I don’t know about your kids but my kids love chocolate milk, pop, soda, punch and their favorite drink is JUICE. The last thing my kids want is water, and it has been a battle at our house for years, but lately it has been a battle I have been winning and I wanted to share my success and tips that might help you and your kids choose a healthier beverage.

1) Don’t introduce other drinks into their regular diet- The kids that we delayed giving sugary drinks to, have been more accepting of water. I don’t plan on never letting the younger kids drink sugary drinks but I think I will wait until they are older and have more self control and understanding.
2) Dilute what they are already drinking- With my oldest he could cry for hours for Juice, so I felt that diluting his juice was a good compromise. It also helped the wallet, only having to buy half the juice.
3) Let your stash run out- If my kids know there is another option in the house, they will throw a fit until they get their way, but if they can go to the fridge and the pantry and see that it is all gone, they are still sad but they accept water without a fight
4) Let special drinks be for special places- These days they only have Chocolate Milk when we visit their Oma, and they can only have Pop when we take them out to eat, which is only twice a month. If they ask for them through out the week I remind them the next time they get to have that drink.
5) Give them water to drink before they get to thirsty- I notice if I give them water before they ask me for a drink they will take it, but if I wait until they are thirsty and asking for a drink, they are already to irritable to negotiate.
6) Try different temperatures of water- My husband and I like our water different and so do our kids, it took me awhile to think about this, but when I gave my kids a few options I realized my oldest boy will drink more water if it is cold and my younger boy likes it better at room temperature.
7) Get a new exciting cup or water bottle that is only for water- When ever I was using a new water bottle or mug, my kids would be intrigued and want to drink from it. So I went and got some fun water bottles and told the kids they were only for water. Them instead of asking them what to drink, I would ask them what cup they would want, and they would go for the cool water bottles that we pre-determined were only for water
8) Let them pour their own water- I went to my sons preschool and noticed he was drinking only water, I thought it might be because there was no other option. But I realized how much he enjoyed pouring it by himself from a pitcher. So I brought that idea home and let them pour water from a plastic measuring cup… it is working great