make them alternate drinks they can have a glass of 1/2 juice and 1/2 water then a glass of water then the mix of juice and water again. They don't know I mix it but my daughter is now 5 and still takes it mixed and my son is almost 3 and they dont mind. Makes the juice last alot longer too. and their daily nutrition requirements are only 8oz of 100% juice a day. So they don't need much juice. Good Luck

H. -

18 month old kids are smart. Try this technique - take an empty juice container with the label still on, clean it out and fill it with water. Add some juice for color and flavor. Make this his NEW juice.

You might need to start out with more juice but slowly cut back on the amount you are adding in.

We don't give our son juice - and that's because my sister in law is a dental assistant. During my entire pregnancy she would tell us HORROR stories of toddlers coming in with a mouthful of rotted teeth from juice.

We asked our ped and she agreed that juice isn't that great for kids. Actually, my son gets instant diarrhea from any juice so we stay away from it all together.

But since your little one enjoys it so much, just reduce the amount you give him and add in more water. PLUS - having it in the juice container works in your favor!

Good Luck!

D.
mom to zeno

Kids only need about 4 oz of juice a day. I put the 4 oz in a cup with the rest water and that's all they get. Then at lunch and supper they get milk and anything in between is water. The quicker you break the no water habit the better because I wasn't grown up to like water and now I hate it.
One great way to get them to drink it is to put ice cubes in their suppy cup with it because they can shake it and make noise. My kids love that.
Good luck,
J.

I would start by watering down his juice a bit at a time. If youdo it gradually, start out by making it 3/4, 1/4 water and then after a week half and half and awhile after 1/4 juice, 3/4 water it will get him more used to the "bland" taste of water. Also like most toddlers he probably wants what you have so if you drinkplenty of water he will probably like to take sips of your water. My son doesn;t drink a lot of water on his own but I never give him 100% juice, his is always more than half and half watered down and he drinks from my water cup a lot. Being a good example for him is probably the most important so make sure he sees you drinking lots of water. Also try putting water in a different cup, like a bottle with a nozzle, he'll probably think its cool to be drinking from a "big" person cup and be more receptive to it.
Hope some of those ideas help a bit.
K. H

I found that my son wants to do whatever we do, so when we drink water he really wants to as well. He is also facinated with ice, so we give him ice in his water and he really thinks he is getting a cool treat.

With all of my kids I have started with juice and slowly watered it down until they were just drinking water. It worked with all 3 and I plan on doing that with my youngest when he gets to that stage. My kids all choose water over juice now.

I run a small in home daycare and had this problem with a child whose parents only fed her juice all day and night. What i did was slowly add water to her juice cups and eventually she was drinking water (just like you do when you introduce milk VS formula. I hope this helps or works for you.
A.

Hello H. K!

i recently saw on Rachel Ray a mom who invented "water boxes" - Yup. Bottled water -- in juice box style containers. They are supposed to be catching on like wildfire....for reasons like yours....and more. Mom's keep them in the car....where ever!!!
I'm not sure if they are sold in your area.....but check on the RR website...or google 'water boxes" - see what comes up.
This might be of help in geting your little one to drink water.
Also -- maybe having it cold & refridgerated might help....warm water is not always appealing.

That's it from me.
M.