Bensmom Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 My ds 11, is chronically dehydrated. If he could, he would drink Dr. Pepper and nothing else. We allow pop on the weekends and special occasions in effort to curb his intake and prevent the daily plea for pop, but not forbid it altogether. He would rather drink nothing. He has made himself ill to the point of vomiting twice now because he swims when he is dehydrated. (Swim team practices mon-fri). I have bought a ton of different juices, flavored milk, tea etc. and the only thing he will drink is flavored water. I had him try it before I read the label. I am not so sure that this artificial flavoring is any better than letting him drink pop. I know people flavor their water naturally with juices, but I am really not sure what to try. If you have a healthier flavored water solution, what do you recommend? Anyone have any parenting tips to deal with this? I know it sounds crazy to say that he just won't drink, but this has become a real problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Have you considered a Soda Stream? Is it possible he would drink carbonated water with a bit of juice in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmMusa Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I have a similar situation. For the past two weeks, that child has finally consumed liquids because I bought her a cup with a straw. The straw makes it easier for her to drink, but I have to remind her to keep the cup full and to drink from it. Interestingly, I haven't heard any complaints of headaches since we started the sippy/straw cup. She's 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bensmom Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 I have a similar situation. For the past two weeks, that child has finally consumed liquids because I bought her a cup with a straw. The straw makes it easier for her to drink, but I have to remind her to keep the cup full and to drink from it. Interestingly, I haven't heard any complaints of headaches since we started the sippy/straw cup. She's 11. I haven't thought of trying a fun, new cup. Maybe that will help! Thanks for sharing. This seems like such a weird issue to be having at this age. It seems like such a toddler thing and not a big kid issue. Glad to know he isn't the only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Try flavored seltzer, the unsweetened kind. La Croix is a popular one. It is fizzy like soda, which I love. I was a total soda addict, and like him would drink nothing rather than drink plain water or juice or what not. the seltzer totally works for me, and drinking it from the can helps too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bensmom Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Have you considered a Soda Stream? Is it possible he would drink carbonated water with a bit of juice in it? I am not familiar with soda stream. I have seen them in the store, but thought they were for making homemade pop. So, you use them to make flavored water drinks? Anyone use one? How do they work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I have bought a ton of different juices, flavored milk, tea etc. and the only thing he will drink is flavored water. I had him try it before I read the label. I am not so sure that this artificial flavoring is any better than letting him drink pop. I know people flavor their water naturally with juices, but I am really not sure what to try. If you have a healthier flavored water solution, what do you recommend? Anyone have any parenting tips to deal with this? I know it sounds crazy to say that he just won't drink, but this has become a real problem! Which flavored water? On the plus sides - no caffeine (which dehydrates you anyway), no caramel color (which could be problematic) and if it were something like LaCroix or Klarbrunn, no artificial sweetener. But really, he's chronically dehydrated so something like a flavored water is still better than soda hydration wise. As for alternatives? You could always make your own flavored water in a sun tea type container stored in the fridge which means it's cold and easily accessible. Sliced fruit and water plus some mint or something like that depending on taste. Or you could add some dilute herbal tea if he's interested. Ditto for very dilute fruit juice. Is temperature an issue? Some people seem more interested in water if it's cold. Some ideas - http://www.theyummylife.com/Flavored_Water What about flavored ice cubes? That would be another way to flavor/chill water. If carbonation is his thing than either a soda stream or just plain old carbonated water (in a 2l-liter) plus flavorings might do the trick. ETA: I have an insulated straw cup and each of my kids have a Klean Kanteen with sport top. It makes the water more portable...and let's face it, it's just more fun that way. Whatever keeps them drinking. All this talk of fruit flavored water has made me thirsty... :0) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I would ditch the soda completely. Even on weekends. And anything with sugar in it (Gatorade, flavored waters, etc). At least until you can establish the habit of healthier drinks. Our Kroger sells a store-brand Perrier-like sparkling water with lemon, lemon/lime flavor. It's usually $2.50 for a twelve pack or 4/$9 on sale. I'd get some of that for a treat. You could add a little juice to that, but I'd limit it for the sugar content. There's abother brand called Le Croix - but its usually around $4/12 pack so I don't buy that one. We also drink decaf unsweetened iced tea at home. The kids make hot tea when they want - also unsweetened. My son also drinks milk, and juice if it's in the house, but juice is a rare, rare treat. I agree that a cool cup or water bottle might help, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 