Water Rules!
We are lucky in this family. We don’t like soda pop. We like water. I’m not even pulling your leg. If you gave us a choice between the best-tasting carbonated juice from heaven and a tall glass of ordinary cold tap water, we would choose water every time.
Bug is even more picky than I am about it. Her dad will take her out to a fancy restaurant and order her some kind of super delicious tea or juice with multiple layers and some kind of fruit-kabob on the side and Bug will totally turn up her nose and whine that she just wants water instead. I know. What a spoiled brat, right? It drives Toby crazy. Two dollars and change totally wasted.
I don’t expect anyone to be freakish about water like Bug and I but I would love to preach about how great it is to get your kids to like the taste of water early on. Maybe it’s impossible for some kids. I know I’ve babysat kids who acted like drinking plain water was like drinking out of the toilet or drinking regurgitated spit or something. They think it’s bland or has no taste at all. But that’s not true, water tastes great. You just have to get used to it. Don’t shell out a ton of money on flavorings or carbonation machines, just force yourself to drink water straight for a week and eventually you will come to like it. At least that is my theory.
Because water is better. Yes, I’ll agree that there are some pretty tasty drinks out there. I’m not going to just wipe out the whole beverage industry just because I like water so much. But if you can get your kids to like that taste of water early on, they will pass on all those sugary drinks that they don’t really need and hopefully not develop bad habits that will be terribly hard to break as an adult later. Drinks are a treat. Water is necessary.
Okay, I’m stepping off my water soap box (sort of) (for now).
I said all that above to lead up to the water bottle situation in our house. Since we like water so much, I have to pack it in Bug’s backpack every day. She needs it for eating her snack and lunch at school and just normal hydration. It’s been hotter than dog’s breath lately and we can’t go anywhere outside without water. So we pack it.
I’ve tried a lot of different methods. I’ve bought bottled water in tiny bottles and big bottles. I’ve tried every kind of sports top and screw top. They work but it kind of bums me out that we don’t have a better recycling system in our neighborhood. The city waste management system sorts the trash at the dump site and they recycle all plastics city-wide but it still bugs me to fill up my kitchen trash can with empty bottles. I’ve recycled myself but it’s a lot of work to collect bags and bags of bottles that fill up my entire car and then I barely get enough money back to cover the gas money it took me to drive to the recycling center in the first place.
I’ve bought just about every kind of reusable water bottle on the market. All of them have one problem or another. Some are better than others but most of them either leak or they are too hard for Bug to open. That seems to be the most important deciding factor for us when it comes to water bottles. They can’t leak and a six year old must be able to open them without asking for help—because teachers don’t have time to open thirty-two water bottles every day.
You can imagine my pleasant surprise when Brita asked me to review their Brita Bottle for Kids and we actually liked it. Neither Bug nor I loved the color choices (Pink Butterflies, Navy Blue with various sports balls etc or Green Squares…What? No black Hello Kitty?!!) but it actually turned out to be the perfect kid-friendly water bottle. Bug loves it.
It’s just the right size for her to carry (13 oz.) in her backpack without weighing her down too much. Yet it still holds plenty of water for her day at school. Most importantly, she can open it by herself and it doesn’t leak!! Woo Hoo! That gets the mom approval right there. I hate unpacking soggy lunch bags. Cleaning cracker scum out of zippers? Not my favorite way to spend a busy morning.
It’s made from BPA free recyclable plastic and it has a filter built into it. The benefits of the filter are sort of lost on us because our tap water tastes pretty good already but I know in some cities that is not the case. I grew up drinking Colorado River water myself as a kid and I can agree that it was pretty nasty. A filter would have been great, especially since my parents couldn’t really afford to buy water for us. So, I recommend this water bottle with flying colors! My only suggestion? How about some new designs? I’d gladly lend Secret Agent Josephine or Little Hoo to the cause!
I’m also really happy to support Brita because they are teaming up with a non-profit called Alliance for a Healthier Generation to encourage kids to swap out sugary beverages and drink more water. You know how I feel about that. As part of their partnership with the Alliance, Brita will donate more than 4,000 Brita Bottles for Kids to schools across the country to encourage healthy habits in their students. Pretty cool, right?
As part of this promotion I get to give away FIVE bottles to you guys! Well, five of you readers get to have a bottle. It’s not 4,000 but it’s still pretty cool. You can test it out and tell your friends and that will help. Never underestimate the influence of a well connected mommy-blogger. We can win this battle one water bottle at a time! Water rules!!!
Just kidding around. But please comment below and let me know what you are doing to encourage your kids (or yourself if you don’t have kids, or your dogs…whatever!) to make healthy choices at home and on the go (or feel free to lambast me for my water snobbery, I’m cool with that too). I will pick five random winners on Tuesday the 16th of October and announce them here.
