How Much Water Should Your Toddler Drink?

What is the recommended water intake or toddlers? The USDA recommends that children in the age group of 1 to 3 should drink around five and a half cups of water every day. 

The American Association of Pediatrics advises parent to limit juice/flavored milk to just 4 – 6 ounces a day.  Parents’ should use 100% juice and low fat milk rather than soft drinks, soda or sugary milk drinks.

Encourage Your Toddler to Drink Water

Serve water in colorful bottles and glasses. Sippy cups or straw cups with your child’s favorite cartoon characters are a good idea. Toddlers are a busy lot so place their water cups/bottles around the house and close to where they are playing. Toddlers tend to ignore thirst. Also, feed your toddler water-rich food such as watermelon and strawberries.

Not enough water in a toddlers system can promote dehydration. Toddlers do not sweat like adults so when the weather is hot outside, toddlers need extra fluids to aid in their body’s ability to cool.

Dehydration can be prevented by continually offering water / drinks weather it is hot or cold outside.

Buttermilk is a great coolant, aids in digestion combats dehydration and is a great source of calcium.

We do not recommend giving your toddler fruit juice or any other sugary drinks like lemonade, sweet tea, fruit punch, soda or smoothies. They all contain too much sugar. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics says these sugary drinks can lead to: 

Poor nutrition,  Increased risk of tooth decay, Increased risk of diarrhea, gas and bloating, Increased risk of exposure to bacteria in unpasteurized juice.

Research shows that your toddler should drink 4 ounces of 100% fruit juice a day. Kids that drink 100% juice can get more iron, folate, potassium, magnesium and vitamin C and B6 that tots who don’t. One trick to making a little juice go a long way is to dilute it with water (half juice half water)

Learning to use an open cup is a key development skill for our child, so keep working with him on it. Remember, there will be a mess so offer help only when you think he really needs it.

When you are on the go, use a sippy cup!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *