Drinks for Kids

Healthy Drinks My Kids Actually Love

A real-food parent’s guide to keeping sugary drinks out of the house — without anyone feeling deprived.

One question I get all the time: what on earth do your kids drink? We don’t do sugary drinks in our home — no soda, no sweetened juice boxes — and yet my kids have plenty of things they genuinely love. Here’s our whole line-up, with recipes and a few honest notes for fellow parents. Grab a cup and settle in.

A gentle word on sweetening for kids: my goal is never to make a drink taste like candy — just to add the barest hint of “sweet” so little ones will happily drink it. I lean on a touch of stevia or a little raw honey. 

(One important safety note: never give honey to a baby under 12 months — it carries a small risk of infant botulism.)

Homemade lemonade & limeade GF DF

This is our everyday favorite, and it couldn’t be simpler.

Real-Food Lemonade

Adjust everything to your family’s taste.

Water (still or sparkling)

Fresh lemon or lime juice

A little stevia to sweeten

Stir and serve over ice. I used to make this with agave because it tastes lovely — but after reading Sally Fallon’s piece on how modern agave is processed, I stopped buying it and switched to stevia (and sometimes a little raw honey).

Herbal teas GF DF

My kids love a warm (or iced) herbal tea, and it’s such a cozy way to sneak in something soothing. We keep bags of raspberry leaf, spearmint, peppermint, and a few others on hand — many of ours lean more medicinal than anything, so I sweeten them just to the point where the kids notice a little “sweet.”

How I Brew Herbal Tea

Bring water to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer.

Add your herbs and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, let cool, and strain.

Sweeten lightly with a touch of stevia or honey.

We buy bulk herbs from the health food store — but at my mom’s house we get to pick raspberry, spearmint, wintergreen, and peppermint fresh from her garden. When fresh isn’t available, we use our dried supply.

Coconut water GF DF

A creamy treat we all adore. It’s pricey, so I buy it when it’s on sale and then ration it out — otherwise it would vanish in a single afternoon! It’s naturally dairy-free, which makes it a lovely option for milk-sensitive kiddos.

Nut & rice milks GF DF

There are so many lovely drinks you can make (or buy) from nuts and rice. Costco’s Rice Dream is gluten-free — I keep a shelf-stable box in our trailer for emergencies. (We skip soy milk entirely as a personal choice.) You can also make your own almond or cashew milk at home: blend soaked nuts with water, a pinch of sea salt, and a date or two, then strain.

Sparkling “soda” GF DF

Our newest favorite — and a huge hit with the kids. We use our carbonated-water machine to make bubbly water, then add flavored stevia and slices of fresh fruit. Mmmm, so yummy! It gives them that fun “soda” feeling with nothing to feel bad about.

— ♥ —

A note to my fellow celiacs about milk

This is worth knowing, because it trips up so many newly diagnosed families. Here’s the connection: the very tips of the intestinal villi — the part gluten damages first — are also where the enzyme that digests milk sugar lives. So when your villi are damaged, you often can’t digest dairy well either.

That’s why newly diagnosed celiacs are often advised to eliminate all dairy at first, give the villi time to heal, and then reintroduce dairy gently — starting with cultured, fermented forms that are easiest to digest (like buttermilk or kefir), then cottage cheese and yogurt, and only later, regular milk. Work through this with your own doctor, since everyone heals at a different pace.

On raw milk — honestly: raw milk keeps the natural enzymes that pasteurization and homogenization reduce, and some people who can’t tolerate processed milk do find they handle raw milk better. But please hear me clearly on two things. First, a true dairy allergy is not the same as trouble digesting milk — raw milk will still cause an allergic reaction, so never give raw milk to a child with a milk allergy. Second, raw milk can carry harmful bacteria and isn’t legal to sell everywhere; health authorities specifically caution against it for young children, whose immune systems are still developing. It’s a personal choice families make carefully, from a source they know and trust — and one worth talking through with your pediatrician.

— ♥ —

So there you have it — we love our herbal teas, our coconut water, our lemonade and limeade, and our fruity sparkling “sodas.” None of it is complicated, and not a drop of it needs added sugar to make my kids happy. Start with one or two, let your children help make them, and watch how quickly the sugary stuff stops being missed.

Thank you so much for the question — keep them coming! Happy drink-making. 😊

A heart-to-heart reminder: I’m sharing our family’s experience and general information here, not medical advice — I’m not a doctor. Herbs, raw milk, kombucha, and dairy reintroduction can affect children differently, so please check with your pediatrician about what’s right for your own little ones, especially babies, toddlers, or a child with allergies or a medical condition.

With much love,

Steffanie