What Do You Give to Drink???

Kool-Aid....
Chocolate Milk
Strawberry Milk
Cranberry Juice
Apple Juice

Since I don't give it to them in excess - i do not feel that I am poisoning them

make fresh lemonade ... I just put a fav on another's post :)
My son mostly gets water, a glass of milk (if he wants) and one glass (4oz) of Tea or V8 fruit splash/fusion drinks or a home made beverage.

We also do milk, water and occasionally juice.

My little guy loves ice water, so I fill his sippy cup with ice and he goes to town.

Kool-Aid
Hi-C juice box
Choc. Milk
Straw. Milk
Fresh Lemonade

But mostly Water

my kids (age 6 and 4) love lemonaide. We also drink sparkling water (the flavored kind from Walmart), that is a real treat for them. My kids also like decaf tea, iced or warm with honey. I give them Orange juice also, which they love, but I limit that to 1 oz glass.

I also give them Capri Sun (Raging Waters) flavored water. I actually don't know if it has aspartame in it though, i will have to check now.

And every Saturday morning they get Chocolate Milk, I use Hershey's Sugar-free syrup in it. I limit chocolate milk to Saturdays, because they would want it everyday all day, its a little treat for them. My son wakes up on Saturdays all happy and says "its stay home day! I get cocoa milk!"

We give our daughter super watered down juice. We just came back from her grandparents, and when she asked for apple juice and I fixed it my dad just looked at me and said, "Are you kidding?" because there was so little actual juice in it. Just enough to flavor it, and our peditrician said that was fine.

Have you ever tried mixing juice with natural sparkling water? My kids call it "pop juice".

We drink kefir, plain with stevia and cinnamon mixed in.
We also have water with lemon and lime slices and a bit of honey mixed in.

I am with you on the aspartame thing! Studies show that fake sugars such as aspartame and Splenda actually CAUSE type 2 diabetes. Yikes!

We drink mostly water, but for a variety I also make homemade lemonade and iced tea. I agree with no artificial sweeteners. I can't stand the taste of any of them and at least sugar is natural, but only in moderation.

I don't see why they need to drink anything besides milk and water. Actually, my kids don't even like milk very much, so they mostly drink water. That way, they get their calories from food that will fill them up and be nutritious. *Most* beverages are too full of sugar and chemicals, even fruit juice is extremely high in sugar (without the fiber you get from eating the actual fruit). Of course, they drink other stuff occasionally when they're visiting friends or whatever, but the only choice in OUR house is water, milk or OJ and they just prefer water. So stick with water - there is nothing better to keep your kids hydrated.

Oberweis lemonade is our treat. So yummy with some fresh lemon slices!

V8 Fusion (watered down when they are young)

They have sprite or ginger ale at restaurants occassionally.

I will also make a big pitcher of fresh water and put a ton of fruit slices in the pitcher. You can use any you like - oranges, lemons, limes, etc. It is yummy and refreshing!

koolaide
the frozen-"Hawaii's Own" juices

water
almond milk
buddy fruits http://www.buddyfruits.com/
sometimes Arnold Palmer's @ restaurants

My kids have either milk, water, and if they want juice, it's 100% juice. None of the bad stuff like kool aide or anything like that.

My kids only drink water, we don't drink milk at all. Once in a while they like a gatorade, but again thats once in a blue moon. Today it was the treat after being at the park for 3 hours and being hot and sweaty, they got to put $1 into the machine and get a gatorade. :)

Otherwise just water.

I used to do water, milk, and 100% juice apple, and Tropicana OJ. I got sick of spending so much money on juice. I even mixed them with water to make them last longer and cut down on the sweetness.

Now I've gotten bad and give the Country Time lemonade. I mix it on the weaker side but all in all it's pretty bad for them. It's just so much cheaper.

My oldest will drink lots of water but the younger 2 are sugar freaks. The are insane about wanting sweets. It's a nightmare trying to get them to drink water.

Mostly water. We do milk and chocolate milk sometimes if we eat out. No pop. Juice sometimes, but I water it down and only buy 100% juice.

I give my kids the fruitables once in awhile if they are asking for juice, but generally they don't ask for it...

I am with you! Milk, water, chocolate milk (that's our special treat), but that's about it! If we give juice, crystal light, fruit punch, etc. it is rare, and it is always watered down by about 50%. All of that other stuff is really just empty calories anyway!

Mine drinks apple juice and since she's been on it she hasn't been sick once! Maybe the vitamin c?

