Water Intake for Toddler

Your toddler needs lot of fluids throughout the day to help his little body function properly.  Even a small amount of dehydration can cause all sorts of unwanted symptoms in toddlers.

A few symptoms of dehydration can be:

Not being able to concentrate

Tiredness, feeling lethargic

Headaches and a general feeling of unwellness

Even mild dehydration can cause these symptoms, we all need lots of fluids to function properly and toddlers are no exception.  Toddlers should drink about 6 to 8 small cups of water (about 3 or 4 ounces) daily and even more so in hot weather or if they've been playing outside for a while.

What should your toddler drink?

If you start them drinking water at a young age the habit will stick for life.  Encourage your toddler to drink water or milk by simply offering them these drinks.  If your toddler already drinks juice try to dilute it by mixing half juice and half water, or even better 1 part juice and 2 parts water.  It's also best to offer them a full fruit juice with no added sugar.  Be weary of drinks labeled "no added sugar" as many of these are actually sweetened with artificial sweetners which, in my opinion, are even more damaging than sugar.  Little bodies and minds shouldn't be consuming artifical sweetners.

It's worth to note that water and milk are the best drinks for your toddler.  Even high fruit content juices can damage kids teeth due to the high acid content as well as sugar.  You can help reduce the damage to their teeth by encouraging them to drink through a straw as this will avoid the juice coming in contact with the teeth.

It may not be easy at first to try to encourage your toddler to drink water and milk if they are used to drinking juice, but they will soon get used to it.  Slowly wean them off the juice by diluting it a little more each day until you get to the 1 part juice and 2 parts water mark.

And offer plenty of fluids to your toddler often, don't wait until they ask for it as in many cases they will be too busy playing and will ignore their thirst.