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When the kids were little and started weaning, getting them to have enough water was one of our main focuses and from then on things haven’t really changed. The children drink water throughout the day – and only have juice as an occasional treat.
As the kids are happy drinking water it makes days out and the school run just so much easier. The children have their drinks bottles with them and I always have a bottle of Highland Spring to hand – the sports top makes it so easy to drink on the go.
But even with water to hand we have to make it fun for the children to remember to have a drink, especially on hot days or the ones where we’re so busy. Here are my top tips for getting the children to drink more water:
Remind them regularly. Sometimes children forget to have a drink so you have to remind them. We ask LP before we leave for school and whilst we’re waiting for her to go into school in the morning and we always ask her again straight after school in the afternoon.
Add variety. The children love having their brightly coloured drinks bottles but they also love it when Dave and I have a special water bottle – it’s more of a novelty for them and they’ll happily drink more if it’s from something different.
Make it accessible. Always having water with you makes it easier for the children to have a drink. We always have a bottle of water in the pushchair or the car so that the children can have a drink wherever we are.
Children should drink between 6-8 glasses of water a day and I know that often LP and Little Man don’t drink that much. But, asking them regularly if they need a drink and making it into a habit really does increase the amount they drink – and it makes life easier too as they now fetch a drink without being asked.
For us, water is an essential part of any day and it’s great that it can fit in so easily with busy family life. At school, at weekends and at home it’s nice to always have a bottle of water at hand.
This is so important, it’s great to hear ideas as to how to get them to drink water rather than adding juice, I’ve seen a lot about adding juice recently but mine are happy drinking water, I just need to remind them to do it.
Nat.x
Some great tips here – I agree that variety is a good one, it keeps them interested!
This is a really useful post, thank you. I’m pretty pleased my five year old asks for water above and beyond other drinks. Good habits start young.
My girls are big water drinkers. It’s all Holly has and Alice only has 1 juice at the weekends or at parties. They love it when they can have a bottle of water like we have, they feel so grown up. Holly is great at remembering to drink, she drinks loads. Alice I have to constantly remind X
Can I confess, I’m a sucker for a sports top — makes it all so easy to flip open.
I agree about making it accessible – my three know they can just open the fridge and grab a bottle whenever and also have their own cup at school that they can refill at any time x
We ought to add some bottles to the car, good tip .. i always plan on being ready and organised and then realise Joshua left his drink on the table
accessibility definitely helps here – we always have a fridge full of water bottles (& a teens bedroom full of empties!)
My boys do feel really special when they are allowed a bought bottle of water! I think it is great to encourage kids to drink as much as they can and water is free – council pop we used to call it when I was a kid.
I love the idea of the “special” water bottle. Makes it much more exciting for them!