Lisa Grentz, MS, RD, CD
During and after a tube wean, some children gravitate more towards eating than drinking causing parent’s concern that their child isn’t consuming adequate fluid for hydration. While we can’t “make” or “get” the child to drink more, we can alter the way in which their beverages are served, how they look, and how they taste to make them delicious and visually appealing. Here are 10 tips to promote drinking.
1. Flavor it. All beverages can be altered to change the flavor. Try adding a sugar-free liquid water enhancer (concentrated flavored drink drops) to your water, adding a flavored dairy or non-dairy based coffee creamer to milk/plant-based milk, adding peppermint extract or flavoring to hot cocoa, or adding a splash of coconut cream to fruit juice. Infuse water with ginger and mint or with the flavors of fruits and vegetables by adding berries, melon, citrus (slices of lemon, lime, or orange) or slices of cucumber to water. Make ice cubes out of fruit juice or lemonade and add them to a glass of water to infuse flavor as the cubes melt.
2. Spice it up. Adding herbs and spices to drinks can add warmth to the beverage. Some examples include herbal tea, homemade apple cider with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, sprinkling cinnamon on top of milk before serving, adding molasses to warmed milk, warming apple juice and stirring in a little bit of melted vanilla ice cream and apple pie spice, and adding pumpkin pie spice to hot cocoa.
3. Add a powdered drink mix. There are dozens of flavors of powdered sugar-free drink mixes that can be added to water. Products like Carnation Breakfast Essentials, Ovaltine, Nesquik, dry milk powder, peanut butter powder, and cocoa powder can be added to milk or plant-based milk. Pediasure powder, Duocal, and MCT oil powder are examples of add-ins available online or from a medical supply company. As an added bonus, most of these product’s function as a calorie booster.
4. Thick and creamy. Some children do better with drinks that are more viscous because they allow for more control of the liquid in the mouth. Drinkable yogurt, smoothies, and milkshakes are examples of thick and creamy beverages.
5. Make it bubbly. Sparkling water or carbonated water are great alternatives to still water. They can also provide some extra sensory input for children that need more awareness of liquid in their mouth when drinking. Homemade Italian soda is a fun carbonated drink made by filling a glass with ice then adding some fruit juice for flavor, followed by seltzer water, then pour a splash of cream over top.
6. Alternate water-based beverage with milk-based beverage. Try altering your offerings of water-based beverages with milk-based beverages to provide opportunity for your child to explore a variety of beverages throughout the day.
7. Change the temperature. Personal preference for drink temperature may differ depending on if the child is drinking for taste, to quench thirst, or to feel refreshed. Some children respond better to room temperature or warm beverages than cold drinks. So, it can be advantageous to offer drinks of different temperature throughout the day.
8. Offer salty snack. Salt bonds to water in the body so eating a salty snack triggers thirst because the body needs more water to maintain balanced blood sodium levels. So, offering your child a salty food will promote drinking because the cells tell the brain the body is thirsty.
9. Try a different drinking vessel. The visual appeal of the beverage can be just as important as the taste; therefore, using a fun crazy straw or having a cup that is brightly colored or that has the child’s favorite cartoon character can entice drinking.
10. Change the name. Add some flare by giving your creative drinks a name. For example, if you daughter is obsessed with pink and characters like Strawberry Shortcake or My Little Pony then maybe hand her a cup of strawberry milk and call it My Little Pony Milk or add some strawberries to her water cup and call it Strawberry Shortcake Juice. Similarly, if you son likes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles maybe you blend some OJ with spinach to make a bright green color and call it turtle juice.
All in all, there are lots of ways that you can promote good drinking habits for your weaning child!