How to get my son to drink water?

Question

My son is three and refuses to drink anything but chocolate milk, pop, or tea. When I try to make him drink juice or water he cries and won't drink anything. He is almost 4 and i'm afraid when he starts school he will go all day without drinking anything. School only serves white milk, juice or water. HELP!

Answer 1

You need to get him off the sugar. Dilute his drinks to make them less sweet. When you run out stop buying more. If he sees you don't have any then he will have to pick something else.

If you don't have it then he can't drink it. He will complain at first but get over it.

Answer 2

Try weaning him from the soda by offering soda water with a touch of flavoring. My son loved the vanilla Torani syrup (like what they use to flavor coffee.) Just a touch gives a good flavor, but not nearly the calories of a regular soda. Then slowly add less and less, until it's mostly soda water. You can do the same with juice--some apple juice and soda water makes a fun and fizzy drink.

As far as school goes, don't worry too much. Kids quickly get used to different routines. It might be that, when your son is surrounded by other kids drinking white milk and juice, he'll want to do the same.

Answer 3

Yes The first person to answer your question is correct. I have a niece that when she stayed with me at age three wouldn't drink anything that didn't have sugar in it. We stopped that by not buying the products. She fussed for a short while, but when she go thirsty and saw the other children drinking water, she started to also. We have to make the right decision for our children. I watched my two year old son go through major surgery because we spoiled him with sugary items. He wore the silver teeth for about three years. But it hurted me when I saw him after surgery and how much pain he was in. That made me feel like a terrible parent. The doctors really scald me. Then on I made sure that he had plenty of water. And when he drinks sugary drinks or eats treats, he has to brush his teeth.

Answer 4

Thankfully, at three, they can still be messed with.
Try having him squeeze a lime, lemon or orange into the water.
If he makes his "own Juice" it will taste a lot better to him.
Another trick is to put some food coloring into it, just a drop, and say it's "green Gloop" or some other gross, fun name.
My son would ingest anything gross... he's a boy!
I do agree, however, that 3 is too young for soda.
Shoot, I'm in my 30's and won't touch the stuff... it's SO bad for you!
Good luck. With patience, he'll come around. And he's going to LOVE the drinking fountains at school... Not to worry!

Answer 5

Simple solution: remove all soda and tea (who gives their child tea anyway?!) from your house. Buy only 100% juice and start the transition of chocolate to white milk by making your own. Reduce the amount of chocolate in each glass until there is none. I would do this over maybe 2-3 days to prevent any fits.


If your child is thirsty.. he will drink. Eliminate the bad choices and you will have no problems.

Answer 6

Introduce water to him little at a time, at first water down his tea just a little, and every week thereafter water it down a little more, eventually he'll start drinking water and won't even know the difference.

If he does start noticing, just reduce it down to the previous weeks amount and go another week at that level.

Although every kid is different, I strongly do not recommend the "Drink this or nothing" technique, although some parents think it's the right thing to do, it can be dangerous to youngsters, especially the ones with strong will power.

Answer 7

Have you tried introducing him to the wonders of the water fountain? My children love water from the water fountain and they are not overly fond of drinking water. I wouldn't make too big of an issue of the whole water thing. Encourage him to try it through the use of a special water bottle and let him see you and Daddy drinking it. If you decide to do battle with him over it he will fight you tooth and nail. My mother is a nurse and says it is amazing how many little dehydrated children she saw over the years in hospitals because parents decided to "cut kids off" from their favorite source of fluids cold turkey.

How concerned is your pediatrican? If your child has dental issues or weight concerns seek their help in limiting the sugar your son consumes. In all likely hood when it's recess time at school and the kids are coming in thirsty he will be more than happy to line up with the other ones to use the water fountain. He will also happily find a drink he'll consume at lunch.

There will be plenty of time to worry about school when school comes!

Answer 8

If this is his only option eventually he WILL drink it. You can try giving him watered down juice. What I do with my son is give him options. Water OR milk? If he chooses neither he gets nothing. Also, I dont give my 3 year old pop.

Answer 9

Offer him only water and white milk. Let him throw a fit, just walk away from him. When he gets thirsty, he'll drink whatever you give him.

FYI - unsweetened tea is healthy and has 0 calories (but might stain teeth.)

Answer 10

you give in too easily. try reducing the amount of chocolate you put in the milk, and gradually move to white milk. Do you mean iced tea with sugar? That is healthier than soda, but has lots of sugar. You should get rid of all that stuff in your house, or else he'll always be spoiled.