Hydration hacks for busy parents: keeping water intake on track
It’s so easy to get to the end of the day and realise, while you’ve kept your child hydrated and fed, you haven’t had time for more than a sip of water yourself!
We all know how important staying hydrated is, both for our children and ourselves. In fact, we can lead by example in showing our kids how we drink water to keep us nice and hydrated.
These hydration hacks for busy parents will help you keep your water intake on track, keep you energised and feeling good! Your drink bottle is going to be your best friend in no time.
Sip Smart: Making Water a Habit
Staying hydrated is all about creating habits. Keeping an insulated, reusable water bottle or cup somewhere central in your home and taking a sip whenever you walk past is a great way to start forming a habit. Fun cups and bottle designs for the kids will keep them engaged too—and letting them choose their own means they’re more likely to sip, sip, sip!
Another way to get into the habit of drinking water is keeping ready-to-go bottles in the fridge and ensuring you take one with you whenever you leave the house. You’re likely already in the fridge grabbing drinks and snacks for the kids, so grab them for yourself too!
And if you’re stuck at the desk juggling work and kids, keeping a cup and bottle handy means your refills are never far away!
Convenient Water Solutions
Let’s face it, when the kids are around, you don’t get a lot of time to think about yourself. That’s why convenience is key when it comes to ensuring you get what you need in your day, too. Keeping water by your side is not only a good reminder for your daily sips, but is handy enough that you can follow through without any downtime. For the busy parent, you’ll likely want to opt for a reusable drink bottle or a reusable spill-proof cup, with insulation so your H20 stays cool all day.
Kids are less likely to care about drinking water, especially if it impacts play time! So why not make drink time play time? You can even turn it into a game with the kids to see who can make sure their bottle is empty at the end of the day. They drink water, you drink water. Everyone wins!
Infuse and Enhance: Flavoured Water Ideas
Of course, we tend to do the things we want to do more than the things we need to do, right? One of the easiest ways to make drinking water something you want to do is by adding flavour, such as by infusing water with fruits, herbs or vegetables.
Infused water is absolutely delicious and adds a few extra vitamins to your day too. It’s actually so delicious, your kids are going to be wanting in on the action too, so you may want to prepare big jugs of your favourite recipes at a time.
You can get as simple or creative as you like when you infuse water. A fool-proof recipe is by slicing up some washed berries or lemons and adding them to your pitcher or water filter. However, combinations like watermelon and mint, rosemary and cucumber, lemon and basil, or even pineapple, coconut and lime are all incredibly refreshing and delicious.
During the summer, you can even add your fruits, herbs and other water flavours to ice. Simply squeeze your lemons, drop in your berries, shred a few herb leaves and other goodies into the ice cube trays, add your water and pop them back in the freezer. Then, when you’re ready for a refreshing cup of water, grab some ice cubes, drop them in and enjoy!
Drinking Reminders: Incorporating Technology
Half the battle of staying hydrated when you’re a busy parent is remembering to actually drink the water.
The good news is, there are so many apps and tools on our smartphones that can remind us to up our water intake. Something as simple as a reminder in your calendar every half an hour to an hour will do the trick, or download a specific app that reminds you and tracks when you do it. This is great for monitoring how much you’re actually drinking (it may be less than you think!).
Keeping on track with your water intake when you’re a busy parent can be hard, but it’s not impossible. Staying hydrated will help you be in best form for you and your family, plus, you’ll feel a lot better too. So, what are you waiting for? Go take a few sips now!
Collaborative post. Photo by Camille Brodard on Unsplash