Dehydrated 9 Year Old Son...

Pedialyte will make him feel better right away. Any nurse will tell you this. My husband and I had the stomach flu a few years ago and my mom gave us pedialite and we felt better almost instantly.nothing else worked. If you get the big container it is only good for 1 day I think. If you buy the singles( like a six pack ) you can use one as needed. We like the grape and make sure it's cold. Hope he feels better soon :)

Oh, stay away from milk products if it is a stomach virus issue. It will make him feel worse.

My son has a very high metabolism and is very active. He gets dehydrated easily and it leads to bad, really bad migraines. It also has to do with the barametric pressure. To learn what caused it I kept a journal for a few weeks with his food, drink, weather, activities etc. It was really eye opening to have all that information in front of me. He doesn't like soda, pedialite or things like that so he drinks water. During the times of the year that the barametric pressure changes we actually have him tally how much he drinks. We remind him daily that the majority of his body is water and that it needs to be replenished. As he is getting older it helps some. Keep on your son to drink enough, dehydration causes lots of unpleasant symptoms.

My doctor reminds me every summer to make sure the kids drink plenty water. By the time you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. A friend volunteers with rebuilding homes in New Orleans with the youth group from church. As a mentor they have many meetings beforehand where they are reminded about keeping hydrated and what signs to look for. If he is only drinking a glass of water, then he really isn't getting what he needs for normal activity, let alone activity for a 9 yr old. I keep telling my son he needs to drink more water. He will tell me that he just had a glass. You have to look at what he has had all day long, every day, since it can add (or subtract) over time.
BTW, when I am not drinking enough water, I get very light headed, terrible headaches and feel like I cannot breathe right. And thinking about your son's symptoms, I think I am going to really get on my son about this. He gets special medication that for the past several months makes him feel this way but the docs are puzzled as to why since he didn't have the problem before.

Our 9 year old daughter will get stomach cramps and feel dizzy when she's not had enough to drink. She is pretty active. The key we have found is a steady flow of fluids during the day not just a couple big glasses with meals. It seems the body absorbs better when we make sure she drinks throughout the day. We also give her plenty of fruits with high water content like melon, watermelon, grapes. Taking time to drink a couple glasses of water is boring for kids--it interrupts their playtime. So it's easy to see how they can become dehydrated easily. If he is talking at lunch and doesn't drink his milk, then goes to recess, skips the water fountain because he's busy doing soemthing else, maybe runs outside after school but didn't take the time to drink his juice...it all adds up to a kid who isn't hydrated. Kids burn off a lot of fluid---and if you think a normal adult needs like 6-8 glasses of water and we seldom get enough--probably very few kids do either. Up the fruits and veggies and always have drinks around to drink and he should be fine.

Hi A.,

Water just wont due when someone is dehydrated. try gaterade it replenished the electrolytes that need to be restored in the body.

Hope this helps.