Water vs. carb-free drinks

[lynn]

We live in the country and have pretty yucky well water. We've done what we can afford to do to make it better (filter and softener), but it still is stinky and doesn't taste great.

My question for all of you guys is: How important is it for our kids to drink WATER? Nathan would drink about four sips a day if that was all he had available. I know because he's done it.

Everything I read emphasises the importance of drinking water. Do they mean carb-free drink of any kind? Or water?

When I have had to call the on-call endo and gotten a different one than Nathan's she always stresses giving him WATER to flush ketones. I asked once if Crystal Light would be sufficient. She was a little annoyed sounding and told me that if I couldn't get him to drink water then she supposed Crystal Light would be fine. His endo has never stressed that it be water before.

Nathan is only four and has a stubborn bone the size of a very large adult! He hasn't willingly drank water since he was a baby.

So, what do you all do? Water? Carb free? Does it matter to you?

Thanks for all of your input.

Lynn

[Mom2Deacon]

We live in the country and have pretty yucky well water. We've done what we can afford to do to make it better (filter and softener), but it still is stinky and doesn't taste great.

My question for all of you guys is: How important is it for our kids to drink WATER? Nathan would drink about four sips a day if that was all he had available. I know because he's done it.

Everything I read emphasises the importance of drinking water. Do they mean carb-free drink of any kind? Or water?

When I have had to call the on-call endo and gotten a different one than Nathan's she always stresses giving him WATER to flush ketones. I asked once if Crystal Light would be sufficient. She was a little annoyed sounding and told me that if I couldn't get him to drink water then she supposed Crystal Light would be fine. His endo has never stressed that it be water before.

Nathan is only four and has a stubborn bone the size of a very large adult! He hasn't willingly drank water since he was a baby.

So, what do you all do? Water? Carb free? Does it matter to you?

Thanks for all of your input.

Lynn

Have you gotten reverse osmosis for your water? We had to do this for our water in Texas. It was horrible. Tastes like warm milk. It cost us $500 to put one in our kitchen but it was well worth the expense.

Also, I have never heard of making them drink water. I would think that she would not want anything else messing the system when you are trying to flush out the ketones. That may be her reasoning.

--Sara

[TracieandJim]

Im no expert, just a beginner at the forum as well BUT water is very important. Your body needs to store water in order to use it for healthy maintenance.

I live out in the sticks as well and our water is quite nasty also. I have sparkletts deliver tho. We go through bouts of water refusal but in order to make it more fun I let my toddler watch and help turn the cooler spigot to fill his sippy cup.

[BrendaK]

I have recently been seeing that artificial colors and preservatives really affect my kids and their behaviors. And they were only drinking crystal lite all the time. So this year I have been mandating water! We have good, clean water at our house, so it is different than your situation.

Carson was like your son, though, he NEVER drank water! But now the ONLY drinks we have in our house are milk and water. I quit buying crystal lite all together. (We have juice boxes hidden under my bed for lows, though.) When we first started this I bought straws and the kids absolutely loved the straws. And when given the choice of only milk or water, they actually drank more water!! We only have milk at lunch or dinner, and they drink water the rest of the day. I was stunned when one of my kids was given hot chocolate the other day and gave it back to me and asked for water instead!!!

Is there any way you can get bottled water? I buy a 24 pack at Aldis for under $4 and it lasts a while.

[miss_behave]

I used to hate water too. I started drinking it exclusively and now I love it. I prefer it over any other drink. I have heard this happen with other people too.

[lynn]

I know the importance of water. I am just wondering if it is important to be JUST water. Is that little bit of Crystal Light powder doing something to make it less helpful?

Also, we have looked into better water. Either better set-up for our well water or buying water. At this point though we just don't have any extra money. Groceries are a stretch often.

Thanks for your comments.

