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She passes urine once in 2 hours. She does drink 1 or 2 sips of warm water when I ask her during the day time. Usually I have to run behind her for the same.
She does drink some water with lunch and dinner.
What can I do to to ensure that she intakes more water?
This question is specifically about winters. In summers there is no such problem.
This is normal that she drinks less water in winter time. Is it not the same for you?
But about your problem -
try using some children water bottles (with her favorite character) and leave it so she can easily access it.
add some frozen berries or slice of lemon or orange to glass of water
use a straw
My 2 year old likes to drink a lot if she can drink it from some new kind of bottle or cup or glass.
Correcting a child has a very strong component of "choosing your battles." If you try to control every little thing in their life, when they reach teen-age years and start questioning their parents, they will be a lot more likely to rebel against every bit of your authority. If you choose your battles and only correct when really necessary, they will be a lot more likely to see your correction as the loving care that we parents normally mean it to be.
As far as drinking, the body has a tremendous way of letting us know when it needs more fluids - thirst. Let your daughter experience that. Unless you have specific reasons to believe that she is dehydrated or that she could become dehydrated, let her come to you and say "mom I'm thirsty", and then you can provide what she needs. If however, you see signs of dehydration, then you should address it (I have listed those below). Or if you are in an environment where it could be easy to become dehydrated quickly (hot dry day outside, with lots of activity), then you could encourage her to take water regularly to prevent dehydration.
The fact that she is passing urine every two hours should tell you that she is getting plenty liquids, by far. A child at that age can go that much or even three or four hours without using the potty. I would only be concerned and make them drink if they get beyond 3 hours, and even then, I'd be looking at other things - their eyes, their skin, and their energy and activity level.
Signs of Dehydration, from Kidshealth.org
Our 3 year old doesn't drink a lot either, also not in summer time. This has worried us in the past. My advice: do not worry too much.
The most important thing is to look for signs of dehydration like others say here and to always provide access to water.
We always provide access to water by putting a water bottle on the coffee table and make sure we have a bottle when we go out. Kids will drink accordingly to their needs. When we eat (breakfast, lunch and dinner) we always give a cup of water. If she didn't drink during dinner we will persuade her to drink before leaving the table ("How many years are you? 3. Then you have to take 3 sips").
Sometimes she will say she's thirsty and will suddenly drink a full cup or more at once. I think she is caching up then.
During summer time we are more careful and watch for red cheeks (or full red face) which is an easy to spot sign besides the long list posted here.
