Most effective steps to make your kid drink water

Toddler drinking water independently. Image courtesy: pexels.com

‘My child does not drink enough water.’ - this is a very common challenge many parents face. And as we are aware of the impact of dehydration, we parents get stressed out and madly look for several options to make our kids drink enough water.

To build a habit of regularly drinking water, we just need to follow a simple 2 steps process.

1. Buy an attractive water bottle: 

- Buy a new bottle? Are you kidding me? Are you asking me to buy a new bottle every week just to get my kid to drink water?

- Of Course not. 

Getting a brand new gorgeous bottle is just the first step to switching your daughter/son’s attention from ‘drinking water' to his/her favorite bottle. You will be surprised to see him/her falling in love to drink from that pretty bottle. But this will not last for longer because this new favorite bottle will soon convert into an old boring bottle.

“Then what’s next?” That’s where the next crucial step comes into the picture.

2. Create a pattern for habit:  You have to consciously put some effort into utilizing the timeframe in which she/he feels happy to drink from his/her new bottle. Usually, it takes 5-7 days to turn a new favorite thing into a boring piece. You have to create an indication that will trigger the feelings to drink from the much-loved bottle.

For eg. Whenever you have finished playing a game or eaten some food or done any activities, say “I am feeling thirsty, let me drink some water.” And then take your bottle and drink water. You may find your little kid also approaching to get the new bottle and taking a sip. If not, then you can step in and ask him/her whether he/she wants to drink some water. Make sure you are not forcing him/her. Once you continue to do this for a couple of days, your baby will feel a cue to drink water whenever she/he finds someone else is drinking water or whenever that activity occurs which you have connected to drinking water.

This pattern-making step works so well that I have seen my daughter asking for water when she sees anyone drinking water even on TV.

Bonus Tips: Most of the kids love to do their stuff on their own and don’t like assistance from elders. Asking or forcing them multiple times to do certain tasks sometimes irritates them and hence they start refusing to do those tasks. So I would suggest buying a lightweight bottle that has handles so that s/he can hold it easily. Keep the bottle filled with water and in your baby’s reach so that he can easily grab it whenever required.

And instead of asking to drink water, you can say “You have just finished your fun game, you can go ahead and drink some water. Your bottle is kept on the table (make sure your baby can reach the bottle easily).