Toddler refuses water

[Yazzi3]

Hello there. My 23 month old son refuses to drink water. He will drink watered down fruit juice and water with a tiny bit of squash in it but flatly refuses water.

We never intended to give him juice, believing that if he didn’t taste it, he wouldn’t miss it. Unfortunately this led to constipation problems as he just wouldn’t drink (despite others saying he will drink when he is thirsty so just keep offering).
In the end, after ending up on laxatives and hospital admissions, we were told water with juice is better than no fluid at all.
Obviously, I worry about the effect this is having on his teeth but I just can’t think of any alternative. It’s a struggle to even get him to drink juice sometimes. Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks

I have no experience of this but have you tried water with sliced fruit in? Maybe having an orange slice or some raspberry’s may encourage him to drink it especially as he can eat the fruit too

Could you give him watered down squash with meals and then try water at other times throughout the day? He could drink it through a straw. My toddler will only drink squash (has older siblings so this doesn’t help). I try to only give him weak squash at mealtimes.

Can you let him choose a special bottle? My 2 year olds water consumption went up a lot when she got a paw patrol cup from her aunt for Christmas.

What about soda water? My toddler loves it (and fresh lime soda)