One of the dilemmas I’m faced with is that my son will not drink water. As a result, I worry about him being dehydrated. I have tried in the past to force him to drink an ounce or two at a time, in hopes of getting him used to it. However, it has never worked! As he has gotten older and a bit more reasonable about making healthy food choices, I have attempted to explain to him why water is so important. But he is not convinced. As a result of my concerns over dehydration, I have allowed him to drink more juice than the recommended maximum of four ounces per day. (This post contains affiliate links).
He typically drinks about 12 ounces of juice and 8 ounces of milk every day. And THAT IS IT. This is still a lot of juice, but it’s not as much fluid as the recommended amount of 6-8 8-oz cups of water. Plus, it’s not water, it’s juice! As a result, he has issues with dry skin. These issues have been particularly troublesome the past couple of weeks.
So, how to increase fluids in his diet so that he won't be dehydrated?
I know, I know! I’ll make him soup!
Yes, soup is an AWESOME way to increase fluids in your kids’ diets. This is also a great way to increase other nutrients as well. Especially if it is homemade soup. Any vegetable you put into the soup, even if your kids pick it out, will still have “left its mark,” by leaving some of its nutrients in the broth.
Right now, Nathan is having a particularly “dry skin season.” So, I have been busy making different soups the past couple of days to increase his fluid intake. Yesterday, I made pot sticker soup. The day before that I made bean and sausage soup.
I was only able to get him to eat the bean soup once because he doesn’t like to eat beans. I persuaded him by allowing him to add cheese. (Thank goodness he is not allergic to dairy!) He has been willing to eat the pot sticker soup several times, though he initially griped about all the broth.
I will admit that I am not a lover of cooking.
When I’m in the mood, I can produce some delicious recipes, but I’m a bit lazy when it comes to preparing foods. Fortunately, I have Costco to help me. Costco sells frozen foods that tend to be much more wholesome than the average brand. So, we bought some frozen pot stickers at Costco this week, and I made a simple soup with just two ingredients: pot stickers and chicken broth. The beauty of this kind of soup is that you can simply make chicken broth out of a high-quality chicken base, add the pot stickers (I used chicken and veggie), and voila, you’ve got soup!
Even better is if you add carrots, onions, and celery. Now my son was having a bit of a fit over the vegetables being put in, and since my primary goal right now is to get more fluids into his little body, I didn’t add the veggies THIS time. Instead, I served his favorite vegetable, broccoli, on the side.
Speaking of broccoli…
Nathan loves broccoli, and he also likes my homemade cream of broccoli soup. I use a basic pureed soup vegetable recipe from an older Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that I have had since 1989. This cookbook has a section on fresh vegetable soups, with suggestions on which herbs/spices to use based on the type of vegetable. This is an extremely easy recipe.
And so delicious! We have tried the potato, tomato, mushroom, and broccoli, and they are all delicious! You can find my tweaked version of the recipes here.
Plus, it’s inexpensive, doesn’t call for any fancy, costly ingredients, and is not too high in fat.
In case you’re wondering, the reason I like to give Nathan pureed soups is because he has texture issues and oftentimes will reject a multi-texture food.
Soup is a TERRIFIC way to make sure your child gets enough fluids AND veggies in his diet.
So, does your child drink enough water and eat his vegetables? If not, then this is what I recommend helping prevent dehydration:
A vegetable soup is a fantastic way to start feeding his or her body what it needs.
And if there your child has any kid of sensory and texture issues with food, then pureed soup are perfect for this.
Hopefully, most of my readers will be able to find at least one vegetable soup that will match their kid’s preferences. Notice that corn is not on the chart. Corn chowder is another yummy possibility.
Other things you might like:
Broccoli Soup and Other Free Veggie Soup Recipes
Broccoli Dot-to-Dot Activity Pack
6 Reasons You Need More Fruit in Your Diet
Healthy Alternatives for Picky Eaters
Also, here's a post I wrote with ten additional healthy soup recipes