What should a kid drink?

[laohaire]

My DD drinks milk and prefers it over anything else except juice (which I rarely give).

I used to give her water as much as milk but as she grew older and expressed her preferences more, water stopped being an option for her.

If I take her off milk (considering dairy-free to try to address FTT and cavities), I can't think of anything other than water to give her. Which might be ok but I was just wondering if there was some other healthy drink I wasn't thinking of. I don't consider juice healthy. The only thing else I can think of is soda (no WAY) and maybe iced tea (doesn't sound healthy to give to a child unless it's herbal maybe - and I do have a plot of mint in the yard that I make tea with during the summer).

[kittyhead]

my kids like iced herbal tea.  especially a certain berry flavored one that they happily drink unsweetened. 

[homemademomma]

My kids drink 98% water, but my 7yo also likes herbal teas and sparkling water, with lemon or a shot of juice.  He also likes coffee, which I make for him using my spent coffee grounds so he doesn't get too much caffeine (gross!!! but he likes it). 

[KempsMama]

My son drinks smoothies, iced teas of all sorts of varieties, water with a splash of juice in it, and milk.  There are alternitives to cow's milk like coconut milk, goats milk, rice milk.

[Storm Bride]

Mostly water. They also like smoothies, and an occasional cup of herbal tea. We don't even ice it, except in the summer. They like it warm. Peppermint is a favourite, and they like a few other ones - some dried berry teas, and a spice mix, and a few others.

[Alyantavid]

Mine drink juice in the morning, milk (cow's milk for ds1, rice milk for ds2) or water with meals.  They have the rare pop and tea usually once a week or so.

[crunchy_mommy]

DS drinks water (and breastmilk) except for special occasions, where he might have a tiny bit of sparkling juice. He occasionally has smoothies (usually banana, peanut or almond butter, and coconut milk) or herbal tea.

Other options: coconut water, soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk and other things like that, you can make your own nut/seed milks really easily...

[eclipse]

My kids pretty much only drink water. Juice is a treat, only the little one will drink cow milk, and only wants it rarely. It was very helpful that my super picky, sensory issue oldest hated anything "too sweet" (like juice!) when he was little - so he would only drink water and the younger kids followed his lead. If you can get her to drink water, I'd just give her that.

[cristeen]

I was raised drinking only water, and to this day anything else is rare. I actually struggle w this weaning thing because of it. I didnt grow up w milk being a drink, so offering it to DS is hard for me.

[isabchi]

Kddos drinks water mostly, then herbal teas  (sweetened & warm mostly), smoothies and some times hemp milk. Juices is just for especial ocassions.

 They also CLW and nurse/ed often until around their thirth years old.

[4midablemama]

It's strictly water or milk in our house, lemonade or occasionally sweet tea when we're out. I've found that when they know there's juice in the fridge, I have a really hard time getting them to drink the "good" drinks instead, so I don't even have it in the house most of the time.

[amnesiac]

One of my boys drinks skim milk because he feels it helps him recover well after exercise. My other two primarily drink water but they do drink green tea with lunch & on occasion they have fruit juice.

[lookatreestar]

water, herbal teas, i don't buy juice or milk for drinking unless it is the occasional juice box (and i buy the ones that are pre watered down LOL)

eta oh and bm of course

[neptunemama]

Aside from water and milk, I buy sparkling water regularly.  Juice is 1-2x/mth, a 32 oz bottle and my girls drink it mixed w/sparkling water.  I like it that way too.  And about 1x/mth I'll buy a 6 pk of Zevia soda.  For the four of us, that's not much soda, and it's a nice treat. 

[puffingirl]

Same as most pps here too--DD drinks mostly water, some milk, some sparkling water and tea (all kinds, green, black, herbal, hot or cold).  Juice is a few times a month--we don't buy it for home usually and it's a treat, like if DH and I are having wine or beer she gets juice. 

[mumkimum]

Happy to have a dd who prefers water best (plain or sparkling).  She also really likes iced herbal teas - favorites are chamomile and mint (which also mix well with juices, if you like to use juice to make fancy diluted-juice drinks, they're good with apple juice especially).  She also likes making her own homemade lemonade, which we sweeten minimally.  I add fruit, herbs, cucumber slices to water myself pretty regularly and she likes that too herself.

If your dd is really attached to milk, making homemade frozen fruit-coconut milk treats might be sorta satisfying for your dd when trying to transition away (being creamy and kinda milky themselves).

[RubThyNeighbor]

My DD drinks spiced cow milk, takra (indian buttermilk), pomegrante juice, coconut water and water. Sometimes I maker her herbal tea.

[samann1121]

My two-year-old DD drinks mostly water. We don't give her juice or milk (she still nurses a lot).  I'll occasionally give her herbal tea (there are lots of tasty varieties; we're partially to Celestial Seasonings), some kombucha sometimes (not too much), and coconut water.  Coconut water is nutritious and pretty low in sugar.  We give it to her especially if either I'm sick (so less nursing), or she's been sweating a lot or otherwise acting dehydrated.  You have to make sure to get the kind with no added sugar or other stuff.  We also have smoothies sometimes, but those are more like snacks than beverages.  :-)

[blumooned]

Originally Posted by lookatreestar 

water, herbal teas, i don't buy juice or milk for drinking unless it is the occasional juice box (and i buy the ones that are pre watered down LOL)

eta oh and bm of course

What brand of juice boxes are pre-watered down?  I would much rather DS drink those than any others!

DS (2) drinks mostly water, occasional smoothies (yogurt, fruit), & occasional juice mixed with water.  Very rarely we make chocolate milk.  We're not milk drinkers here, so it is odd for me to offer it to DS as a beverage.  He was still nursing until about a month ago.

[HollyBearsMom]

seltzer, water, milk. that is all my son drinks, in order of preference.

edited to add: he is nine