Staying Hydrated During The Summertime

Hydration during the hot summer months is very important. Hydration while potty training during the summer months is EXTRA important! You don’t want your child to have complications with dehydration because this can lead to issues like constipation which could affect their ability to go pee and poop on the potty easily, and it can also make going potty painful, which can hinder the ultimate success of your child perfecting their potty training skills in a timely manner!

When children become dehydrated they can run into issues like:

· Constipation

· Dizziness/fainting

· Confused

· Lethargic

We obviously want to avoid all of these and we CAN by making sure our children are drinking enough water! Throughout the summer months, we are all outdoors more in the sun, playing, and we are often more active than during the winter months. Because of this, our bodies will require more water than usual and sometimes it is difficult to keep up with our OWN hydration, let alone our children’s.

In the initial phases of potty training, it can be helpful to encourage your little one to drink extra fluids. The more you drink, the more you need to pee, and in turn the more chances for potty practice! It also keeps your child well hydrated and can help to prevent issues with constipation which can become more prevalent during potty training.

So what do you do when your child is not a big water drinker? There are still several ways that you can encourage your child to intake water without having to force it down their throats!

Here are some helpful tips:

1. Ice chips – My kids love to eat crushed ice to this day! They see it as a treat, and I see it as a great no-calorie snack that also helps with hydration!

2. Colorful/crazy straws – Did you know that you get more water per sip when you drink through a straw? Make drinking water fun and interesting with some crazy new straws for your children!

3. Dry/salty snacks – These will make your kids thirsty and WANT to drink water! Try pretzels or salty crackers!

4. Water-filled foods – Did you know that 20% of our daily water intake is from food? The nice thing is, a lot of the foods with naturally high water contents are super kid-friendly! Try watermelon, celery, strawberries, cucumber, and zucchini for starters!

5. Make your own juice – (If you have a juicer, that is.) Kids are always more willing to try something they helped to make! You can choose what fruits to add (and even try to sneak in some veggies too!) without worrying about the extra added sugars in store-bought juices.

6. Shopping – Let your children pick out their own water bottles! They can even decorate them! This will give them a sense of ownership and make them more inclined to drink water!

7. Game – Make drinking water into some sort of a game to make it fun and enticing!

8. Drink with them – Drinking with your child will be helpful because you will be leading by example and they will be more likely to want to copy you instead of doing something just because you told them to!

,

There are so many things to remember during the summer months when your children are home full time and you have a million and one things to get done! Hydration doesn’t have to be one of those things on your to-do list if your kiddos are motivated enough to drink water on their own through these different and fun methods!

The more we all stay hydrated this summer, the more energy we will have, and the more FUN we CAN have! Let me know in the comments how you help your kiddos stay hydrated throughout the summertime!

Happy hydrating!

‍