We do water and milk. My 7 year old is allowed one soda a week (if we go out to eat bc we don't have any at home). Every time I buy orange juice or apple juice it just goes bad. No one ever wants it. So, I rarely buy it. Every now and then I think we should all be drinking OJ with breakfast and buy it again and again it just sits in the fridge. Funny. I do buy juice boxes every now and then and the kids will drink these when we are out driving around or doing things on a hot day. For some reason it's better in a box.

Nothing. My kids are 15 (spec needs), 11 and 8. They have milk during meals and water all other times. Only when we eat out do they get a soda, which is maybe once or twice per month. I have NEVER bought juice for the kids. :o)

Hi,

I agree with you--juice does have tons of sugar! But.....so does MILK! :) I think moderation is the key. Here are some other drinks we give our kids:

Water with fresh strawberries,oranges, lemons, melons etc. a few slices in a huge jug of water flavors the water in a healthy way---they love it.

non-caffeinated tea-ice tea,water, milk, 20% juice and 80% water.

HTH

M

If we are at a restaurant or fast food place, I will allow them lemonade or root beer, since we go out to eat only maybe 1x a month. I will also allow non-caffeinated soda or lemonade if we are having a party. We rarely buy juice because it is expensive and I would rather they just eat fruit and get the full benefits, so they will maybe have orange juice once every few months if we happen to buy it on a sale. So, pretty much water and some milk. We don't drink very much milk though, I have hated it since I was a kid and my parents would make me drink a full glass with each meal, yuck! I have made the mistake of buying chocolate or strawberry syrup a few times for special occasions and then the kids are begging for chocolate milk every few hours so I just do not buy it anymore. I think you are doing well to just stick with water and milk. It is too easy to get addicted to sugary drinks.

Smoothies made with whole fruit/veggies (the fiber slows down the sugar in the fruit, ) seltzer or seltzer with a little juice added, raw milk either plain or with some vanilla extract sometimes, and coconut water. We don't do white sugar or anything artificial, so if we do sweeten a smoothie, etc it's with raw local honey.

We do milk, water, ginger tea and other herbal kids teas, sometimes with a bit of honey or juice stirred in, the occasional 100% juice box or half cran juice/half water mix.

Milk and water.
Juice only a few times a week.

Milk and water. Chocolate milk and juice are special treats but really they're once in a blue moon. I've heard that there are no actually healthy drinks other than milk or water so stick to those two basics. And FYI, I heard lemonade is the worst possible drink to have b/c lemons are naturally sour so usually a LOT of sugar is added to make them yummy and sweet. If you're making it at home though I guess you can regulate the sugar.

Occasionally 100% juice but the pediatrician said only water or milk so I stick with that (but my kids are 1 and 5, so I can still get away with it.

My kiddo likes a little lemon juice squuezed in his water. We don't do pop or Kool-Aid - too much sugar and dye.

My kids 5 & 3 drink milk at meals and water all other times. They will have juice occasionally like once every 2 weeks. They have tasted pop but don't like it. Which I am glad since I won't give it to them anyway. They also both like iced tea which my hubby makes once a month or so. My 3 year old will almost always choose water over anything else that is offered. He loves water.

Simply Lemonade
Capri Sun
Milk
Bottled water

By and large, that was it until my son was 6ish or 7ish. He'd have treats (soda, punch, sparkling cider, etc.), and before milk boxes came out I'd keep emergency juice boxes in the car/purse/etc (hypoglycemia issues)... but I only ever OFFERED milk or water on a daily basis. I'm pretty lax (and always have been) about what he has at other people's houses and out and about.

Starting at 6/7ish he also started drinking espresso & barqs rootbeer (for the caffeine). We tried a number of caffeinated teas, but they're something of a pain to make (we have an espresso machine and live in Starbucks-land so espresso is easier to come by than tea)

I don't EVER offer aspartame (my mum was on the team that helped create it: all it is is the chemical made when you pour milk over bananas... don't give milk over bananas - or add bananas to cereal... if you don't want them consuming aspartame)... so she's kept a close eye on the studies on it that have followed. It's not that it's poisonous at all... it "just" makes cell membranes less permeable. Which has a number of problems long and short term; ironically as far as the "diet" aspect is concerned; like making people hungrier, because it's harder for nutrients to pass through the cell membrane, and makes it harder to lose weight, because the fat can't be pulled from the cells as easily.

Mostly water and some milk. However when we go out to eat I let them have lemonaid. At home they sometimes get juice that I have watered down or a Fruitables juice box.

Same as yours, milk and water only :) Very infrequently, watered down juice.

