How much liquids does a 3 year old need?

Question

My 3 year old drinks 4-6 cups of milk every day but does not want to drink any water.Is this alright for a 3 year old? At what age should they start drinking water?

Answer 1

3 gallons of water.

Answer 2

Depends on the climate and activity level of your child. Most kids drink when they are thirsty but some get very distracted and wait until they are parched.
My concern is , is your child drinking skim milk ? While milk is great for calcium , protien , and other nutrients a 3 y/o child should have been switched to skim due to the high calories in whole and 2% .

Milk is mostly water anyhow but why dont you try offering diluted juices and see if he/she will take that . H20 is best but there are other , non-koolaid, acceptable drinks .

Answer 3

She should be drinking water I always dilute my daughters juice I have always done it so she does not know any better I dilute it half and half then she will also drink water through the day then like 3 cups of milk a day. My daughter is 4 now but I have done this since 18-24 months old but if you have questions ask her pediatrician.

Answer 4

Thats fine as long as they are eating too. My son drinks at least five glasses of milk but I serve it about half way through the meal so he wont fill up on milk and leave all his food untouched. Get him his own water bottle, that will help too a small size with a sports cap works great for us and be sure he sees you drinking water also.

Answer 5

3 cups of milk a day is fine.Also a glass of juice.With my 2 year old I have pretended to drink water(I hate it)for the last 3 weeks.He asked for water last night and maybe 3-4 ounces.Not much but it`s a start.

Answer 6

I asked my doctor that exact question at my son's 3 year checkup. He looked it up in a little book he carries with him and said that it should be a total of 1 liter of liquids per day to stay hydrated. My son rarely drinks water, mostly he drinks milk (1%), chocolate milk (hardly any powder in it), and orange juice.

Answer 7

My 3 year old has never had any interest in water until I bought a bottle of water for myself when we were on a road trip. It was Evian with a red flip-top, sippy-spout lid. He yelled, "That's my water!" when he saw me drinking from the bottle. I handed it to him thinking he'd take a sip and give it right back. He drained it. He still drains that thing every single day. I refill it and keep it in the fridge so he can get his own water whenever he wants it.

I had tried to get him to have water out of every sippy cup, straw & cup, and crushed ice with water combo you can imagine. That red spout is easy for him to drink out of, he can easily flip the lid open/closed, and if he loses it we can get another one at 7-11!

Try it, it's only $1 and if your child hates it you can drink it yourself.

Answer 8

i can't get my 3 year old to drink water to save my life. all she wants is OJ and Milk. all i can say is just keep trying to offer he/she water and eventually they might drink it. atleast they are drinking something and getting some sort of fluids.

Answer 9

that much milk for a child can make them fat. they should have started drinking water as soon as they were able to drink from a sippy cup! my son loves milk. but i know its not good for him so i just don't give it to himas much as he wants it. Ur the parent. if Ur child gets thirsty enough it will drink!

Answer 10

It is fine. What you can try to do is give him/her juice but put water in the juice.