So I take it he is attempting to hold out until the weekend? Here's what I would do, first I would increase his hydration levels with food (more soups, juicy melons and such for the time being). Also I would actually allow pop daily BUT he must first have 4 servings of water for every 1 serving of pop. Aside from not drinking even when he has the pop it is a diuretic so bad for hydration as well. I would start with 6 oz servings of water and move up to 8. If it is tap water he doesn't like try bottled. Get one of the big jugs or even a 4 litre, or a brita filter. Everytime he has a serving he gets a token. Every 4 tokens he gets a 6 oz serving of pop. He can have multiple servings in a day but they have to be purchased with tokens. He can certainly drink milk, juice, tea(also a diuretic though) if it's what will get him drinking it, but ultimately you want him on regular water. The flavoured water can be a stop gap measure but shouldn't be the main source of hydration, though perhaps something like mio drops or crystal light flavor packs might help bridge that gap too. As for naturally flavoured water, lemon works well, berries especially raspberries work well, melon too. Just toss in the glass give it a swirl and let the natural flavours permeate. It is a mild taste, but helps give the water a bit of flavour. When the child has such an addiction to something like pop (which it sounds like your ds does) I figure you can go one of 2 ways, you can manage it like I suggested or you can ban it completely. Eventually plan to have it for special occasions/weekends only but for now he simply needs to increase his fluid levels even with the consumption of pop, so aim for reduction rather than elimination at first, then switch it up. So if after several weeks he is doing well turning in 4 tokens, increase the serving sizes to 8oz with the pop serving staying 6oz. A few weeks of success and change it so now 5 tokens are needed etc, eventually the pop is moved just to weekends and he is so used to drinking water etc that it is habit. Just like any new habit it needs work, and this sort of x amount of water to "earn" the cup of pop is much like heavy coffee drinkers do to increase their water intake and decrease their coffee drinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 You could also sweeten the water with stevia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 How about a rule that there's no swimming until you've had some water? And no swimming tomorrow unless you've had a liter of water today? (A splash of lemon juice or something in it is fine, and spreading it out in sips here and there is ideal.) In our house, there's a rule that not getting your teeth brushed means no sweets (including fruit) until you've gone 24 hours with proper brushing. It was instantly transformative, and now brushing without fussing is a habit. I think you can do the same thing with the connection between hydration and sports participation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 How much does he want to swim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bensmom Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 How much does he want to swim? He really loves swim team. He is at the pool 5 or 6 days a week, and always wants to keep swimming when it is time to leave. I hate the idea of taking away swimming if he doesn't hydrate, but from a practical/health standpoint, we may have to because it makes him sick to workout so hard without hydrating. I would have never thought of swellmommas system of earning pop. Maybe with some new parental tactics in place, a new fun cup, and healthier yet flavored options to transition, we can get him drinking again. Thanks for all the great ideas everyone! (And if my ds son doesn't enjoy those fruit infused drinks that were linked, I'm sure his momma will. Those looked fabulous!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I have one kid who has always been able to drink when she needs to, one who took until age 9 to begin self-regulating, and one who is now 8 and still needs reminding to drink. I think some people just have a better thirst mechanism than others. What we have done is make all the kids drink water first thing in the morning. Once they get started, that seems to make them drink more over the day. So it's part of morning routine, they can't have breakfast until they are clean, decently dressed, and have drunk a good sized glass of water. If your child isn't as food focused as mine, I wouldn't hesitate to bribe/blackmail him by requiring adequate hydration before he can do something he enjoys. Another thing we did was buy dipsticks and do urine tests on the whole family. Somehow seeing the dipstick indicate dehydration was more convincing than mom saying they need to drink. Our kids are only allowed water as a regular drink, with the option of 1 glass of milk per day (only Ms 5 has milk sometimes; the others don't much care for it). They can have fresh juice or sparkling juice for special occasions, and the odd sweet cocoa, but they never get sugary soft drinks. I would suggest that if you don't want to give up the Dr Pepper etc completely, you keep score and he is only allowed 1 can of that after 10 liters of water (or whatever you decide is a reasonable goal for the week). Probably the healthiest way to jazz up water is by adding a twist of fresh lemon or lime. Some people swear by fancy stuff like putting special shaped iceblocks in the water, but I suspect that wouldn't be all that impressive for an 11yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 One of my kids went through a phase of drinking carbonated water ($1 for 2 liters) flavored with liquid stevia. There are all kinds of flavors: root beer, apricot, grape, lemon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 