That's IT! Water most of the time and milk 1 to 2 times a day. A treat will be a glass of juice or a glass of chocolate milk. That's pretty rare. They don't need anything else. Just stick with what's healthy!

Water.

Or, for a treat or whatever, you can use club soda or seltzer water, and add a bit of juice in it. Just for taste.
Its better than 'soda.'

Or just water down, with 50% water, whatever juice you give them. Just use fresh squeezed juice that you make.

Then, you have to think about, if your kids like it a lot, will that be a 'habit' for them to drink?

1 glass of juice a day, and only if it's 100% juice. Other than that, pretty much water (milk only a couple of times a day)

Milk and water is all they really need. You'll do them a great favor in helping them to like water (which I don't, but force myself to drink) as most everything is loaded with sugar or aspartame. I only sweeten my beverages with stevia, which is a natural sweetener.

I figured out that what they're drinking out of might help with what they're drinking. My daughter likes her cups just fine, but if I'm having a hard time getting water into her one day I'll put it in a "special cup" like one with a straw or w/o a lid (she's still on sippies mostly) and she is almost always super excited.

We started juice when teething started since she'd get pretty plugged up, but now I usually only do juice with a meal that it will complement.

Not gonna lie, though, she does steal my coffee and tries to get at the occasional soda. Try your best and relax!

My kids (5 and 3) and I drink milk or water. At birthday parties they get juice boxes and every once in a while (twice a month) in the summer they have lemonade as a treat. When we make a special trip to the doughnut store (about once every 3 months) they get orange juice.

In summary: it's milk and water for us too with an occasional treat. They don't need anything else. Sounds like you've got it right to me.

In response to the mom who asked "What's the harm in juice and koolaid every day?"...
In my humble opinion, drinking sweet drinks on a daily basis (aside from not being healthy) just sets them up for drinking sodas daily when they get older. They get a taste for sweet when they are thirsty and then start associating thirst with a need for sweet. I have known many adults who say they can not drink water or milk, that it has to be something sweet. Can't drink water? How awful.

Usually milk or water for lunch and dinner and OJ mixed with 1/2 water for breakfast. We usually have cereal for breakfast so a glass of milk with that would be a little overkill. He loves low sodium V8, too. We will also have grape or apple juice once in a while in between meals, but always 100% juice and always mixed with 1/2 water. He is also allowed to choose chocolate milk twice a week at school.

Why are so many people so anti juice? I think it is like everything else--it's okay in moderation if you choose juice with the right ingredients and it makes life a little more interesting.

Just wait until your kids get into sports and parents take turns bringing snacks and drinks. You will be faced with all sorts of horrible treats!

milk, water, homemade smoothies, ice-tea (no sugar- just plain) and the veggie-fruit juices. Occasionally she gets rice milk or lemonade. Oh and chocolate milk... not healthy... but a treat!

I try not to have any "absolutes" My daughter can have a little bit of anything (except alcohol of course). I think restricting kids from ever having a certain food will backfire eventually. So, yes... my 2.5 year old has had sips of coffee and mountain dew and apple juice... but at home our mainstays are mostly healthy.

My daughter drinks MOSTLY water... seconded by milk. If she is thirsty water is what she usually requests. I always try to have water "readily available" all of the time. I think if it is out of sight, we forget to drink enough of it... I know that I completely forget to drink water if I don't have a jug next to me!

As far as aspartame goes... I would rather my kids have the sugar than the artificial sweeteners... If they want something sweet I would probably offer veggie-fruit juice, chocolate milk, or lemonade before I would offer a diet *anything* myself. My daughter only asks for those types of treats occasionally... so I don't mind giving her them when she asks!

-M.

Milk and water. It seems llike everyone ELSE insists on giving my kids juice boxes though. Just try your hardest.

During the day, my 6 and 3 year old drink way too much juice (100% and organic), although I water it down. We also have chocolate milk, smoothies and I sneak veggie fruit juices in. They also love homeade lemonade!

My daughter likes water with a slice of lemon or a couple orange slices in it. She also likes water with a splash of apple juice... But really, 99% of the time she's cool with plain milk or water. About twice a month I give her a juice box - she thinks it's the biggest treat. She's never had soda, but she's only 3 and we've told her from early on that it's just not that good for your belly so Mommy and Daddy only get to have it as a treat. She wants nothing to do with it so far. I try not to say, "You can't have that" if we're at a party or something - I think that will totally backfire on me! I just kinda go with the flow at parties; it's not that often.

Do they need anything else? I think what you give them is perfect! Are you asking because they're bored with it? I can see that happening as they get older and around other kids who drink other things. Try the splash of juice or some citrus slices.