Dehydration - water or juice??

[~clover~]

DS is pretty crook atm.
Not drinking much & bringing back up every 2nd or 3rd feed.

A friend of mine had her DD in hospital & in emergency they told her that apple juice was actually better for dehydration than water.

Anyone know if thats true? & if it is why?

[Pandora]

Not sure but Id be interested to know. I was always told water was best
We give DS water or hydrolyte if theres any question of him getting dehyrdation.

ETA just found one website that said "electrolyte solution (such as Dioralyte, but ask your doctor for a recommendation) or clear liquids such as water or diluted apple juice - these are the easiest things for your baby to keep down if she is vomiting"

[Liviam]

Don't forget about the good ole lemonade icy pole.

[*oli's*mrs*]

i use the hydrolyte ice blocks... kids love ice blocks n when my daughter was violently ill thats the only thing that she would eat... nurse said that was perfect, nd not to force her 2 eat food ect
but dnt kno bout apple juice... its full of sugar

[AliBaby]

It is important to replace or the electrolytes lost when throwing up which unfortuantely plain water doesnt do.

Hydrolite is a great product available from chemists and comes in iceblock form but I am not sure how old you have to be before taking it.

I hope he gets better soon

[~clover~]

Hmm. Well he had a bottle with about 50 mls of apple juice & the rest water yesterday, but hardly had any.
Kept offering BF as much as possible today. Still projectile vomitted 2 since I posted this morning plus once he brought up a bit of mucous.
Tried an icy pole. Only went so far.
I'll just keep offering I guess. every 10 - 20 minutes like I have been. I think he's acting a bit brighter, but he doesn't look any better.

[BhoysGirl]

We ended up in hospital with my DS when he was dehydrated from gastro, think he was about 13 months or so. They got us to give him 5 ml of gastrolyte (blackcurrent flavour) every 10 minutes, using a syringe. This worked wonders for us, the syringe was a bit of a novelty for him and the blackcurrent flavour made the gastolyte more palatable, plus 5mls is an easy amount for them to drink. We did this for about 24 hours or so (although not when he was sleeping obviously), which was the time it took for him to decide to start drinking BM again.

[BhoysGirl]

oh, and from memory, we were told that the gastro bug can take up to 10 days to clear from them, which can mean a few days of vomitting or diarrhoea, or both if you're really lucky. Make sure you're vigilant with your hand washing, so you don't get crook yourself.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

water

[Schmickers]

Depending on the degree of dehydration. If they are only mildly dehyrated, then water is fine. If they are more dehydrated, you need to use something with some electrolytes in it. Apple juice is okay as long as it is diluted well - at least 1:4 apple juice to water - as if it is too strong the high sugar content of the apple juice draws water into the bowel to dilute it and that water is then passed as diarrhoea (incidentally, this is why eating lots of fruit will give you diarrhoea). Hydralyte or gastrolyte are a better choice, as they are carefully balanced to give a good mix of electrolytes.

For more serious dehydration, I would avoid lemonade icypoles as they are too sugary. Lemonade can be used if you water it down 1:8. But please, please, don't give them flat coca cola. We see it a lot, and it actually dehydrates them further as well as upsetting their electrolyte balance. Coca cola is a drink for adults who don't mind the effects of caffiene and sugar, not for children.

[Liz]

I'd go to the pharmacy and ask about Hydralyte. If he's only throwing up every 3rd feed, at least he's keeping 2 out of the 3 feeds down. Perhaps shorten the feeds and make them more frequent to not fill up his little tummy too much.

Hope he's feeling better, poor little chicken.

[maybe baby]

i would have thought water - but that gastrolyte stuff from chemists is good as well

[~clover~]

But please, please, don't give them flat coca cola. We see it a lot, and it actually dehydrates them further as well as upsetting their electrolyte balance. Coca cola is a drink for adults who don't mind the effects of caffiene and sugar, not for children.

Don't worry, my kids never get coke. Ever. I am close to addicted to it. Weaning at present, but I know how unhealthy it is & they know its not for them.

Thanks for your input. It does make a bit more sense.

Thanks everyone.

BTW I am trying to give shorter feeds more often, but he's stubborn.
I think we are doing ok so far though. With the dehydration. I'm more worried about the sound of his chest now.

Bloody kids!

[Liz]

But please, please, don't give them flat coca cola. We see it a lot, and it actually dehydrates them further as well as upsetting their electrolyte balance. Coca cola is a drink for adults who don't mind the effects of caffiene and sugar, not for children.

When I read this I was thinking - wha? who'd give them coke? But then, I've heard of people (me!) sipping coke to ease nausea, was good for my morning sickness, and I've heard it's good for travel sickness too. Literally sipping tho, not as a drink to re-hydrate. Still don't think I'd give it a baby tho.

But thanks for the warning about it dehydrating them