An Easy, DIY Recipe for Homemade Pedialyte (2024)

Posted on Last updated: March 20, 2024

I hate buying Pedialyte! It’s so expensive, and then I feel like it gets wasted because my kids never completely drink it, and I throw a lot of it away.

To be honest, they always say it tastes bad so it’s a fight to even get them to drink it, especially when they are sick. Often when they don’t feel good they don’t want to eat or drink a lot as it is, so I need to make it taste good in order to get them to take it..

This is why I researched and discovered a simple recipe for homemade Pedialyte. I wanted to make my own for my son since he was sick this week.

This recipe is pediatrician-approved and my kids much prefer the way it tastes.

No more expensive Pedialyte going to waste in this house!

Homemade Pedialyte Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of boiling water
• 2 teaspoons of powdered Jello, I used raspberry
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Pour the jello, sugar, and salt into a pitcher.
2. Add in the boiling water and stir until the powdered ingredients are completely dissolved.
3. Add the remaining cold, plain water, stir and refrigerate.

I like that this mixture is so simple, you know what’s in it, and it tastes a little bit better than the Pedialyte in the stores.

It’s very easy to make this homemade recipe and with ingredients that almost any parent would have on hand. The last thing you want to do when you have sick kids is have to make a run to the grocery store!

FAQ About Homemade Pedialyte

Are there alternative recipes without artificial ingredients, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, and food dye? Yes, the best all-natural Pedialyte would be coconut water. It has fluid-balancing potassium and sodium which are essential minerals needed when trying to combat dehydration.

One thing to note however is that my kids did not like the taste of this (and I didn’t either to be honest!). One thing you could do to make it taste better for children is mix it half and half with orange juice. The natural flavor of the orange juice is much more readily consumed by children.

I definitely am the kind of mom who prefers natural ingredients, however when it comes to a dehydrated child, I basically just give them whatever I need to in order to get them rehydrated and feeling better ASAP.

How should I store this homemade electrolyte drink recipe? Just like store-bought Pedialyte, you’ll want to store this homemade recipe in the refrigerator and drink it within 2 days.

Do you have any other tricks for getting my sick kiddo to drink this? Yes, if your child won’t drink it on its own, try freeze it in an ice cube tray and then adding the ice to something like ginger ale. Kids loves straws too, so try offering them one of those for drinking.

I hate it when young children are sick because they don’t understand the importance of staying hydrated the way my older kids do. That’s why I do whatever I can to encourage my kids to drink, drink, drink to replace their body fluids, even if it’s just small sips.

Dehydration

Do you know the signs of dehydration in children? The signs of mild dehydration are:

• light-headedness or dizziness
• headaches
• nausea
• dark yellow or brown urine OR little urine/wet diapers
• dry lips, tongue, mouth or throat.

If your dehydrated child shows signs of severe dehydration, they need to be taken in to see their doctor or to the ER right away. Symptoms of that include:

• no tears when crying
• pale skin with sunken eyes
• confusion
• extreme thirst
• lethargic or less active than usual
• feeling cold, especially in the hands and feet
• breathing faster than usual and having a fast heart rate

More Helpful Tips For the Stomach Flu

I hate it when my kids are sick and I’m sure you do too. As a mom of 7, we’ve dealt with the stomach flu far too many times here. In fact, one stomach virus was so bad and lasted so long that my husband and I affectionately review to that time period as “vomigeden”. Yeah, it was that bad!

Here are some of my best tips for when your family is dealing with the stomach bug.

1. We keep a few cots at our home, like these bunkbed cots (they can also be set up as single cots which is what we do when they are sick) that we position in an easy-to-clean spot. We have any sick children sleep on these cots so that any overnight vomit accidents are easier to clean. When we had carpet in the bedrooms we would position these over a shower curtain liner to protect the carpet or move the cots to the hallway where we had a wood floor. This strategy helped SO much! In my opinion, it’s always a good thing to have a shower curtain liner or two on hand. They are so cheap and I use them for a lot of things.
2. Don’t give your sick child too much solid food or beverage too quickly. I wait at least 20 minutes since the last vomit incident before trying to give my child a small amount of water or DIY electrolyte drinks. If they keep that down after a few minutes, then I give them a little bit more, slowly increasing how much I give them each time.
3. If you don’t have some already, get yourself some popsicle molds. Then you can fill them with a rehydration drink and kids will more readily consume it. I find popsicle molds are helpful for just about any sickness my kids have. When they have a sore throat, I fill them with orange juice, coconut water, or even tea with some raw honey. They are so versatile!
4. You don’t want your child to become dehydrated, so encourage small sips often of this homemade Pedialyte solution.
5. Make sure that you are familiar with the signs of dehydration and monitor your child frequently for those.