Any suggestions on getting a senior to drink more water?

Don't blame her; I'm not sure I could drink Ensure either!

Another thought if she can tolerate cold foods is dairy queens, although they're high in sugar and probably fat. But some of them actually have good things. We had Pumpkin Blizzards the other day; the pumpkin wasn't as prominent as in a pie, but it was there, and the treat was good.

Fruit salads are another option, especially if they're fluid based such as a blend of pineapple in juice, apples, bananas, etc.

My mother, 92 yrs old, does not like drinking water. About 3 yrs ago, I noticed her stomach looking bloated and asked if she had been having bowel movements. She said 'just a little, like marbles'. That night she started having severe pains and we brought her to ER. They kept her a week for impacted bowels. Dr. tells her "You need to drink water to keep the pipes flowing inside,or they'll get backed up". She likes Capri-Suns, and will add water to them in a glass. Watermelon is great to have, if she likes it. If ice cream doesn't bother her and she loves it and not overweight - GREAT! (I envy her!) :) The dr's say nothing, even juice, is like drinking H2O. They have little bottles of fruit flavoring you can buy in the juice section, I believe, and add few drops to her water, or bottles of flavored water, similar to what JesseBelle mentioned, but with flavoring. Pellegrino Water has a fizz, I believe it's a mineral water. A lot of people I know drink it! Hope this gives a few more options to consider. Good luck!

Innerchild's post reminded me that pineapple, cantaloupe and of course watermelon contain water, and are delicious.

And at this time of the year, there's cider.

Give her foods that have a lot of fluids: soups, fruit juices (if she'll drink them), even an occasional milk shake if she can tolerate somelike that, even though it isn't a particularly healthy food. Ensure, boost and other liquid supplements are also options.

We did try the ensure but she hates it. The milk shakes are a good idea. Also the soup is an excellent suggestion.

She does love ice cream and she needs to gain weight.

My mother likes the little bottles of water you can buy at the grocery store. The 8-oz bottles are just right for her. She wouldn't drink much water until I started getting these at the store for her. Now she drinks a lot of water. Maybe it will work with your mother.

I have has some success with my mom (who has Alzheimer's, is almost 85, weighs about 94 pounds, lives at home with my brother and sister-in-law as caretakers) by leaving sandwiches in the fridge. I cut it into thirds (cut from a corner to halfway across the opposite side, and then from the middle of the cut side of the larger piece to the opposite corner) because quarters are too small. I then leave them in the fridge in individual baggies with a post-it on each baggie saying "Eat this". I found that I could load them with way more deli meat than I usually would, and because they were smaller sandwiches, she would eat pretty much the entire thing, one piece at a time, throughout the afternoon.

The "good" thing about dementia/Alzheimer's is that they don't remember if they've eaten or not, so you can tell them that they haven't and that they should eat "just a small sandwich".

You can do the same with something to drink. Put out a small glass, 4-6 oz., or have a special, easily described glass (I have a blue plastic wine glass for Mom) that you can say "Why don't you have a glass of water/apple juice/orange juice in that pretty new blue wine glass that I got you." And then use the dementia to help her… "No, you haven't had much today. Please just have one 'for me'. "

This means phone calls several times a day, but they can be short. Reminding her won't work. She won't remember. Have her do it while you are on the phone. Say things like, "I need to drink more water, too. Let's do it together even though we're only on the phone. Ready? Drink."

Your husband is a saint! (So is mine! So are my brother and sis-in-law!) Bringing the snack and leaving the leftovers with an "Eat this" note will help.

MAKE the food. Don't ask if she wants it. Just DO it! (Sorry Nike.)

Good luck! It's not easy, but it's SO worth it!!