Drink Up. Y Not?

Sure, it's better to choose vitaminwater instead of soda, but do you really feel good about handling a bottle over to your toddler?  It may be healthier than Coke, but vitamin water's still got loads of fructose -- aka natural sugar -- and calories. 

If your kid's got a sweet tooth and you're looking for another option, it's worth trying Y Water, a line of just-sweet-enough organic drinks in child-sized bottles. There are four varieties: Brain, Bone, Muscle and Immune. Each has added nutrients to actually do some good while your little one's guzzling them down, since they’ve all got natural ingredients and very few calories. 

Plus, these drinks come in a cool funky bottle that's also a definite kid pleaser. When it's empty, it's designed to be reused as a sort of futuristic building block with rubber band-like connectors called Y Knots (geddit?) that are sold on the Y Water website. (Attached, they look like something your pet gerbil might want to run around in.) If you can't imagine using old bottles as toys, these containers are 100 percent recyclable. Since they're made of medical grade plastic that won't leech in the dishwasher, you can use them again and again. 

Y is based in Los Angeles but is involved in a large handful of charity events in New York City over the next month or so, offering its healthy drinks at fundraisers like Taste of Tribeca next weekend and The Baby Buggy Bedtime Bash in early June. For the entire month of May, it is supplying beverages to Hale House Center, the Harlem non-profit that provides support to families in its community. 

And is it terrible to admit that, after the kids have gone to bed, Y's Immune Water makes a tasty nightcap for mom mixed with vodka and lemon? After a day running around after little ones, a little added immunity -- particularly when it's this tasty -- could make any mother go to sleep smiling.