To let her strop about it and not share

[porridge90]

Bit of a ridiculous one but I'm not sure if I'm being unnecessarily cruel. My dd is 2.3 and she LOVES juice. I know I will be flamed for it but I cannot get her to drink water so she has squash. (Yes I make sure I brush her teeth etc and she never has it in bed). The problem I have is that she guzzles it. If you give her a cup with it in she will down the whole thing in seconds and still ask for more. She would just drink all day if I let her.

I have to be strict as she can fill herself up on juice and then refuse to eat, eating is already a bit of an issue with her being really fussy.

Now, whenever I have a drink she has started throwing a massive fit that she wants it, even if she has just finished hers.

Am I being cruel to just let her cry about it? I don't want her thinking she can always just take my food and drink and I can't just time our drinks together, as she will just drink hers really fast and scream for mine. Part of the problem I guess is that I too don't really like water so I drink juice and that's why she wants it. Is it part of being a parent that I have to hide when eating/drinking? Or that I can only drink things she doesn't like so I don't have to share?

I sound like a 2 year old myself I know with this issue, but it is really starting to annoy me...

Is she using the same cup/glass as you or some sort of sippy or kiddy cup? Could you get her to choose her own cup whether its a character one, or maybe buy a set of plastic cups and jewels and glass paints and let her decorate stuff and get fancy paper straws etc. Maybe that might help her drink her own drink.
Also try topping up her drink when you top up or get your own drink. I think if neither of you drink water you cant really deny her a drink whether it is water or squash, dont let her have yours but top up hers when she asks for yours. Different people drink different amounts so she could just be thirsty, or else she likes the idea of having whatever youre having. Maybe if you stop making a big deal out of it she will too.
Also why not buy the stevia squash so theres no sugar and stevia so no aspartime. They have lovely flavours that dont need too much dilute in them so they go a long way and also work well for slowly weaning off squash

Sorry just read update

Have you tried flavoured water? My daughter loves juice too and to stop her having it all the time I bought those fruit shoot Hydro drinks. Now she does drink just water too.

Just wanted to say that I drank a lot as a child and I still do, no medical reason for it but I just get really thirsty. If we have a meal out I can easily get through 3 (none alcoholic) drinks

I have trained myself to drink ice cold tap water in the last few years, but before then it made me gag. No idea why, I refused it as a baby so only had soya milk, so it's not a choice. I tried to drink it with an open mind many times as an adult but I would just gag. I can now just about manage a tiny bit of ice cold water, but it's been hard to get to that stage

I do think it's worth getting her checked by a dr, but if they don't find anything then it could just be one of those things

Especially on aspartame (metabolised to formaldehyde in the brain).

See also: citrus fruits and tomatoes! Highly toxic stuff.

My DD used to guzzle squash from the ages of 2-3, not be interested in food very much, just want drink all the time. I went to Dr but nothing wrong. When she hit 4 she wasn't so fussed and now eats/drinks 'normally'. Now DS age 3 guzzles squash, constantly asks for it. Hoping he'll grow out of it too!

Id first take her to the doctors to see why shes so thirsty before trying to stop any drinks