I’ll never forget when my daughter was sick at 18 months old. She hadn’t had a wet diaper in 24-hours, sick with the stomach flu and not keeping anything down, we went to the ER. It was an awful experience, long lines and we made the decision to go home and wait it out through the night so we all could rest comfortably at home. I recall reading somewhere about coconut water’s natural electrolytes and since I am against having anything artificial, I opted to give my daughter some coconut water to drink that evening. I refused to buy Pedialyte, even though my husband was willing to go buy it. The coconut water was the first thing she took well and wanted to drink. Still not keeping much in, we decided to go back to the ER first thing in the morning. No long lines, we got right into see a doctor. They asked their questions, then they asked what was she drinking:
Me: “Coconut Water”
Nurse: Head turns, “What?
Me: “This, coconut water”
Nurse: “Did you try Pedialyte?”
Me: “No, this has electrolytes in it.”
Nurse: “Ok, we’ll bring some out.”
Me: Shrugging shoulders, “Ok…”
I am sure she went back to her co-workers, “Yeah, we have one of those granola moms out there.”
They brought it out and gave it to her, she drank it. Then hurled it right back up. 🙂 I was not happy, afterall, my daughter had not even had juice at that point in her life, let alone red, blue dyes, sucralose and other crappy preservatives that is in there. She grabbed the coconut water and I made her sip it slowly.
Since then, I created my own homemade version. What I like about this:
1. It is cheaper
2. It doesn’t go bad in 24 hours
3. Free of dyes, artificial sugars, and other preservatives
4. Tastes better
I have passed this recipe on to other mothers and while some kids take it and others don’t, the one thing I do know about moms, is that they feel good about this recipe and they can keep the contents on hand in their pantry when needed. I do! If all else fails, you can give them just straight Smart Water.
Homemade Pedialyte:
1/2 cup of Smart Water
1/2 cup of unflavored coconut water
1/4 cup of organic, unfiltered apple juice
2 drops of Vitamin D3 drops (400 iu per drop)
Mix and drink up! Also makes for a great post recovery drink after a long workout.
Check out my recent post on What To Do When the Stomach Flu Strikes
Do you have any special drinks or remedies that you use when you are sick and dehydrated?
great recipe, thanks for sharing
Never heard of replacing pedialyte with coconut water! I do hate that I have to use the entire thing of Pedialyte in 24 hours..it’s not cheap!
It is not cheap, literally money down the drain! I hope to get a picture posted, been having issues uploading.
Awesome idea! Like Katy said, I hate buying a bottle of Pedialyte. Last time my son was sick, he only had a few sips, didn’t like the taste, and it was money wasted.
Thank you!
I LOVE this! Thank you so much for sharing it.
You are welcome! Definitely a Mom For Less type of a post! 🙂
Oooh, I love it! Pinned it to remember for the future!
thank you, it is tasty too!
Oh, I love this, Pedialyte is so expensive and this sounds so much better in so many ways. Have you tried freezing this for Popsicles? That is how I usually get my boys to take it.
Pepper, I am sure this will freeze quite well. If you do, let me know how they turn out
Jasmine,
Thank you so much for posting this recipe – it was pure serendipity that I saw this post on Facebook when I was knocked down with the norovirus last week. I had never had Pedialyte before and all the websites said it was my best bet. I tried it and decided that it was literally the most disgusting thing I’ve ever had in my life. And yes, filled with gross fake stuff.
Molly,
I am so glad you find the recipe helpful during your bout of the nasty norovirus. Happy you are better and used good stuff to nourish your body.
THANK YOU Jasmine! Great recipe, I’m so excited to be finally keeping down clear liquids! My kids don’t mind drinking it at all.
Is coconut water the same as coconut milk? Is coconut water what they sell in the soda-like can in the mexican food section? Thanks!
Coconut water comes from inside of the coconut when you break it open. The milk comes from the meat of the coconut and much higher in calories. Both are good but provide different nutritional values.