5 Tips to keep your kids hydrated
From the desk of Nicki Violetti
If you have kids, supporting their health is probably one of your biggest priorities. And one key element of health — alongside sleep, nutrition, exercise, and stress management — is healthy hydration.
Healthy hydration means getting the right amounts of fluids and electrolytes to support fluid balance. Yes, young bodies can benefit from water and electrolytes just as much as older ones. Most parents know about water, but electrolytes like sodium and potassium are often forgotten in the shuffle.
Then there’s the sugar problem. Your kids go to a friend’s house and slurp down three or four juice boxes. They ask for soda at the store. They receive sugary sports drinks at soccer matches.
Who can blame them for gravitating towards these sugary options? Our appetite for sugar is deeply rooted in our biology. When our ancestors roamed the earth, sweet, calorie-dense foods meant survival. This may explain why sugary beverages are linked to whopping release of dopamine, which makes your kids (and us adults alike) want more and more.
Luckily, there are plenty of tasty ways to make electrolyte drinks for kids and support their hydration without the sugar. My kids actually prefer these electrolyte drinks to juices! But before sharing how to make those drinks, let’s talk first about fluid and electrolyte needs for children.
How Much Water Do Kids Need?
There isn’t a fixed amount of water that every human (child or adult) needs. It varies by person, sweat loss, diet, and other factors. Consequently, it makes sense for your kids to listen to their bodies and drink to thirst.
Wait. Aren’t we supposed to drink eight glasses of water per day? Yeah, I’ve heard that since I was a kid, too. But there isn’t solid science behind this fluid intake advice. Drinking plain water beyond thirst can actually lead to overhydration (excess fluids in the body), which may lead to fatigue, cramps, and other symptoms. Research suggests that drinking when thirsty is a better approach to stay hydrated for most folks, most of the time.
It’s up to us parents to make sure that adequate fluids are available for our kids when they need it. Adding electrolytes to their fluids can help support hydration, too — let’s explore that part of the equation now.
Electrolytes for Kids
Electrolytes are minerals that conduct electrical charges in your body. This electricity conduction allows nerve impulses to fire and cells to communicate. Electrolytes support brain, heart, and muscular function and can also impact energy levels.
Electrolytes also support fluid balance, or the balance of water throughout your body and organs (electrolytes support hydration, in other words). Fluid balance helps regulate blood flow, skin moisture, your ability to sweat, and much more.
Two electrolytes important for fluid balance are sodium and potassium. Unfortunately, many adults and kids may be low on either or both minerals. Sodium deficiencies are especially prevalent when eating healthy, unprocessed diets, because whole foods are naturally low in sodium. Sodium losses through sweat can also be considerable for active kiddos. Many kids and adults may also be potassium deficient if they don’t eat enough leafy greens, potatoes, meat, fruits, and other potassium-rich foods.
If you remember one thing from this article, remember that hydration isn’t just about water — electrolytes matter, too.
5 Tips to Keep Your Kids Hydrated
Let’s move to the practical stuff now. Here are some tips to keep your kids healthy, hydrated, and feeling good.
#1: Make fluids available
Step one is to ensure your kids have easy access to fluids. This might look like sending your child to school with a bottle of water, bringing a case of water bottles to the soccer game, or, for younger children or those who get engrossed in play and forget about their body’s signals, it might help to occasionally ask: “Are you thirsty?”
The key is to plan ahead. Hot days generally increase fluid and electrolyte losses through sweat, though cold days have their own set of challenges.
#2: Emphasize thirst
Encourage kids to listen to their bodies and drink when they feel thirsty — and let them know it’s perfectly okay if they’re not thirsty yet. You can make it fun by tying hydration to things they care about: explain that drinking a “Goldilocks” amount of water — not too little, and not too much — can help them run faster, think sharper at school, and even feel more like their favorite superhero. Connect it to their world, and they may be more likely to tune in.
#3: Explain why we don’t need so much sugar
One of the challenges of parenting is helping your kids understand how too much sugar can be harmful to health. Sure, you can keep sugary drinks out of the house, but it’s difficult to regulate sugar intake at school, a neighbor’s place, or when grandma comes to visit.
One way to support a decrease in sugar consumption without moralizing sugar as “bad” is to help your kids want to avoid it. You can explain how it can cause cavities, make them tired in the afternoon, or have trouble sleeping. Or emphasize how other foods like meats and vegetables can help them stay strong or run fast, while sugar doesn’t help with those goals.
#4: Make it fun
Even when fluids are available, not all kids will hydrate properly. They might be fussy about flavor or defiant of doing what they’re told. Whatever the reason, you may need to spice it up. The best tool in your box is flavor. To make water more palatable, you might add:
We also have tons of electrolyte recipes that appeal to kids and grown ups, including Citrus Salt Ice Cubes, Blueberry Orange Popsicles, and more. On a hot day, those popsicles could put the ice cream truck out of business.
Lastly, consider the visual and tactile side of hydration. A water bottle covered in stickers of things they love can go a long way. And you have to admit, swirly straws are just plain fun. Lastly, don’t forget to use positive reinforcement. Sincere praise is a powerful tool to shape human behavior.
#5: Use electrolytes
Electrolytes are important for everyone — especially those who lead an active lifestyle, and including kids.
We created LMNT to be the kind of electrolyte drink mix that we would give to our kids. Every day before jiu jitsu, I mix LMNT into water bottles for my two girls, Zoe and Sagan. Zoe loves Citrus Salt, and Sagan is our raspberry monster. Our serving sizes were made with adults in mind, and we typically give our girls a quarter to half of a stick pack at a time, or dilute LMNT with more water 32+ oz.
I hope you’ve found this article helpful. Whether your kids hydrate for health, taste, or to be like a superhero, the important thing is that they hydrate in a healthy way!