Please help me get DD to drink water!!!

[Flossie]

Hi all,

DD is 3 weeks off 12 months and she only has 1/4 sippy of water a day IF THAT!!! I have tried every sort of sippy cup (i think) with the top on and off and she just spits it out....which is frustrating when I am out as she gets sopping wet and I don't want a wet chest = flu on my hands!!

Does anyone have any helpful hints that have worked for you? Sippy cup, anything to put in the water (mind you I have tried a little apple juice and that didn't work).

Any ideas are greatly appreciated as I am pullin my hair out!!!

[LimeSlice]

I am not sure if this will be any use to you, but I HATE water, like cannot stand the stuff...dont ask me why. I was the kid on camp that always had the Tang to add to my water bottle, just cant do it. To this day I can only drink some bottled water orr filtered water and it HAS to be COLD...or be full of cordial lol

Have you tried giving her water that isnt out of the tap? I know all the stuff about fluride and what not, but in terms of getting her hydration, you have to start somewhere! The other thing is the temperature. Water at room temp is really not that great, especially from a tap...

GL I know my mum had a hard time trying ot get me to drink water too...

[dee73]

Have you tried giving her water from the fridge? I've heard of some kids only liking it if it's really cold (I'm like that too, hate room temp water...)

We call it Bubble Juice, and I know other families who call it Tap Juice, makes it sound more interesting.

[dee73]

Ohh - snap Limeslice!!

[~clover~]

I'm trying to get my 3 year old to drink water instead of cordial. It's not easy. She's drinking alot of milk, coz it's gotta be better than cordial.

At daycare they are only allowed water though & she started there today, so hopefully that'll help.

[MantaRay]

Flossie, How much milk does she drink? If she drinks a lot of milk, maybe cut that back and see if that helps. Also, have you tried a straw cup - or a water bottle? Most of the kids I know drink water from straw cups or water bottles so maybe that would help. GL.

[Curly]

I would also suggest fridge water. And I was also going to suggest an extra special fancy cup but since you say you have tried cups...how about a water bottle? DS looooves drinking out of Mummy's water bottle and I have also bought him a Sigg water bottle with a puppy dog on it that he loves. I leave it full of water and just lying around and he will go and have a swig at odd times during the day.

Or a straw? My DS also loves drinking out of a straw. I have some Tupperware cups that come with a lid that has a straw hole, they are quite big cups, but that's okay. I have a packet of normal disposable straws and he is pretty much beside himself with anticipation when he sees me reach for a straw from the pantry. He will even go over to the pantry to point at the straws when he wants to drink out of one. You could even try an ordinary cup with a straw...perhaps you might capture her interest if you show her how to blow bubbles through the straw?

[StrawberryMumma]

1/4 of a cup is a good start..think of it that way

You know I think the key to getting them to drink water is perseverance. just keep offereing it over and over again..with every snack, every meal, in between. That worked for us anyway.

Good luck

[MrsFabuloso]

We use a straw cup for water- a magmag one. I leave it on the table all day for her, she's figured out it spills if she shakes it, so it often ends up on the floor, but I take it off her if she does that. She has also started to spit it out onto her top, and again I take it away if she does it and put it on the table again later. I give her cold tap water from the fridge and sometimes put ice cubes into it.
She has to drink that whole cup of water and then I'll give her one cup (a bigger different sippee cup) of water with some freshly squeezed orange juice in it, or it there's no oranges, about 1/4 of a juice box into the water. She'll often skoll all of that in about 30 mins! The other day I even put a bit of prune juice in it (yuck!!) to try to help her poo and she drank that too.
I don't worry too much though, cause she often drinks water from the bath, gross I know, but it's cleanish! And I don't use soap to wash her so it should be ok.
ETA: I have a 'pump' water bottle by my bed for night times and DD loves to drink from that, maybe a drink bottle like that would be good?

[Mummyof2under2]

My DD drinks nothing BUT water. I want her to drink milk but she won't.

We always had the playtex sippy cups - DD loved those.

My DD will have water from the tap, out of the fridge, or bottled water.

Maybe your DD just doesn't like water.

[Flossie]

Thanks for all suggestions!

I have since tried cold water, another bottle, fresh water and calling it magic juice but still nothing!!

Will just keep persisting with it

[Curly]

I've just noticed you are in Melbourne...for what it's worth my DS loves water but his water consumption has cut right back now that the weather's gone cold. I think all you can do is persist by setting a good example by drinking water, leaving water bottles or cups lying around, offering water at meals or when you are out and about but you may find that she doesn't really take to water in larger quantities until summer time. My DS wasn't drinking a lot of water when he turned 1 in September last year but over the summer he really took to it.

Another thing to consider might be whether you put her sippy cups in the dishwasher? I noticed a while back when having a sip from DS' sippy cup that I could taste the detergent in the water, especially if the water had been in the cup for a few hours. That was part of the reason I bought him a Sigg bottle, and I've gone back to handwashing his sippy cups.

So much of this is persistence - my DS went through an amazingly fussy period with his food when he turned 1 and rejected almost everything he'd eaten so far. He is now 20 months and we are only just getting back on track. I don't know what has changed but he is suddenly willing to try new food. I just kept trying and didn't make a fuss if he refused but praised him to the skies when he consented to try something new.

[Ozziehoffy]

Flossie, it's only really in the past month that Oskar has started to drink water out of his own cup... prior to this he would on occasion drink some of mine out of a bottle. I just kept offering it to him and then the cup that did it is a $2 one! I have spent so much on all these non spill/drip ones...the one I got is called Dinkee I think and you get them from KMart in the area where the normal drink bottles/lunch boxes are. It's a straw cup and for Oskar worked as it's not one where he has to suck reaaaaally hard like the others and he soon worked it out and now drinks like a fish most days.