How to Get Your Kids to Drink Enough Water
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Today at Corporette we’re sharing five easy ways to drink more water — so I thought it might be good to have a corollary discussion over here. Do you have a daily water target? How intentional do you have to be to meet your goal? What are some of your best tips on ways to drink more water? When it comes to your family, how do you help your kids drink enough water? Do you have any favorite water bottles or “healthy” drinks other than water for your kids? (Do you have any favorite straws or other cups?)
For my $.02, it’s always a struggle to get my kids to drink anything that isn’t a juice or lemonade. The original plan was to give them their first drink diluted 50% with water, and each successive drink would have a higher water portion than juice. Of course, I realized far too late that one of our caregivers was completely ignoring this — now neither wants plain water unless it’s dire. (And why yes, this does lead to problems with weight and bathroom issues, which I won’t get into right now.)
There are lots of drink mixes you can make that are lower sugar, of course, but I’ve always felt a bit squeamish about giving my kids too many chemicals. (More accurately, I’ve wanted to research in depth before I intentionally gave the kids chemicals and artificial foods on a regular basis, and I haven’t done that research yet, so I’ve tried to avoid them all.)
The best product I’ve found thus far is the True Lemon line, which tastes good AND promises to be free of sugar, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives, colors from artificial sources, and more. For occasional treats we’ve also bought the lower-calorie drink boxes like Honest Kids, Capri Sun, or Poppilu.
Readers, how about you — do you feel like your kids drink enough water? Do you yourself struggle to drink as much water as you should — and what have you tried to drink more water?
Psst: Here are some of the best water bottles and things we’ve used for our kids in the past, as well as some of the products mentioned in this post. Readers, what are your favorites? It looks like the weighted toddler water bottle we loooved (the Zoli) has an updated version that isn’t as well loved as the original. Do weigh in, readers!
(Here was our last discussion on favorite sippy cups and the like…)
Sales of note for 5/14/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
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- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off all markdowns (ends 5/18) + 30% off dresses, skirts, accessories, and shoes
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
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I have had success getting kids to drink infused water. Some combination of strawberries, lemon slices, and mint leaves is always a hit. Just don’t let it infuse too long, and keep it very cold.
I fundamentally do not like the taste of water (and yes, water has a taste to me, I can even tell between different taps or bottled water brands). So I do not. I will often keep a pitcher of crystal light lemonade, but otherwise I typically drink diet pop or milk, except when I was pregnant, where lime sparkling water (pellegrino, not la croix) or milk was all I wanted.
For kiddo (3.5), she has a choice of milk or water. We don’t really monitor her drinking as she will tell us she is thirsty or will get it herself (and we of course always offer drinks with meals). On occasion she asks for juice, and we give her an honest kids one. Because she’s never really had anything else to drink, it’s not a battle here. For preschool this year, they asked the kids to bring their own water bottles, which was her first introduction. My favorite for her thus far has been the thermos funtainer. The straw and drink part are easy to take apart and the whole thing is dishwasher safe and appears to get pretty well cleaned. She also likes (for home) her (adult) straw cups. She has a camelback eddy (I think) that she got as a gift, but I am not a huge fan because I feel like that bite valve, even when disassembled, never really gets clean in the dishwasher and the insulated body is not dishwasher safe. For me, water bottles are all about the ease of (dishwasher) cleaning and functionality (does it stay cold or leak or spill). Usually those are in tension with each other, so it is a balance. The yeti tumbler seems to be my favorite for an adult vessel, with the magnetic slider being able to just pop off as well as the gasket and the vessel being dishwasher safe.
We each have our own designated water bottles (Kids don’t use them for mealtime because they get too gross; this way I can wash them every few days not every meal!). I try to keep us all in the habit of filling up our water bottles and taking them whenever we go somewhere. We don’t usually keep juice in the house. But, I also don’t keep close tabs on their water intake or remind them very often. Try to be casual about it and they don’t think it is a big deal.
i have the opposite problem with my kids and i posted about this before. one of my twins drinks so. much. water. to the point where i have to try to distract her to try to get her to do something else. she has been tested for diabetes and doc says there is nothing wrong, but i do plan on asking about it again at our next appointment. she often tells me she is thirsty and i don’t really like denying her water. this past weekend we met up and were with a total of 6 kids her age – we were together for about 2.5 hours and in that time, my kid had an accident + had to pee twice, while none of the other kids had to use the bathroom at all. i know that everyone’s body is different, but i do want to ask the doctor again, or if anyone on here as any ideas