Fun Ideas for Keeping Sick Kids Hydrated

I've found that getting my children to drink enough liquids when they are sick can sometimes be a challenge. Here are some ideas I've found to help make that hydration process a little more enjoyable and less antagonistic. I'd love to hear what works for you as well!

1. Fun, curly drinking straws!2. Have a little tea party. My mother did this with M over Christmas when she wasn't feeling well. She was very motivated to drink up her little cup of (warm juice) tea so that she would have the fun of pouring herself another cup.3. Let them drink from a bottle. My mother used to do this for us when we were children. There was something fun and a little comforting about being able to return to babyhood for those few days. Also, the bottle is easy to drink from in bed and doesn't spill.
4. Popsicles!
5. Make it a contest. Craft a simple chart that the child gets to color in each time he finishes a drink. See if he can drink more than his/her siblings or beat his record from the previous day.
6. Give a small rewards for each cup finished. When M is sick, I let her have a jelly belly every time she drinks a cup of water.
7. Reserve a special kind of tasty drink that your children are only allowed when sick (at our house we only drink ultra-diluted juice, but when they are sick we do away with most of the water and they feel like they are drinking liquid candy :-)
8. Spoon- feed your child their water. They might enjoy the extra care and attention.
9. Freeze different colored juices in an ice cube tray and plop several of them into a clear glass of water.
10. Give the child a small cup of a colored drink and a dropper (perhaps a baby tylenol dropper that has been thoroughly cleaned. Let them have the fun of sucking the liquid up into the dropper and into their mouth.