Re: Drinking issue.
Asked by quinjai3

Question:

My 5 year old will hardly drink anything ( maybe 1 standard cup over the whole day), be it water, juices, cordial, milks etc ,yet he is always complaining that he's hungry even though he currently

eats more then me.

my question is how can i get him to even out his eating and drinking so he's getting enough of each?

My Advice:

  Re: Drinking issue.

The 1st thing I am going to say is.......don't stress too much about this. Your child is 5 years old and you must clearly be doing something right otherwise you would surely have had a problem with dehydration before now.

I would be checking to see what sort of fluid output there is...this should be more of an indication of warning signs, you should be looking for a clear fluid to ensure the kidneys are being flushed to help reduce possible health risk latter on. If the urine is of a dark colour there will usually be a strong odour and it is at this point that you should actively encourage a higher fluid intake.

If you are having trouble getting them to drink you may need to try and introduce "some" meals with high fluid content.

You could try and set specific meal and snack times making sure that there is always plenty of fresh fruit available...quite a lot of fluid can be consumed this way as well as being a natural low calorie alternative.

Get them involved in the kitchen to make some different types of drinks, often involvement can lead to participation...sort of a reverse psychology. Have a competition to see how fast they can drink a glass of water, even some sort of a reward system for doing so may not be a bad idea...I am thinking of stars on a chart for each glass drank with a reward each week for reaching a target amount...make it fun

Watermelon is a beauty, make sure it is the one with seeds so you can have a competition to see who can spit them the furtherest. The imagination is the limit here.

I have seen a similar problem in many teenagers of today in that they will only drink carbonated or sports energy drinks....bad for the teeth if nothing else. Encourage consumption of water from a young age and lead by example...theres that "monkey see monkey do" again.

Having said that, it is possible that one is able to obtain all the fluid required from a diet such as your child's but if you do have ANY concerns you should consult your GP and/or a qualified dietitian.

Would love some more ideas on this as summer is just around the corner and dehydration of a child is a serious issue...please feel free to comment with positive ideas.