You can lead a camel to water…

Do you find that you’re constantly nagging your child to get them to drink? You’re not alone! 

The daily guidelines state that children aged 1-3 should be drinking 1 litre a day, children aged 4-8 need 1.2 litres and those aged 9+ are to down 1.5 litres daily. 

That sounds like an awful lot doesn’t it?! There is no way either of my children drink that much in a day.

It helps to remember that these are guidelines and so what we’re striving for. It’s also good to bear in mind that children are taking in fluid from food and milk as well as from drinking water; fruits and some vegetables, for example, contain lots of water, so we’re not expecting them to drink this much water. 

Here are my tips for getting more water into your child:

1) Provide plenty of opportunities to drink – get them to have a bottle with them whilst they’re playing, reading, doing homework.

2) Regularly encourage them to take sips – they’re unlikely to drink a lot at any one time unless they’re parched.

3) Offer ice cubes or ice cubes with fruit in them both in their drinks and to suck on.

4) Put a straw in their cup to add fun – this can lead to them drinking more.

5) Set challenges – can you drink as far as this line on your bottle before snack time. You could put an elastic band around the bottle which you can move to set new challenges.

6) Drop slices of orange, lemon or lime in their water or just the peel (make the most of your ingredients before they go in the food waste). This will add flavour without relying on squash. 

7) Try making home made ice lollies using very dilute fruit juice, fruit puree and pieces of fruit or smoothies. They’ll be taking in liquid without realising what they’re doing!