How much liquid per day?

So, we only offer milk and water to our 14-monthers. We mostly only offer drinks at meals and snacks, not really in-between. Our 3-yr-old can ask for water, of course, so I know he's getting enough. The twins do not communicate well enough for me to know if they are thirsty.

I know they are supposed to have between 16-20 ounces of milk a day, but about how much water do your toddlers drink daily? Or, I guess, if you give juice or other beverages, how much total liquid or how much liquid besides milk (answer whichever works for you)?

 

Mine all drink 2 sippie cups full of milk (about 16oz) and then the rest is usually water or water/juice (for constipation) and that's about 8oz. So Total about 24oz.

 

I can't tell you exactly how much milk my guys get; I just give them a sippy full at each meal/snack, and refill as necessary throughout the day. I'm guessing they're at the upper range of the 16-20 oz per day just based on how often I have to run to the store just for milk.

In between meals I really try to be good about having sippies of water or diluted juice available to them, and asking them every so often if they want some. We've had some fairly significant episodes of constipation with both boys, so I feel like I need to encourage them to drink non-milk liquids as often as I can. As far as amounts, it really depends on the day; if it's hot and/or they are super active, they might suck down an 8 oz sippy of water in a few minutes and do it again 2 hours later. Some days they just take a few sips in between meals, and are content.

I like the insulated straw sippies I recently got because I feel like I can put some water/juice in there and leave them sitting out for most of the day where my boys have ready access to them if they're thirsty.

 

Thanks for the replies!! It makes me feel better that yours aren't getting that much more liquid besides milk. Ours probably drink anywhere from 4 - 10 oz water in addition to the milk, depending on the day, like PP said.

 

DS: loves milk! We limit him to 6oz at meals, so he gets 18oz a day.
DD: drinks milk, but doesn't love it like her brother. She consumes 15-16oz of milk a day.

We offer sippies of water or diluted juice at snack time...and when we get home from work, they often ask for them again while I prepare dinner. I think they maybe drink 4-5oz total each day of water/diluted juice??

We don't have constipation issues, but I do wonder if they are drinking enough fluids. Luckily, they are both good eaters and likely get enough water from their food.

 

my girls nurse once a day, drink about 8 - 12 oz of whole milk (given at meals & snack time), and have water sippies available all day long (they maybe drink 4 - 8 oz).

i would say not to worry about it unless they're showing signs of dehydration (longer than six hours during the day without a wet diaper, dark yellow or concentrated urine, listless, dry mouth, etc). also, i expect they would let you know loud & clear if they were thirsty - it would just take some detective work on your part to figure out what they were upset about.

 

At 14 months, my two were getting close to 24 oz of milk per day and probably 8-10oz of water.