How can I get my 20 month old little boy to drink plain water?

Christy - posted on 01/21/2010

I had the same problem with my daughter. All she ever wanted was her juice. So After having her morning orange juice I started giving her ice water in her sippy. She cried and screamed for awhile but when push comes to shove and she was really thirsty I handed her her sippy and said "drink" and she got mad but took it and started drinking. After a couple days she got the routine and hasn't complained since. The important thing is to not give in no matter how hard he may cry. Soon he will give in and take the water. Good Luck

Samantha - posted on 01/21/2010

Set him up at the sink and run the water, so it's nice and cold and then let him play with cups in the sink. Eventually he will want a drink and you and say something like "isn't that nice and cold?" If you drink water at meals in a nice glass, he might want to take the odd sip too. Be a good water drinker role model if you can.

Jamie - posted on 01/20/2010

my son has been drinking water from day one as well but there are times that i will make him a sippy cup of ice water and he really likes that cause its cold and makes sounds when he shakes it...but also you might look into trying the crystal light mixes...i have a 2 quart jug that i use to make the little tubs of crystal light as i have been having to drink alot of water myself right now and he really likes that and they are sugar free so it's not like giving them koolaid and thats what they think it is...

April - posted on 01/11/2010

Diluting his juice or whatever he drinks until it is plain water is a good idea but first I would try letting him know what he's going to get out of his cup so there are no surprises. If I take a drink of one thing, expecting something else, I don't like it. Kids are the same way. My son is used to drinking juice, so if I give him a drink of water I just tell him first, "this is water, not juice" and he is just fine with the water, when I forget to tell him, he doesn't like it.

Loura - posted on 01/11/2010

Try two things. 1. gradually dilute the milk or juice with water until your son is used to plain water. 2. When he's used to the diluted stuff, give him just water for the day (or two). When he's thirsty, he'll drink it. Also, don't sabatoge yourself by not keeping up with giving him water regularly (its really better than juice anyway). My kids' drink "schedule" is as follows: Milk or diluted juice for breakfast (but sometimes they get water here too) and water for the rest of the day when they get another cup of milk at dinner. Our rule is if they drink all their juice or milk and are still thirsty, water it is!

Casey - posted on 01/11/2010

My 14month little girl has been drinking water since the day she was born. I hardly give her juice. She prefer water over any other liquid. You should try maybe giving it to him by teaspoon.

Brittany - posted on 01/11/2010

my little boy is almost 22 months. we got really bad about giving him juice and milk all day and not water. so now...when i want him to drink water i give him a sippy cup full. i tell him that he can drink that if he gets thirsty. he may fight me all day...but eventually he gets thirsty enough that he drinks it. and another way i can get him to drink it is to put it in a regular cup and let him drink it. then he thinks he is a big boy...but it usually ends up all over my floor. : )

Lindsay - posted on 01/11/2010

My 15 month old daughter doesn't like water either. I just give her milk all day and 1 cup juice with dinner. If we go out I just pack her milk sippy with an ice pack to keep it cold. If he drinks milk I wouldn't worry about giving him water.

Amy - posted on 01/11/2010

You can put a little piece of a candy cane in it just to give it some flavor.

Kristen - posted on 01/11/2010

What does he drink now? If he's been drinking juice then its probably not going to be easy getting him to drink something as unexciting as water.