Anyone with a DC who won't drink water?

[veronica]

DD is 2.5 and we made the mistake of diluting juice, per our baby books, and she drinks always drank. but what a mistake because she won't drink water. I have tried but eventually get worried about dehydration, especially this time of year, and then give in. It is about 1-2 ounces of juice with 2-3 ounces of water.
when I give water, she says "water" and only takes a sip. Pediatrician said it is normal for young kids to be like this and suggested vitamin water and said diluting it would be ok , even for teeth. But, I still worry.

Anyone have a good solution on how to give her more water without depriving her of liquids in the meantime?

[Melaine]

Have you thought about gradually diluting more and more until it is just water? Like gradually over a couple weeks? My kids also would much rather drink water with ice clinking around in it...and they will guzzle it down when I "share" my glass of water with them. I think they feel like they are getting a grown up beverage or something! For us it has worked to give a little diluted juice when we are on an outing as a treat, but drink only water at home. HTH

[elephantmeg]

I would keep diluting it further and further and when/if you get them on water don't offer juice at home. We do milk or water at home (either is fine with me), any other beverages are only offered at restaurants (and most of the time he has milk/water there too but occasionally I'll get him chocolate milk or something).

[scoop22]

will she drink water from your cup? ds went through this as well. if we give it to him with ice in his cup he will drink ICE WATER. he is now starting to want a big boy cup. so we do water in that as well. also diluting juice more and more worked for us. maybe pick out some fun cups. we got some from the disney store that his ice water cups. we still struggle with water at times. good luck

[fortato]

Jack won't drink water from a sippy cup.... he will gladly drink it from the hose, plastic bottles, mugs, anything but a sippy cup. He even tries to drink it from the sprinkler....

I think it's all about the container.

[brittone2]

What about unsweetened fruit flavored teas or something like Rooibos tea, which is naturally decaf and very high in antioxidants?

If you have Trader Joe's nearby, they sell a box of orange flavored Rooibos tea bags (organic, and again, Rooibos never has caffeine in it) and it is soooo yummy. I'd brew it as iced tea. My kids both love it (hot or cold).

I would maybe go that route to kick the juice habit, personally. The added bonus is they get some great antioxidants. The flavor is really nice and IMO it doesn't need sweetener, but if your DC is used to something more sweet, YMMV.

eta: W/ fruit flavored tea, make sure what you are getting for DC is not fruit flavored black or green tea with caffeine. I'd look to something more like decaf herbal teas. The Rooibos in my experience rocks

[lizajane]

What about unsweetened fruit flavored teas or something like Rooibos tea, which is naturally decaf and very high in antioxidants?

If you have Trader Joe's nearby, they sell a box of orange flavored Rooibos tea bags (organic, and again, Rooibos never has caffeine in it) and it is soooo yummy. I'd brew it as iced tea. My kids both love it (hot or cold).

I would maybe go that route to kick the juice habit, personally. The added bonus is they get some great antioxidants. The flavor is really nice and IMO it doesn't need sweetener, but if your DC is used to something more sweet, YMMV.

hyjack: does trader joe's have a non-tea equavalent? i don't care for tea but i looooove my water flavored and i want to get away from artificial sweeteners (even if i add a *little* sugar.)

[brittone2]

hyjack: does trader joe's have a non-tea equavalent? i don't care for tea but i looooove my water flavored and i want to get away from artificial sweeteners (even if i add a *little* sugar.)

It depends on what qualifies as a non-tea. Rooibos isn't technically a tea, it is a tisane, or herbal infusion. I really like it and it doesn't have the astringent taste that some teas have (I like all tea, and coffee, and hot beverages in general LOL). So I'm not sure if that's what you are looking for but it is cheap enough you might want to try it.

You can do sparkling water with a tiny splash of juice. I sometimes use a little bit of flavorings from Frontier (orange, lemon, etc.) and a few drops of Sweetleaf vanilla stevia in sparkling water. TJs does carry several kinds of sparkling water.