What to drink?

[my3girlsjde]

I know the answer is water. But they simply flat out refuse it. They will go all day long without water, all three of them. I've tried it, and gave in after about a week of minimal drinking and constipation worse than usual. And we've tried everything. New special cups, different sippy's, different temps, and even in a bottle for E.

So what I've been doing in the past couple of weeks is making homemade lemonade with just water, sugar and lemon juice. And it's super diluted. Then I add 1/4 juice to 3/4 water in a sippy cup. I took a sip and gagged but the girls love it. It worked perfectly for the big girls, but I'm starting to think it may be contributing to E's NW's as of late.

What can I put in her water? Apple/orange juice is out of the question. Explosive diarrhea is our result. She still takes an 8oz bottle of Nutramigen at bedtime, but she needs something during the day. Sugar won't work, I think she needs a bit of flavour. I'm not versed enough in juices to know the acid contents but I'd like to stay away from the high acid stuff if I can.

Thoughts?

[Edesanja]

My kids only drink water and milk. They think it's a wonderful treat to be allowed a squirt of lemon and lime juice in a glass once in a while (fresh or the bottles of pure lemon/ pure lime juice you can juice in cooking)

[marensmama]

My girls only choices are water or milk.  Occasionally as a special treat (and now as the GI's recommendation for optimal iron absorption with her iron supplement) Hayden (and therefore Maren ) are allowed OJ.  They do get used to it.  I would think that they would only be thirsty for so long before they'd switch over to water. 

[Katet]

Have you tried doing something like straining some frozen raspberries & putting that in the water, a bit of sweetness, but natural colour. I know a friend who did water coloured with beetroot for her child.
my friend told her children that they couldn't eat a meal  until they had a 1/2 cup of water & if they drank their bottle during the day (500ml) they could have a small juice at dinner... they are now 8-11yo & they still have to "earn" the right to have anything other than water.

[Mashi]

My DS drinks a lot of fruit tea.  It is pretty normal here for kids to drink tea and my DS always refused until he got to kindergarten, now he can't get enough of it!  I make up a large jug with one teabag (raspberry, mixed fruit, etc...he prefers them when they are red but there are loads and loads of fruit blends you can get!) and put it in the fridge until it has cooled down. I put about one teaspoon of sugar in the jug (about 2L of water) so it is sweetened but not a lot.  You can also just drop a teabag into a jug of cold water but it does not seep as well, and is not really as strong.

[Roseii]

Have you tried not from concentrate apple juice? My girls won't drink water either despite dd1 drinking it til she was nearly 2, now she won't, and dd2 won't touch it. Dd1 drinks a lot of milk and some NFC apple juice, dd2 drinks NFC apple and orange juice..
X

[my3girlsjde]

It's really mostly for E. I can discuss with the girls why they should have water and we've had a lot of success with the cup of water at a meal. But it doesnt work with Emma. And they already have a fit if she gets something different due to her food sensitivities, and vice versa.

Kate -I really like the idea of some fruit added to water. Most types of juice seem to bring on diarrhea. I do get appliance snacks for them and there is a blueberry one. Maybe dump that into a pitcher of water? I'll give that a shot.

it's unfortunately not a case of holding out or having a discussion about it as she's only

[my3girlsjde]

Sorry - stupid phone

she's only 21 months old. And she needs to drink. I don't mind doing it. Habits and tastes can be changed later, if I've learned anything from AP'ing to sleep and breaking those habits gently, it's  that it CAN be done with patience.

Thanks all

[Diana1981]

with ds1 we used a juice extractor! we used pears, apples, etc add some water and sugar. he loved it!

[Katet]

I agree, at 2/3yo my 2 weren't great with water, now both of them mainly drink water... DS2 will choose water over most things too.
Just be really careful with the sugar, as I was reading the other day 50 years ago we averaged -2kg of sugar/year in our diets, these days we average 52kg... 1tsp in 4 cups/day is actually about half  sugar needs for the day for an adult.

[clazzat]

Dd1 drinks red bush tea - I think one of the reasons she really likes it is because it is just like mummy drinks! Would they drink it out of the cup that you are drinking from?

[my3girlsjde]

The big girls will but not E.

I did try putting in a little blueberries puree in her cup and pretending it was juice. Instant success