If he were my kid, I'd tell him that he had to drink a certain amount of water each day *in front of me* if he wanted to have any chance of getting a soda on the weekend or seeing a screen or doing anything that he wants to do ever in his life. Seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammi K Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I feel for your son. I HATE drinking water. Plain water makes me nauseous. Warm, room temp, ice-cold...it doesn't matter. Drinking plain water makes me feel like I'm going to vomit. I read a recommendation ( on a pregnancy site, of all places) to add a bit of sugar and perhaps lemon to make plain water more bearable. Apparently, I'm not alone! Some of the well-intentioned suggestions to tie water consumption to some tangible benefit ( or conversely withhold something desired ) may not consider that your son just can't stomach plain water. Fortunately, I like ice tea and drink that at home. But, if I didn't have something to flavor it, I would be chronically dehydrated too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applethyme Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 My son wouldn't drink water until I started buying the bottled water with the sports tops. For some reason he loves those and will drink. Since then I bought some reusable bottles that have the same top and we are transitioning to those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We were having some issues as well because my kids weren't drinking much. They just seem to have low thirst (like me) and don't like sodas or juice or milk or really anything other than water. Last week, I started something new and filled a small water bottle for each of them. I think it is about a 12-16oz bottle. Every time they brought me an empty water bottle, they could have some candy out of the candy jar. They drank an incredible amount of water! And they were all in much better moods than usual and some of the health problems we were seeing improved. Maybe you could find something your DS likes that he'd be willing to drink the water for. Today, my DD told me that she was really thirsty all of the time now. I think that people who are chronically dehydrated may eventually not feel thirst normally anymore and that maybe if he gets adequately hydrated for a while he will want to drink more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaraby Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 This probably seems like a stupid question, but have you asked him why he doesn't want to drink water? Or what he likes best about the flavored water/soda? You could take the scattershot approach, but strike out continually. He's old enough to involve in conversation if you haven't yet (why drinking water is mportant, why drinking too much soda isn't a great idea, etc). Blood orange (one whole one thinly sliced), ruby red grapefruit (one half thinly sliced), and clementine (two thinly sliced) in a half gallon jar withice and water is very tasty. I had to try it out for you. You know...for research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Healthier soda: Get frozen 100% fruit juice concentrate, thaw. Mix (GENTLY! Don't over-stir) with seltzer water (plain carbonated water) in the same proportion you would use for water to make juice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 He really loves swim team. He is at the pool 5 or 6 days a week, and always wants to keep swimming when it is time to leave. I hate the idea of taking away swimming if he doesn't hydrate, but from a practical/health standpoint, we may have to because it makes him sick to workout so hard without hydrating. It is not healthy for him to be swimming without proper hydration and it sounds dangerous to me. Does he have a good relationship with his coaches? Is there any way you could have one of them perhaps have a friendly talk to him about how important it is for him to stay hydrated? Maybe that would help. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 My mother, in her 70"s, still has an issue with drinking enough fluid. Her own health issues finally got her drinking a bit more, but she still doesn't drink enough, IMO. She HAS increased fruit intake. Trying to deal with this now, before it becomes a life long habit, seems paramount. Hopefully, the ideas you are going to try and implement will help. Best wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I don't know that I count out the Dr. Pepper. My husband's grandfather is 100 and drinks it every...single...day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I wouldn't worry. Not drinking water isn't inherently a problem. If you don't want him to drink soda, just don't have it in the house. Provide juice and milk and water and tea and whatever else your family likes to drink. If he's thirsty, he'll drink something. If he's not thirsty, he won't. We actually get most of our water from the food we eat. Some weird food myths in the past have advocated drinking 8 cups (or maybe it's 2 liters) of water each day, but it's just a made up, random amount. Does he have a water bottle or drinking fountain at the pool in case he gets thirsty? Does he have any underlying kidney problems? Other than that, I'd just let him sort it out. If it's turned into a power struggle, you will never win... and he might avoid drinking water (at least when you are around) simply in response to your concern. I'd really just let it go. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24464774 http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=lNTLwK-yeDw (start around minute 34 to watch the segment on water drinking) http://www.npr.org/2008/04/03/89323934/five-myths-about-drinking-water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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