I was with a friend of mine the other day who told me her 3-year-old son has been refusing to drink water, and she’s looking for ideas to entice him back to good, old-fashioned H20.
When I investigated, I found that my friend isn’t alone. Lots of parents are looking for ways to get their kids to drink more water. So, I consulted an expert.
Here are four tips Dr. Meghan Markovich, an internal medicine physician and pediatrician with St. Elizabeth Physicians, shared with me to make water more attractive to kids.
1. Limit drink choices.
This is the most important thing you can do to get your kids to drink more water, Markovich said.
At meals, offer either water or milk so there’s never the expectation of anything else.
2. Make it readily available.
When you’re out, pack a sippy cup filled with water or a water bottle for your child so there isn’t a temptation to buy soft drink or juice.
3. Make it fun.
Try special cups, silly straws, anything that can help jazz up the water.
4. Be a water role model.
If your kids see you drinking a lot of water during the day, they’ll be more likely to drink more water, too. If you’re drinking juice or a soft drink, they’re going to want that instead.
Starting out early with water is important, Markovich said. It keeps kids hydrated and away from juice, which provides extra calories and virtually no nutritional value.
“If they begin with water, kids will grow up with that habit and, hopefully, take that into adulthood and drink more water when they’re older,” she said.
