need help my 16 month old doesn't like juice or water

[gillyVivian1985]

Hi ladies, i give my lo three bottles of 6 fluid oz of whole milk everyday because he has hardly any juice or water. Is it ok if i can give him decaff tea just need some advice thank you all x

My dd (18mo) will have a cup of tea some mornings but I try and avoid it tbh, it's full of nasties that we probably shouldn't be drinking!
Have you tried offering the water/ juice in a different way?
E.g normally tommee tippee beaker, try a cup? Or normally free flow beaker try one with a valve? Or vice versa?
In this weather I've basically decided dd can drink what she wants and however is easiest to get it into her.. At the moment this is very weak squash from a cup.. Good luck!

My DD has never been much of a drinker (iyswim!). Your lo may just be getting enough from milk and food. they tend to regulate quite well what they need but don't fret about offering diluted juice/squash if it helps. The volumes will be small enough that any sugar/sweetners will be negligible imo.

how about ice lollies for added fluids? you can make your own if your worried about content.

I would let her drink plenty of milk too. 3 bottles of 6oz certainly isnt excessive.

Camomile tea might go down well. id avoid tea for the tannin.

My chap hates juice. He drinks a huge amount of milk and some water if we ar out somewhere hot (and the milk would go sour in the car).

He's 2.5, milk in a sippy cup all day long.

Moving from bottles of milk to cups was odd (in the end bottles were hot milk and cups cold)

K

Thank you girls i will certainly try all your ideas.

I wouldn't worry about letting milk be his main fluid at 18mos.

You can also gradually water down the milk too.

Just keep offering water! It takes a while and it's hard not to worry about it but children will eventually start drinking water.

I agree with the comment about trying different cups and finding one that works - at that age my DSs got on well with Tommy Tippee lidded beakers (free flow) and cups with a straw in the lid (although there was often confusion about whether to tip the cup or not!)

I wouldn't offer anything other than water (or milk) until a child is happy drinking water. You onl

Bloody phone!

...You only need to read a thread or two about the stresses of schools that only allow water to drink and children who won't drink water to see the issues that can occur later on.

Yes just keep offering water, you'll make a rod for your back offering lots of choice of 'tasty' drinks. It took a long time for my little one to drink much other than milk but keep going. Different cups might work and the the jackpot is when they will suck through a straw, my son thinks that's so exciting!

Thank you so much i tried i different cup and normally he would just drink some of the juice and spit it out but he is drinking a bit more so good signs i will try water with him thank you for your help (smile)

Try him with a straw - the novelty of it seems to encourage them to drink loads.
It can help to give him one in the bath or paddling pool, teach him to blow bubbles - he'll drink some bathwater so leave off the soap !