Wont drink water..

[CookieCookie]

My 4 year old has been really stubborn lately and is refusing to drink water.. She just keeps spitting it one when I give it to her and she wont settle down until i give her juice or something else.. But i don't want her to be drinking all that sugary stuff.. What can I do to get her to drink water willingly again?? please help! I just want her to be healthy.

[Lianne]

If she'll only drink juice, I'd start watering it down. You can gradually add more and more water until it's mostly water and not much juice, you know? Hope that helps a little :) And of course, if you don't have it, it's just not available, right? (Telling myself the same thing about the not-so-healthy choices in my house too!)

I drank only juice when I was little and I think it is why I have a really hard time drinking water now. I really want to drink sugary drinks, even knowing how bad they are for me :(

Good for you for wanting to encourage her to drink water!

[Mom22]

Would it help to "flavor" the water with a slice of lemon, lime or orange?

My kids, dh and myself are all big fans of seltzer - not sweetened, and not strongly flavored brands. We still also like ice water, so it's not that we drink seltzer exclusively. Rebecca will have to chime in if seltzer isn't ideal - but in my case, we are surrounded by soda drinkers everywhere so we look like the health nuts!

Theresa

[Denise]

Wow, it sounds like this is really frustrating for you.:dizzy You want to have a healthy daughter but you also know that all that sugar is not good for her body (or her teeth). And from your daughter’s perspective, she wants juice because it tastes good and she will do ANYTHING to get it, including throwing a tantrum and spitting the water out. It must feel like no matter what you do you can’t win!:bag

It sounds to me like you may be going through some power struggles with her. She wants to be independent and make her own choices.

During a time when you are both regulated, have a talk with her. Explain how too much juice is not good for her body or teeth and can make her feel yucky. Tell her that it is O.K. for her body to have this much (you decide on the quantity) juice every day. Suggest to her that you add some water to it so that it will last longer if you think she would agree to that.

When the cup runs empty and she starts to throw a fit, be with her. Validate her feelings. Put words to her actions. “You are upset that you want more juice and it is all gone.” Or “Water doesn’t taste as good to you right now.” It is important to stay present with her and not to join her “negative feed-back loop”. If you are having a hard time staying calm yourself, let us know; because that means you have work to do with yourself. :dizzy

As a conscious parent, it is important to set boundaries with your children. We all want what is healthy and good for them. It also means being present with them and validated their feelings. Let them know that ALL feelings are O.K. and we will love them no matter what.:heart

Good Luck and let us know how it goes!

[Denise]

As I was thinking about this situation, a couple of other thoughts came to mind.

First, is modeling. Are you modeling to your daughter your expectations? In other words, does she see everyone else walking around drinking other drinks besides water? If so, it is hard to teach, “do as I say, not as I do.” Maybe this is not an issue at your house but I know I have stuggles with this one!:bag

Also, what we do at our house is juice with meals, water in between meals. If a person is drinking sugary drinks in between meals, the sugar from the drinks harms the enamel on their teeth.

Humor is a good stress release. :spit Go out and have some fun with your daughter. Smile! :)

[Snuffy]

Ive had this problem before.. my kids arent much of water drinkers either.. I just put either a lemon lime or orange wedge in their water and they drink it right up.. We also recently discover this new water drink called Wat-aah that the kids seem to love..

[jen0608]

I agree with what MOM22 said...it would really help if you will flavor the water with orange or any kind of fruits that will suit to her taste...:)

[CookieCookie]

thanx fro the gret suggestions.. she likes when i put fruit in her water and snuffy is this the stuff your talking about.. www.drinkwataah.com/ .. cute site

[ketch18]

maybe u should explain to her the important of water..try to flavor the water with natural flavors..like squezze of lemon or an orange!!:belly

[Rebecca]

This was really good. One of my friends just made this. You'd probably want to experiment with the combination to find one that your kids like, but this one was yummy for me!

Half cucumber
1 thinly sliced lemon
12 mint leaves (or more)
sliced ginger
Add to water and put in the refrigerator. I LOVED this water! I'm sure you'd have to adjust the recipe for kids, but it gives you a place to start!

LMK if you try it!

[sbeardslee]

That sounds interesting Rebecca. Do you just slice everything up and put it in the water?

Shari

[Mary]

One of my 9 year old twins sons was going so far as to sneak flavored gelatin into his water at bedttime (sugar and artificial flavor/color ugh! It's gone now). We validated his "need" for something sweet then started putting powdered or liquid stevia in his water> Stevia is a natural sweetener from the stevia plant (South America, I think). It takes a VERY small amount to sweeten a lot of water. After a week or so of this, he still asks for the stevia water but he drinks very little of it now. It seems that just having us agree to give it to him has helped even though he may not drink it.