Be it learning at school, playing with friends, or catching up with their homework – your child has a lot going on in their day. Sometimes, they simply forget to drink enough. But don't fret! With these 5 tips, getting your child to drink regularly is a breeze!
With the new school year comes a whole new range of challenges, impressions and experiences. During this exciting time, your child's head is constantly buzzing with new thoughts and ideas. Unfortunately, drinking enough is rarely one of them. Don’t worry – you can easily change that!
- Make water easily accessible
- High-quality water bottles for school and on the go
- Offer flavoured water as an alternative to sugary drinks
- Drinking app and challenges
- Family Challenge: Drink more water
When children drink too little
Is your child drinking too little? If yes, then you're not alone. Recent studies show that children often drink far too little while learning. However, this causes their concentration to suffer and results in other symptoms such as headaches and feeling listless.
Click here to find out how much water your child should drink!
Especially at the beginning of the school year, it is important to encourage children to drink more (preferably without sugar, of course) and to raise awareness about the topic of keeping yourself hydrated. Read on to find out more!
5 tips to get your kids to drink more water and how parents can support them
Does your kid simply refuse to drink? Keep trying! Offer it over and over again. The good news is, getting children to drink more water is a quest you’ll often succeed in. You just need to employ the right tactics!
Tip 1: Make water easily accessible
It sounds almost trite, but it helps. Children often don't even realise they are thirsty. To make them aware of this, it helps to set up water bottles and carafes everywhere. Children tend to drink more if they see fresh water next to the TV, on the desk, or even just somewhere in the living room.
Tip 2: High-quality water bottles for school and on the go
Be it at school, or while doing sports, children should always be "fluid" even when they are on the go. A good way to encourage your child to drink is a drinking bottle that gives them extra cool points at school. This is a great gift for the new school year — a hardy compadre just waiting to be filled with all sorts of drinks.
Tip 3: Offer flavoured water as an alternative to sugary drinks
Drinking too little is bad, but too much of the wrong type of drink is also problematic. Sugary beverages like fruit juices and soft drinks are especially harmful for children. Not only are they not filling, they also cause children to be less productive at school. Water (with or without flavour) and other unsweetened drinks are ideal thirst quenchers for little children.
Tip 4: Drinking app and challenges
A hydration app is a great way to motivate your child to drink more water. Our waterdrop® Hydration App, for example, offers personalised features to recognise and improve drinking habits. These challenges lie waiting to be discovered, ever ready to remind your child to take the next sip. Our in-app badges for example, are a great way to motivate children to keep drinking.
Tip 5: Family Challenge: Drink more water
Together, you’ll never drink alone. How about setting a family challenge to reach individual hydration goals? A shared challenge brings people together and strengthens family bonds. On top of that, additional rewards can also increase your motivation. These incentives don’t have to be purely material — they can also be used to promote time together! For example, if your child has won and drunk more water this week, they get to choose the restaurant for the next family dinner, or the film for the next movie night. There are no limits to your creativity!
Conclusion: Drinking is important
To conclude, drinking too little or too much of the wrong drink will result in your child feeling sluggish and reduce their productivity in general. However, many children do not understand this and some parents also tend to overlook the warning signs. That’s why it’s important to tackle the problem together. You are a team and together, you can achieve the mission to drink more water. Have fun with the joint challenges and we hope you’ll be successful in your goal to get your kids to drink more!
