Things to try when your daughter won't drink water even when you tell her to

Hello, this is Papao.

My daughter has never really liked drinking water.

Even on hot days,

“Make sure you drink some water,”
“Is your water bottle getting empty?”

No matter how many times I say this, she just won't drink it.

As a parent, I worry about heatstroke and her overall health.

I was concerned about this lack of hydration before, so I wrote the article below.

I understood the importance of staying hydrated.

But there was one problem that remained.

My daughter, the most important person in this, just won't drink water.

Knowing that she should drink water and actually being able to get her to drink it are two different things.

In the midst of this, I read an article on note the other day.

In this article, the daughter of Fueenaga-san, who rarely drank water, started drinking much more after using a transparent water bottle with measurement markings.

The point is,

not just telling her,

“Drink 500ml,”

but allowing her to visually confirm how much she has drunk and how much is left.

She apparently said that it helped because she could clearly see how much she had consumed.

After reading this,

“Oh, this might work for my daughter too.”

That is what I thought.

My daughter is visually oriented, so there are times when she finds it easier to understand things that are visible rather than just being explained in words.

'Drink plenty'
'Get more fluids'

are hard for her to grasp in terms of 'how much' in the first place.

However,

'I drank up to here'
'This much left'

if she can see that, she might be able to grasp her current status more easily.

That said.

If I just handed her a plain, transparent plastic bottle and said, 'Use this from today!', my daughter would probably say something like,

'It's not cute'

or something similar. So, maybe I should just make a custom water bottle for her together with her.

If I pick out a transparent one around 500ml, leave the transparent parts, add marks at the 500ml and 250ml levels, and provide some Disney Princess stickers, she might get excited.

She can choose the stickers herself, stick them on herself, and make it 'her own water bottle'.

Maybe she'd want to use it a bit more then?

Of course, I don't know if this will actually increase the amount she drinks.

Just because a method worked for another child doesn't mean it will necessarily suit my daughter, but,

if saying 'Drink!' over and over didn't change anything, it's worth trying to change the environment.

That is what I thought.

Come to think of it, life with a child who has developmental challenges might just be a series of things like this.

Scolding them because they can't do it. Telling them over and over because they don't do it.

Instead of that,

How can I make it easier for her to understand?
How can I make her feel like she wants to try it?

Just by changing that a little, she might actually start moving.

So, I'm thinking of making a "visible water bottle" with my daughter next time.

Will her water intake really change?
Or will it just end with her saying it's "not cute"!?

If we manage to make it together, I'll try writing another article about it.

Summer is still going on, but I want to think about how we can stay properly hydrated and have a fun summer.

Thank you so much, Fueenaga-san♡

If there's anyone out there thinking, "My child doesn't drink water at all either," maybe trying to make it visible how much they've drunk could be one way to go.

I hope this article leads to a "I did it!" moment for all of you.

May tomorrow be another great day.