Clorox (the parent company of Brita) is providing the prizes for this program at no cost to me.
106 Comments
Steph in WV
We drink mostly water in our house too. Breakfast is milk or orange juice – but the rest of the day is water.
Teresa M
I am a water drinker too. But I like it cold, with ice. and sometimes I make herbal tea. But we love water the most!
Brenda McNeil
We are big water drinkers in our house. I started both kids early on by occasionally allowing them some of mine, playing it up as a big deal. Now they both enjoy a cold cup of water when they come in from playing or with afternoon snack. Now that E is in kindergarten and J is in preschool, a good water bottle is a must.
Kate Bodien
We drink lots of water too. How nice that this bottle has a filter inside! Maybe the girls would like the YMcA’s water better if it were filtered. :)
Donna G
The Boss is the water snob around here – he ONLY drinks spring water and we buy it at the grocery store. Thank God they finally started recycling in my neighborhood. I use a Brita filter for cooking water. Coffee, water, tea or milk. Those are our drinks of choice.
Sam
Water DOES rule. I so, so agree with you about giving water to kids early. It’s exactly what they need! Obviously, we’re in the very hot South, so having water on hand is a must. Thomas will choose water EVERY time. Sure, he likes juice, but that’s a once-in-awhile treat. This water bottle sounds perfect, especially for school. I’ve been sending those small water bottles (which usually make their way back to me) but Thomas seems to have trouble opening them. So it sounds like I need this Brita bottle one way or the other!
Jennifer G
Thankfully, all of my littles ones love water! We encourage them to be healthy by getting moving! I’ve been modeling that by getting outside and walking 5-6 times a week. I hope that they learn heaalthier habits when they are young so they avoid the struggles I have faced as an adult.
Bekah
I think a lot of what we like is what we were used to as children, so I try to expose them early and often to a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and high-fiber/low sugar cereals, while not offering chips or sugary treats frequently. Sadly, I’ve been passionate about keeping my kids away from soda mainly because my husband and I are sooooo addicted. Soda is just never an option for our kids, pretty much except at their OWN birthdays. My 11-year-old has probably had soda 3 times in her life, and I was really glad when she came back from camp Friday and said that when they were offered unlimited quantities of soda at one meal, she tried a little, didn’t like it, and went out of her way to get water for those at her table who wanted some. GO WATER!!
Laurie
We keep a large spigot container of water in the fridge – fun to pour and ice cold. (we do not have a fancy fridge with water in the door)
YUM!!!
thanks
Danielle
I don’t have kids, but I teach high school and I’m always trying to get them to drink water. Last year I gave out water bottles as prizes (who knew red metal bottles would be so popular–huge hit) They earn points in my class for good behavior and completing work (aside from their grades) and can buy mini bottled water for 5 points–cheapest thing in my class “store.”
Golden
My two have gravitated towards cereal in the morning, much to my dismay. Two weeks ago, I started making breakfast cookies, no sugar, high in protein and easy to eat on the go.
Evi
We too don’t drink sugary drinks just plain water. I’m trying to teach my daugher the importance of eating good, healthy food. We cook all of our meals at home. We go to the grocery store weekly and pick a different vegetable and fruit to try…of course anything on sale! :-)
Missy M
I’ve been making fruit infused water to drink at work when I’m tempted to get a soda after drinking plain water all day
Leslie
My almost-2-year old loves water above all else, especially if it’s icy from the fridge (really, she doesn’t even drink milk). I try to set a good example by choosing water myself at meals. We also generally cook at home and make sure we include at least one serving of fruit or vegetable at every meal. Another benefit of water? It doesn’t stain or make anything sticky or stinky if it’s spilled. We’d love to try a big-girl water bottle soon!
Mrs. Wilson
My kids also love water — all three of them. AND we have these exact water bottles. Kaylie has the green one, Liliana has the pink one. I was kind of disappointed with the designs, too, but we love the bottles and use them daily. We don’t drink pop, either (except Noah), and we rarely have juice. Water it is.
These bottles rock.
Amy
We drink water with every meal. The drink of choice for all. We always keep a pitcher of it in the fridge with lemon slices, refreshing!
bethany actually
1. This was your 2000th post, I happened to notice! Of course it’s a sponsored one. Heh.
2. I almost commented as you. Oops. :-)
3. I am very very very very lucky because my kids actually LIKE a lot of healthy things. Annalie will choose fruit over cookies or cake half the time, and they both like water just fine. And neither one of them are picky eaters, and they both love a variety of foods including lots of vegetables and fruit. Tonight Elliora was losing her mind with happiness over the brussels sprouts, and she and Annalie both ate a bunch of baby carrots and asked for more.
