Hydrating Strawberry Watermelon Slushie
This week in the clinic I feel like every parent I’ve talked with has told me their kiddo is drinking “about 1 water bottle a day” WHAT!?!? Most children’s water bottles are about 8-12 oz. No wonder the child is constipated.
Drinking more water is the #1 thing that will help your child’s constipation. By the time food digests and makes its way through the GI tract, water has been removed and the stool can end up being very dry and hard. This is painful for your child to push out.
Drinking plenty of fluids helps keep as much moisture in the stool as possible to help prevent this. But how much water is enough? Take a look at these fluid goals.
Toddlers 16-24 oz
4-8 year olds 56 oz
9-13 year olds 70+ oz
Kids older than 13 and adults can use the rule of thumb; half your body weight in ounces- so a 150# person would need 75 oz of water each day. That’s A LOT of water!
20% of these fluid recommendations can come from foods, but the rest should be from a beverage, preferably water. And if you live in a hot climate and/or your child is active, his water needs go up.
Water rich foods can also help your child reach his goals. Offer things like lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, tomatoes and cantaloupe.
So how do we get our kids to drink more water? Here are a few suggestions
Set a fluid goal for your child- if your child is old enough, have a chat with him about why water is so important. Share that you know he has been having a hard time going #2 and that water will help. It’s important to make this water goal attainable. If your child is currently drinking 10 oz and the ultimate goal is 50 oz, set the goal at 20 oz to start. We want kids to be successful from the start
Find a way to make it visual- Kids (and adults) need a visual to see what they’re working towards. You could make a chart and add stickers for every 8 oz she drinks, she could color in a part of a picture, use Legos to build a tower, add pieces to a puzzle. Get creative. What does your child enjoy doing? Find a way to make a game out of it to see if she can complete the task by the end of the day.
Flavor it! Let’s face it, water can be boring. If adding a splash of 100% juice, fresh fruit, or a squeeze of orange helps get more water into him, then go for it. Allow him to become a mad scientist and play with different fruits to see what he likes best in his water. I also will often recommend a Stevia sweetened flavoring like TruLemon or Stur to add to the water. Since Stevia is sweeter than sugar, you only need a small amount
Grab a new water bottle. If there is one thing kids love, it’s something new and exciting to encourage them to drink more. Allow your child to pick out a new water bottle with his favorite character on it may just do the trick. Another great option is the Nooformer water bottle with time markers and motivation.
Go digital- There are lots of apps out there that can help you track your child’s water intake. Plant Nanny is a good one as it adds water to you digital plant each time you enter in what you’ve had to drink. The plant grows as it’s watered, but will die if you don’t reach your goal.
Finding what works for your child is the key to success with fluid intake. We’d love to hear what other ways you’ve tried to get more fluids into your child.
Cheers to easier potty times and softer stools!
Strawberry Watermelon Slushie
Ingredients
- 2 cups of watermelon, chunked and frozen
- 1 cup Frozen strawberries
- Half a cucumber, peeled and frozen
- Juice of half a lime
- Water
- Honey to taste
Instructions
- Place frozen watermelon, strawberries and cucumber in a blender
- Blend on high
- Add just enough water to help blend smooth, starting with 1/4 cup
- Squeeze the juice of half of the lime into mixture
- Blend
- Add honey to taste and blend again
- Enjoy as a slushie or pour into popsicle molds and freeze
