Is My Kid Dehydrated
By Melissa Hodges RN
·
05/28/2019
Dehydration and kids: What you need to know
While standing on the sidelines cheering my eldest on at his soccer game is enough to get me reaching for my water bottle, my kindergartener with the flushed face needs a little reminding to hydrate. As temperatures soar it becomes especially important to make sure our children are hydrated – dehydration and heat stroke are all too common in the region and in the emergency department. And children are more prone to dehydration and heat stroke than adults.
Your kids are more susceptible to heat than you are!
As kids have a smaller mass-to-surface-area ratio, they can lose fluid more quickly than adults and become dehydrated more rapidly. Children also have a higher metabolic rate, so their bodies use more water, too. Add to that their kidneys do not conserve water as well as an adult’s and kids often may not drink or eat when they are not feeling well, and you have a recipe for a dehydration disaster! Luckily dehydration is easily preventable. Given the average temperatures here in the desert, we need to be aware year round and teach our children how to prevent dehydration.
To encourage my 5 year old to make a habit of hydrating, I follow two pieces of advice:
Remember: be a good role model -drink sips of water often. Throw a slice of fruit in your child’s water, or a silly straw, or perhaps fun colored ice cube shapes – anything that will encourage constant sipping.
The advice below is not a substitute for seeing a physician.
Is my child dehydrated?
- 孩子看起来迟钝吗？
- 哭的时候是很少还是没有眼泪？
- 有人抱怨口干吗？
- 孩子是否比平时更易怒、易怒或烦躁？
- 尿液颜色比平时深吗？
- 如果孩子是婴儿，排尿频率会减少吗（每天尿布少于六次）？
- 孩子便秘了吗？*
- 孩子的皮肤是否特别干燥，缺乏正常的弹性？甚至可能皱了？
- 眼睛看起来凹陷吗？
- 如果你的孩子是婴儿，软斑（囟门）会塌陷吗？
*有时您的孩子可能因腹泻而脱水。别忘了治疗脱水。
五月
如果我的孩子看起来脱水，我该怎么办？
对于1岁以上且11岁以下的儿童：
- 如果孩子脱水，可以使用口服补液溶液，比如Pedialyte。如果您的孩子在吃食物，可以用清水来补充流失的水分。但如果孩子不进食，普通水无法提供必需的电解质，因此需要口服补液溶液。
- 避免汽水、含咖啡因饮料或明胶，这些无法缓解脱水，反而可能加重症状。
- 确保孩子经常少量饮水。
- 补水可能需要几个小时，因此请让孩子待在阴凉、阴凉的地方，并经常喝水
- 允许孩子喝他或她想喝的水。鼓励孩子多喝水或吮吸带味道的冰棒，比如冰棒。4至10岁的儿童应至少饮用六到十杯液体以补充流失的液体。
- 如果症状没有改善或加重，请致电医生
我怎样才能防止我的孩子脱水？
- 多喝水，多喝水，多喝水。
- 坚持让孩子在户外玩耍时多休息，喝水，尤其是在运动或剧烈体育活动时。也许可以设置一个计时器来提醒自己。另外，在高温前、中、后都要补充水分。
- 待在室内
- 我们非常重视让孩子们出去活动，但天气炎热时，避免在户外活动。在图森的夏季，这意味着每天上午9点以后到傍晚时分都必须待在室内。
- 我们的建议是：早起到户外玩耍，下午小憩，晚上再外出。
- 绝不要把孩子留在停着的车里，哪怕一分钟都不行
- 即使窗户开着，温度也可能在几分钟内飙升到令人震惊的水平。
- 保持轻松，戴帽子
- 让孩子们在外面穿轻便宽松的衣服。透气面料如棉质最好，
- 这个夏天保持凉爽，
这个夏天保持凉爽，
梅丽莎
这些建议不能替代医疗专业人员的建议。如果您担心自己或您的孩子可能中暑或中度至重度脱水，请亲自寻求医疗建议。