[Lindy]

Hi Lynn - I think in situations where your child MUST drink - why have a battle? I think the Crystal Light would be fine.. However, the big picture is that water (plain old water) is better for all of us. I started buying water bottles to help us drink more water - and that really works. If I offer tap water, my kids sometimes refuse. If I tell them to go and grab a water bottle - off they go and drink it. You can reuse the water bottles too! ;) I wouldn't stress about your child drinking Crystal Light - and if you can find some fun ways to get more water drinking happening - great! Good Luck

[Karenwith4]

Lynn - have you tried boiling your water and then using one of the old fashioned counter britta filters? (I see these all and the filters the time at thrift stores so they could be a cheap solution) It might either boil off or settle out some of the nastiness. Also have you tried adding squirts from lemon, lime or orange? do you have any friends in town who have better water who might let you fill up a couple of 5 gallon jugs every week?

I do think that water in its pure form is a necessity. I'm not a big fan of processed food and I agree with the PP that the colours and additives aren't a great thing to have regularly in place of plain water.

good luck!
Karen

[AlisonKS]

If he's high and won't drink water, I give him diet 7-up-they did that in the hospital too. When we lived in TX we drank bottled water, cause the tap water was horrible.

[rare]

Crystal Light is nothing more than water with artificial sweetener in it so I don't see what the big deal would be. Have you thought about buying gallons of drinking water from the store? I know bottled water can be pretty expensive but places like Walmart or Target probably sell it cheap. My dad has nasty well water in the country and that's what he does for drinking water.

[KeltonsMom]

I offer up a couple of options, water with true lemon or true orange in it, or plain water with lots of ice, or I will take Crystal Light and instead of making 1/2 gallon with one of the little tubs, I will use the tub to make a whole gallon. It dilutes the taste, but both boys have gotten used to it being made this way.

However, when there are ketones present in either Kelton or myself all we get is plain water with ice.

[wendyc]

Abby prefers water over the fruit water or Crystal light drinks. I find that they give her not only tummy aches, but head aches too. Some find that they affect their kids behaviors.

One thing with the artificially sweetened drinks is that while they hydrate you, they don't do it as well as plain 'ole H2O.

[ROVERT81402]

Have you tried getting the flavor water? Even before he was dxd, that's mostly what he drank. We buy crystal light also. And they have flavor water juice boxes that only have 2 carbs! They are minute maid ones, and they taste realy good! I think that any water is just fine, wether its plain or flavored.

[Tripletmommy]

Lynn,

I can't imagine why crystal light would be so bad.... apart from the aspartame - maybe thats why the endo just wanted water...

For Bella, who will drink plain water SOMETIMES, we just make a bottle of crystal light or the 4c one (I forget the name - it's made with splenda though), and we'll pour half of it into another water bottle, and then add more water - so it's still pretty tasty - but it's really diluted. That way, she's getting more WATER, without actually just drinking plain water.

Good luck!

[momandwifeoftype1s]

We have Connor drink a sports bottle full of plain water before he can a beverage of his selection (like diet pop or Crystal Light). This seems to work well. We also like to make water more appealing my adding a drop of food coloring to make "magic water" or "magic milk". He likes to mix the colors and drinks it right away. Straws also seems to help.

[shekov]

We had nasty well water for years (SULFER!). There was nothing in the world that would get me to drink that water so I feel for your son. ;)

That being said...I get my kids to drink more water by filling a big water cooler thing (that's the technical term for it;)) that has a spigot thing they push. I leave it out on the counter with plastic cups and they can push the button and fill up on their own. It's really fun for a kid. I think I got it at Target or Walmart....

I also keep it cold in the summer (in the frig) or make wierd shaped ice cubes.

Hope that helps a little.

[Anja821]

Minute Maid makes a drink called Fruit Falls and each pouch contains only 2g carb. It's essentially water with a splash of juice. It contains 100% Vitamin C and 10% calcium per pouch. A 10-pack is $1.99 where we live. It's the only thing we allow Evan to drink at school so we keep a supply there.

Otherwise, sugar-free Kool-Aid has been a lifesaver for us.

[JacksonsMom]

Both of my boys love Propel water. I primarily do milk and water but I don't mind them having Propel as well.

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

When you're flushing ketones, any liquid will do. If your also trying to stay away from carbs, crystal light would work wonderful for what your trying to achieve.
If your on a tight budget buy the bottled water and -They make several different kinds of carb free drinks that you just add a packet to the water to flavor it.

