3 ways to get your little kids to drink more water!
Getting your little kids to drink more water can seem likethe impossible dream.
It can be pretty tricky.
On the other hand, you might look around at the other kids and see them almost literally swigging from a water bottle every five minutes, their bodies full of hydration while your child is almost a raisin…
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Joking, right? But this is the level of comparison and judgement us Mamas can put on ourselves.
And all over trying to get our little kids to drink morewater!
So-how can you keep your child sufficiently hydrated as well as NOT feel like you’re failing as a Mama on this issue?
For starters, take a big old deep breath.
Listen in…
You are NOT defined by the behaviour or emotional capacityof your children.
(If you need to, read that again.)
(And anyone who does judge you for that needs to moveon-minus the horrible judgy-judgy comments.)
So now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to how wecan get our kids to drink more water!
Water is essential for life-we know that, right?
Andaccording to …., adults need to drink roughly 2L per day to maintain optimal,healthy body function.
According to the NSW healthy kids website, children need these amounts of water daily:
- 1-3 years olds need around 5 glasses per day (1 litre)
- 5-8 year olds also need 5 glasses (1 litre)
- 9-12 year olds need 7 glasses (1.5 litres)
- 13 years + need 8-10 glasses per day (or 2 litres)
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But it’s not enough to KNOW how much they need, right?
That’s not helping us with the practicalities of kids who won’t drink enough!
Here are some novel ways to get your little kid to drinkmore water:
(Just one thing to remember, too- these are helpful even ifthey get ANY more liquid into your child. They are intended to HELP, not be away to introduce their only water intake. This must be consistent and these mayhelp along the way.)
1: Start drinking it yourself WITH them.
Have a race, a drink challenge, a timer, or amatch-my-swallow game. It’s so much easier when they are doing it with you,because it involves you as the parent and the child interacting. This oftenhelps a lot!
Kids can really enjoy little things like doing ‘Cheers’before they drink some water-this is a funny little saying and idea, but it canreally work.
2: Use this cute schedule for drinking water.
It’s SO easy-just print and pop it on the fridge or easy-to-see place, then get your child to take a sip of water as often as you can!
This is so useful because it’s like everything in life- consistency knocks down goals.
How else can we achieve anything in an ongoing way?
3: Get a new (or novel) drink container!
This is genius-and while you don’t want to be doing it allthe time, it works SO well if you REALLY want to get a whole lot of water intoyour child.
We ALWAYS have these gorgeous (cheap) bottles on hand in our house!
If you don’t want to buy a new drink bottle, just get abunch of funky straws, let them drink from a glass instead of plastic (talk upthe ‘you’re a big girl now’), or just slice a piece of lemon and pop it on theside to make it a ‘holiday drink’!
Kids LOVE this stuff.
A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down-and a spoonful of fun helps the water go down, too!
Use any of these 3 novel ways to get your little kid to drink more water!
1: Drink water with them
2: Use this handy wall chart with levels for drinking water!
3: Get a new drink bottle to bring on the novelty value!
Water is essential for life, so it’s essential we teach ourchildren to drink it consistently.
Remember though-you aren’t defined by your child, Mama.
YOU are the perfect parent for him or her-and you have GOT this.
Sometimes a few strategies help though right?
Thanks for reading!
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For more from Miranda at Smart Mama Smart Kids or to find out more about coaching with Miranda, visit here.
