Are Your Kids Properly Hydrated? Here Are 5 Ways to Know

As adults, we’ve learned to sense by now when we need to hydrate. On the other hand, babies and young children are very susceptible to dehydration because they haven’t yet cued in on knowing when to drink. They can be doing their kid-things, like playing and having fun, without realizing they need to drink something.

With that said, dehydration in children is often caused because they simply don’t drink enough fluids throughout the day. Other causes can be vomiting or intense bouts of diarrhea, which deplete the body of fluids.

When your child’s body doesn’t have enough fluids to work properly, a number of serious health problems can develop quickly. Short-term issues like a lack of focus, poor communication, and depleted motor skill abilities can appear immediately. Extended dehydration can lead to an irregular heart rate, low blood pressure, confusion, memory loss, and even death.

The human body’s need for water is such that you can go for more than 30 days without eating, but if you were to go 3 days without drinking any water, you would be in a life-threatening situation.

As a caring mama, I know you don’t want your children to suffer from the side effects of dehydration. Since summer is right around the corner, I know your kids will be outside in the hot sun playing even more than usual. Here are 5 ways to help you know if your children are dehydrated, so you can catch a problem before it gets bigger.

1 – Lack of Energy, Lethargy

Your child might have no energy because she’s been playing all day, and that’s normal. Lethargy though, is a different type of energy loss. If your child finds it hard to perform simple physical tasks and she can’t speak naturally or respond to your voice, this could be a sign of dehydration. Your child may also appear to be limp and will resist walking or moving.

2 – An Elevated Heart Rate

Dehydration causes many different bodily processes to go wrong, and one of these is how the heart operates. If your child ever has a sustained heartbeat of more than 110 beats per minute, see a doctor immediately. This is a danger signal for so many reasons, and one of those is dehydration.

3 – Dehydration Can Lead to Pale Skin

Pale, splotchy skin is a telltale sign that your child is not properly hydrated. This appears after a child has been dehydrated for a significant period of time, and the situation needs to be treated right away.

4 – Your Child Lacks Body Fluids

Sunken eyes are a sign that a child is not properly hydrated. The eyes become sunken and may have dark circles around them because of a lack of body fluid. You might see your child licking her lips frequently because she has a dry mouth, and you notice she’s not going to the bathroom as frequently. These are all telltale signs that your kid needs to get some water into her body!

5 – Unquenchable Thirst

Dehydration can lead to severe thirst. If this just happens after a few hours of playing in the backyard, that’s probably normal. If your child is always thirsty, he may not be getting enough water into his system regularly.

Some other things to look for is if your children experiences dizziness or headaches, which are signs of being dehydrated. When the body cries out for water, the result could be crankiness, dry skin or dark-colored urine. If any of these symptoms appear, get your child to slowly drink some water. In every case, taking your child to the emergency room while also getting him to drink some water is a smart move.

How to Keep Your Kids from Becoming Dehydrated

• Buy BPA-free water bottles for each of your children. If your child likes the bottle and thinks it’s special, he will be more prone to reach for it regularly.
• Get your kids started at a very young age drinking fluids throughout the day. If they develop this healthy habit early, they will stick with it for life.
• If your kiddos want something a little more flavorful than water, make sure you sweeten beverages with a natural sweetener like stevia or organic honey, and avoid sugar.
• Herbal teas deliver a lot of health benefits that plain water simply doesn’t. Coconut water is also wonderful, as it provides valuable electrolytes.
• Sneak some more water into your child’s diet by preparing and serving healthy soups for meals.

If your children are playing in the backyard, providing a pitcher of ice cold water, tea, or lemonade will ensure that your kids are keeping hydrated. Out of sight means out of mind, so take the drinks to them! When your children see you place a refreshing pitcher of their favorite beverage on your outside porch along with chilled glasses of ice cubes, the odds of dehydration disappear.

The bottom line is that if we teach our children early on about the value of drinking water and help to instill a healthy habit, the risk of dehydration is much lower.

Do you have some tried and true ways of keeping your kids hydrated? What are some of their favorite summertime healthy drinks that you keep on hand? Let me know so I can share them along to other mamas looking for tips!

Just as there are some beverages that can keep us hydrated, there are other ones that deplete our bodies of essential nutrients. Click here for my FREE guide on 15 Foods To Never Feed Your Kids, so you can stay away from those foods and drinks that do harm to our bodies and minds!

Wishing you well,

Dr. Jessica