4. You know I like some sodas, and I drink them more often than I probably should, but I also make a point of drinking water often. I figure modeling good habits for my kids is the best way to get them to do something!
Pretzellu
My 11 year old can’t stand water and I know its my fault not offering this as a first choice item when she was younger. So now I have a 2 year old grand daughter that thinks water is THE only drink to have (she gets milk at night and a single juice at a meal). Her mom and myself have the adult Brita water bottles that we often have to share with the wee one because she knows it has water it there!
The school I work for is focusing on environmental sustainability so we look at how a reuseable water bottle helps our planet in not having the plastics (tho recyclable) pile up.
thanks for the post!
Ninabi
Water drinking people at our house, too! It used to be my husband and son drank a lot of diet soda and I was nagging about bone health and how bad soda was for that. I can’t stand soda myself as growing up it was something served when we were ill and in my mind cola=throwing up. Plus, who wants a sticky sweet drink when thirsty? Water is so much more refreshing.
With working with horses, we are outside in the heat a lot and buying bottled water seemed wasteful but we were often away from safe water sources or any source of water at all. I ended up going to Target and getting a giant water jug and filling it with filtered water and ice from our fridge and then we could fill our drink mugs up over and over without worry about waste or cost.
Katek
I send my 8 year old to school with a water bottle. But I would prefer to find a non-leaking bottle to send with her instead. I haven’t yet found one that doesn’t leak and get her lunch soaked (yech! soggy sandwich!).
I agree too about the design. Not big on it. Definately think you could do an amazing job with a new one!
Ashlea
My nearly four year old has always been an avid water drinker! Im not sure where she gets it from but I love that she isn’t into drinking a bunch of sugary drinks. This type of water bottle would be perfect for her as she is in between the sippy cup and regular cup stage right now.
Amanda D.
My girls are obsessed with water bottles right now, especially since they’re getting out of the sippy cup stage. These look fun!
Sarah S
We drink a lot of milk at home. Any time that we are out of the house, though, we always have water bottles with us to drink. My kids never complain about drinking water, which is awesome. Also, I’ve had the same problem finding a water bottle for my 5 year old to take to school as well. They either leak or are impossible to open! These Brita bottles look amazing!
Penny
Great idea! I LOVE water. I have a glass bottle that I keep at work. I am not a huge fan of plastic. I love my glass bottle for work and then at home I drink from glass. But for kids, this sounds like a great solution. I would love to give this bottle to my nephew who needs to drink more water! His crazy parents let him drink pop (ha, from Michigan here!) straight from the can! He would think this bottle is cool! Good for you and Bug, drinking water. I think Brita needs to buy a few designs from you!
jenifer
We just never introduced juice until my son was about 4-5 so water was it. Unless I pressed apples or made smoothies. Now, at 8 he just had his first soda and occasional coconut water but when given the option he will always go for water!
Brooke
When I weaned Ezra at 13 months he refused to drink any other kind of milk…so he started drinking a lot of water. As in, ten ten ounce sippy cups a day. yep, 100 ounces of water into his little 13 month old body. We had to pay for a second garbage can in order to throw away all those dripping diapers : ) But, yes, we are water fans. Our youngest gets laughed at allllll the time when she takes a big drink of water and says “ah, SO yummy!”
Kaleigh
I’m also fortunate in that I don’t like pop. Water, milk, and juice for me! I just need to work on my roommate, who does drink a lot of water, but will drink pop like there’s no tomorrow. :/
Cristine
My kids love water and we are always looking for a better water bottle that is easy for little hands to open and close!
Island Mummy
We try to drink a lot of water too, the kids didn’t like plain water for a long time although my husband and I drink at least 4 pints a day each. We have always given them 3/4 water 1/4 juice. Now that they are in school they take plain water and are much more willing to drink straight water at home too.
At dinner they get one small cup of juice, and then can refill their cups with water.
We also struggle to find good bottles that they can open, yet are spill / leak proof.
We have a big Brita on the counter that we fill their bottles from but these bottles with filters in them would be great.
Dena
Finding a decent bottle is a chore… this one sounds great. My kids both dring water, but I have to remind them to drink more of it all the time.
Gretchen
We are water drinkers around here. Sometimes I’ll squeeze a lemon and put a bit of fresh juice in my water, but for everyone else, it’s good old plain water. I love the filter idea. Sometimes we are out and inevitably someone will drink all their water before the chores are done. I’d love to just refill the bottle with tap water and not get the “ewww, gross…” commentary from the peanut gallery!
Mama Leone
We are big seltzer water drinks in our house. Unfortunately because of the carbonation we usually cannot put in bottles with tops. We do have a couple of the clear bottles from Target with the filters. You have to change them every 3 months. How often do you have to change the filter in these? It would be nice if there was a label of some type that you could write the date you need to change the filter.
