rehydration sachets

[ronnie963]

does anyone have any tips for gatting theses drinks into a five year old they taste terrible but he has had diarrhoea for 4 days and needs to have some but is refusing because of the taste he says he would rather stay ill than drink one and who could blame him

[dondieclem]

mine won't drink them either. any fluids is better than none. lemonade works best for my kids. Good luck its horrible when your kids are ill.

[meltoadhall]

if he is not taking fliuds and still has the runs he needs to have them because he will become dehydrated and end up in hospital. this happened to a friends daughter last year. they had to put up a drip in the end - not fun for anyone.

[jolou71]

Try flattening coke or lemonade by putting a teaspoon of sugar in. It will fizz up big time and then go really flat.This is a good substitute for rehdration salts. Another tip from a pharmacist friend is to make up banana complan with water not milk, and try that. Hope your son is better soon

xx

[JustSia]

Jolou71, I'm sorry to be so skeptical but I always thought coke to be not only a dehydrator like any other caffeine drink but also a diuretic.

My 4yo had the same problem I had to resort to bribery. And give it to her like spoonfuls but every 5-10 min. So she would get her dose as well as get used to the taste. But unfortunately it is a necessary evil. You have to persevere.

S

[ryansmum]

Hi, A friend of mine told me that she used to mix normal cordial with the sachets to get them down her child. I'm not sure if you can get a non flavor one or if she just used any but its worth a try. Good luck

[Sparkles3]

Our doctor prescribed the sachets for my 18 month old, but at the same time said that most children hate them. She said that Lucozade Sport has virtually all the same ingredients in it, so to try that. Because it is a sports drink, it is apparently absorbed into the body more quickly than just water, giving a chance to rehydrate more rapidly. Hope your little man gets better soon!

[Sparkles3]

Should also have said that my daughter was more than happy to have the lucozade and not the sachets and that she got better within 36 hours after having had terrible diarrhoea for 3 days (don't know if that was just because that's the length of the virus or the lucozade started working). Good luck!

[Liza B]

Hi my health visitor told me to use flat coke and I have been using if for the past 18 years with all my children and it seems to work, just remember little and often is the trick.

[morg_monster]

A doctor on the NHS direct line told me that he thinks rehydration sachets are rubbish, they taste so gross that people make up their drink and don't drink much of it - if they were drinking water they'd be able to get it down!

The whole point of them is to give sugars and salts to a person unable to obtain them through food. We can live for ages without food in theory , but our body becomes 'out of whack' as its electrolyte levels go wrong. Any flavoured (not low sugar) drink will do the job just as well. orange squash, ribena, flat coke (the bubbles will irritate a sensitive stomach), lucozade (again maybe flat). THey'll all work.

[PhilBy]

The old fashioned method of nipping your nose really does take

[PhilBy]

away your sense of taste

[ronnie963]

thanks everyone i tried the lucozade sport seemed to do the trick. I totally agree with morg-monster and have throw the over packets away any liquid is better than no liquid.

well he's much better and will be back at school tomorrow horay

[ann_h]

Glad he's better now.

Just as a general - rehydration= 1 teaspoon salt and 4 of sugar per pint of water. The salt matters, which is why the lucozade sport is a better option than ordinary pop/cordial.