Water is great, yet so many of us aren’t drinking enough of it daily. As adults, we know that water is great for our energy levels, kidneys, and skin, but kids also benefit from drinking enough water. You can get your kids to drink more water without much of a fight if you use the following tips.
Drinking water is great for children’s energy and concentration, helping them achieve at school. It’s also great for their digestion and helps them to regulate their body temperature. Getting kids to do anything can be a struggle, but you can easily get your kids to drink enough water.
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How To Get Your Kids To Drink More Water
1. Lead by Example
If you spend your days drinking soda, juices, and coffee, then you’re not showing your kids that water is important to drink. Telling them they need to drink water when you have something which is a lot tastier (if not good for you) then they’ll likely start to push back against the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situation.
2. Make it the Norm
By making water a part of everyday life, your kids will be more likely to accept it as a normal part of their everyday diet. Have water available at every meal, and always take a water bottle out with you wherever you go. That way, you don’t end up at shops and cafes buying sugary drinks when your kid is thirsty. This isn’t only great for your kids, but it’s also great for your weight control and overall health.
Use a refillable water bottle that has a filter built-in, or get a filter fitted for your water supply at home. There are many to choose from, including the iSpring which is The Best Whole House Water Filter for Iron in 2021 and is great for filtering your water.
3. Add a Little Flavor
It’s really tempting to start adding sugary syrup or juice to your child’s water just to get them to drink it. This is something you want to try and avoid as the sugars can damage their teeth. Instead, you can add a little lemon or lime slices to flavor the water.
You can also infuse water with herbs or spices like ginger, lemongrass, or cinnamon. If you’re already in the habit of giving your kids a lot of juice or sugary drinks, then suddenly switching to water is probably going to cause a lot of pushback. Gradually start watering down their drinks until they are more water than juice, and then transition to water only.
4. Include Water-Rich Foods
Another way to get hydration into your kids is to ensure you give them foods that are rich in water. Foods rich in water are often healthy, too, so they make great additions to any diet. The most common water-rich foods include:
- Melons
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Brocolli
- Apples
- Oranges
- Spinach
Is the Tap Water Safe?
There’s always the assumption that the tap water at everyone’s homes is safe, right? Usually, there only needs to be a boil water advisory on the few days of the year when it might be unsafe, but outside of that, isn’t it all safe? Well, not exactly. Sometimes, it’s the faucets, sometimes it’s the pipes, and it can even be the water company.
So, your kids might not want to drink the water because it smells, or maybe it tastes off. It’s one of those natural survival instincts so you can’t really blame them there. So ideally, you should look into getting your pipes checked, and you might even want to look into a new water company such as American Water if you know for a fact that your water always looks or smells off. Your tap water needs to be safe, you drink it, you cook with it, and yes, this is a big deal!
Get Your Kids To Drink More Water
It’s easy to get into less than ideal habits with kids, especially if they are particularly picky eaters and drinkers. Ideally, you’ll establish a love of water early on, but there are still ways to encourage older children to drink more too. Use these tips to get your kids to drink more water and it’ll quickly become a habit.
I grew up drinking soda and juice, and because of it I can’t drink water now as an adult. It’s SUPER hard. There are times when I do crave water but it doesn’t happen as often as I wish it would! I’m trying to teach my daughter to drink water but her dad keeps giving her Kool-Aid and sweet tea.
Hazel @ pixiedustwords recently posted…Happy 6th Adoptaversary Sophie!
I grew up drinking soda, too! I don’t drink it at all now, though. It didn’t take long to get past the cravings once I gave it up.