Out of curiousity…who’s Pepsi bottle in the second picture?
Angie W
Hey, I’m a total water snob too. We’ve tried soooo many different water bottles for my 8 year old son, it’s crazy. I haven’t seen the Brita bottle, or I’m sure I would have bought that too. My son plays little league baseball, and a lot of the kids bring “sports drinks” that are full of sugar, but thankfully my son is perfectly happy with water.
debra
I have a raging seltzer addiction ! As far as teaching healthy eating, I try to lead by example. No junk food. Desserts every now and again. Tons of fruit and veg. I really believe that a good part of eating is habit and what feels familiar. We’ll see when my little girls is all grown up if it worked
Sara
My kids and I have always been solely water drinkers, and we also lead by example. We eat healthy, so they understand that it is important. Thanks for the chance to win this giveaway!
Emily
Ok…this is super to know. I, too, am packing water bottles everyday for snack at school and I’m so glad to know this one doesn’t leak. Water, cucumbers and nuts…our healthiest snack!
Daisy
I have a 10 year old daughter who is also a big water drinker… sure she will drink pop if I let her but water is usually her drink of choice.
Ami
First of all, what happened to the cat ears? Did she lose interest as soon as you posted about them? Funny how that works with kids. Sigh.
Anyway: I think you’re right about forcing yourself to drink only water for a week. I never drank water as a kid, and then I did weight watchers before I got married — and learned to LOVE water. Now I feel parched if I don’t get at least 24 oz a day. My kids only get soda as a rare treat — we don’t buy it at home and we order milk or lemonade at restaurants. But they don’t really like water. THey prefer juice, so I water it down a little.
Amy
One of our family’s slogans is “it’s important to stay hydrated!” We drink lots of water, and not much else. We’ve bought juice boxes for travel and such in the past, but my daughter doesn’t like any of them. So water it is! Which reminds me… she probably could use a new water bottle.
Rhonda
I send my daughter to school every day with a reusable water bottle. I am thrilled when it comes home empty! Sometimes she even fills it up at school after she drinks the first filling. She would much rather have a Snapple, so I consider it a win whenever she chooses water. Not that I don’t love Snapple too. :)
Lisa
Both of my girls love water! To help foster this love, they are usually only offered either milk or water. juice is a rare treat… Either one would LOVE to have a snazzy bottle to drink their water from!
Heather
I need a better bottle solution for my boys as well. One will not drink water AT ALL. He says that it tastes bad. As someone who can only drink either spring or filtered water, I understand where he is coming from. With a filter built in, I wouldn’t have to pack multiple bottles.
Jennifer
My daughter loves water but is very picky about it. We have been through countless water bottles and are currently switching between a reusable bottle, ice mountain and smart water. We tried other filtered reusable bottles but were not overly impressed, I loved my Brita pitchers hope this bottle is just as good!
Heather in WA State
I grew up with a mother who served soda or milk at all meals. It never occurred to me to drink water when I was a kid, except at school from the drinking fountain after recess, but it always tasted bad, so I avoided it. Years later the school had the water tested and discovered it was full of lead, and the kids were getting lead poisoning!
As an adult I prefer water (when I’m not drinking coffee!), and I’ve raised my children to drink water at all meals and whenever they are hot or thirsty. Juice is a very special treat, and the only time they have soda is root beer with pizza once a month, or with a hot dog from Costco (rarely).
Although our municipal water is excellent, we use a Brita pitcher in the fridge, so it tastes even better. The kids take water bottles to school, and I always fill up my bottle before going out on errands.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one of my peers who doesn’t suck down Diet Cokes, but I had enough soda during my childhood to last multiple lifetimes and I certainly don’t need any more! Pass the water, please…
Kris
Water is our drink of choice around here too, especially at restaurants. We add some lemon or lime slices too. We also use reusable bottles, much easier and cheaper.
Helena
We used to live in Tucson, so are very aware of the importance of staying hydrated! And, too much Diet Coke led to major reflux problems for mommy. We also struggle with packing water, mostly our metal bottles make everything too heavy.
Lauren
My sone LOVES water too! I was so worried he wouldn’t like it, etc – but nope, loves it! I pretty much only offer him water and make sure to always have a filled up sippy cup somewhere in his reach. I just hope this sticks!
Diana Quintero
We love to drink water in this family too! I would love to find a water bottle that doesnt leak and also kid friendly.
ememby
We always push water (or milk) prior to any other drinks with snacks and always at meals, want them to set a habit for a lifetime.
ka
I was brought up on squash – my kids, on water. So… I hang my head and drink the squash, while my wonderful children are quite happy with water – in fact, they prefer it to anything else that they’re (rarely) offered. I’ve tried going cold turkey but… I crept back to the squash bottle.