As a parent, your top priority is your children’s health and safety. For many parents, this means ensuring that their children are taken care of physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, although your child’s well being might be very important to you, children often make choices that make it hard for their parents to ensure that they’re as healthy as they can be, including eating foods that aren’t good for them or not getting enough to drink during the day. So to help you in making positive changes in the lives of your children, here are three tips for keeping your kids properly hydrated each day.
Offer Water First
When it comes to hydration, water is the best option to give your children. While many children may not like water because it lacks a taste and color, Reuters and Fox News share that water does so much more for your children than just keeping them hydrated. Water can help to keep your children cool, aids in their digestion, helps with their brain function, and can be beneficial in maintaining a healthy weight. And since most people in developed nations have access to clean drinking water, it shouldn’t be hard to make water the first choice that you offer your kids throughout the day. While it’s ok to drink other liquids occasionally, you should try to make the bulk of your child’s drinks water-based at the very least.
Try To Create A Schedule
During busy days, it’s easy to simply forget to drink anything until you feel thirsty. But at that point, your body is already starting to slip into dehydration. To keep this from happening to your kids, Dr. Amita Shroff, a contributor to WebMD, recommends that you create a schedule that you follow throughout the day to remind your kids to drink water. If it’s hot outside or your child is working hard physically, try to increase the number of times you schedule to remind your child to take a drink break, as these situations can get your child dehydrated more quickly.
Don’t Make Their Drinks Too Cold
While many adults love cold drinks with ice floating in them, cold drinks are often a deterrent for children if you’re wanting them to up their liquid intake. According to Debra Wittrup, a contributor to Parents.com, it’s harder for kids to drink the necessary amounts of liquid if it’s too cold for them. So especially for your little ones, try to give them drinks of water at room temperature or just below whenever you can.
If you’re worried about how much water your child is drinking during the day, consider using the tips mentioned above to help increase his or her intake to a healthy amount.