[OSUMom]

I received an email about the connection of water bottles in heated cars and cancer and also saw something on tv. The email I read said not to drink water from bottles that had been sitting in a hot car. Amidst what appears to be confusion on the subject, I thought this was a decent article shedding some light. Just thought I'd share though I'm still as confused probably as before. http://blog.healthtalk.com/zimney/plastic-water-bottles-hot-cars-and-breast-cancer-what-you-need-to-know-about-pet-and-bpa/

I think this would pertain to any drink that would be in this type of plastic (#7) bottle. I like the Crystal Light bottles that are made from Splenda. I'll have to check to see what number plastic they are made of - though I have to say I don't have them sitting in my car like I'll have water bottles lying around in my car.

[Karenwith4]

I received an email about the connection of water bottles in heated cars and cancer and also saw something on tv. The email I read said not to drink water from bottles that had been sitting in a hot car. Amidst what appears to be confusion on the subject, I thought this was a decent article shedding some light. Just thought I'd share though I'm still as confused probably as before. http://blog.healthtalk.com/zimney/plastic-water-bottles-hot-cars-and-breast-cancer-what-you-need-to-know-about-pet-and-bpa/

I think this would pertain to any drink that would be in this type of plastic (#7) bottle. I like the Crystal Light bottles that are made from Splenda. I'll have to check to see what number plastic they are made of - though I have to say I don't have them sitting in my car like I'll have water bottles lying around in my car.

Thanks for posting that. We've switched to stainless steel waterbottles and thermoses. I like the taste better from non-plastic as well.

Karen

[zell828]

My SD loves the crystal lite lemonade (plain, not raspberry or pink). I like them all myself too and drink them. We also love water too so we will drink either one. I think it's good to have water more but it doesn't hurt to have carb free drinks either sometimes.

[Andy'sMom]

I have the same problem getting Andy (who is 3) to drink plain water. We've decided we need to pick our battles so he drinks a lot of crystal light, sugar-free kool-aid, etc. I'd prefer he drank plain water, but for us, the crystal light is better than nothing. Good luck!

[lynn]

Thanks for all of your replies, guys. You have given me some food for thought.

I really don't have any extra money right now to put any sort of water treatment system in. Someday we hope for reverse osmosis. Right now we are grateful for what we have. We don't have money to buy water either. There are nine people in the house and I looked at the grocery store yesterday and it was just over a dollar a gallon. That would get too pricey. My mom has city water but the kids think that is worse than what we have. "It smells like bleach!!!!!!," is what they tell me.

I may try for a second hand pitcher filter. Does that remove the stinkiness?

I also think that when warmer weather gets here I will fill my big cooler jug with the spigot on it. That might be attractive.

Thanks again,
Lynn

[vettechmomof2]

cannot help. we drink well water at home, city water at grammy's and nanna's and water anywhere.
We do drink juice and milk but the kids do not like other drinks. Water is our staple drink though.
Allene

[Karenwith4]

Thanks for all of your replies, guys. You have given me some food for thought.

I really don't have any extra money right now to put any sort of water treatment system in. Someday we hope for reverse osmosis. Right now we are grateful for what we have. We don't have money to buy water either. There are nine people in the house and I looked at the grocery store yesterday and it was just over a dollar a gallon. That would get too pricey. My mom has city water but the kids think that is worse than what we have. "It smells like bleach!!!!!!," is what they tell me.

I may try for a second hand pitcher filter. Does that remove the stinkiness?

I also think that when warmer weather gets here I will fill my big cooler jug with the spigot on it. That might be attractive.

Thanks again,
Lynn


Lynn, do you WOH? Could you or your partner fill up jugs of water at your place of work?

I don't know if the filter will remove "stinkiness" from the well water, but if the bleach from your mother's water is actually chlorine, just leaving it on the counter in an open jug for 24 hours will elminate that - then refrigerate the water till it is COLD - (back of the fridge).

I hope you can find something that works for you!
Karen