School water policy help

[88Pandora88]

Vague title, wasn't sure how to word it.
Anyway my DD is 8 and her school has a water only policy except for with packed lunches. My dd is a nightmare with food and drinks. She eats limited foods, which we are working on and has increased slightly, but liquid wise, she will only drink vimto, pure orange or occasionally strawberry milkshake (but only certain brands)
Schools said today to her she's not to bring vimto, only water (during class times) Her juice bottle isnt one you can really see through so not sure how they've found out.
If we send water, the bottle will come home just as full as its sent in, she will not drink it. Trust me, we've tried many times.
Weight wise, she's small for her age in height but just within the healthy range for weight to height on bmi. This is something else I'm monitoring to make sure she's always gaining etc.

Anyway, she's told us her teacher said only water in future, yet she's told us teachers are allowed juice, some have orange, vimto, blackcurrant etc. Not sure that's setting the best example really.
Any suggestions on how to get around all of this and keep her on juice, don't want her going all day without drinking (she will get some juice at dinner though)
Also she's been getting headaches recently which touch wood we've got on top of, so don't want her getting dehydrated and headaches returning either 🙈

I should add we've tried flavoured water etc.
Thanks!

Thanks to the helpful replies, I will definitely push more fluids before school and just tell her to drink loads at lunch.

Thanks for the teachers point of view too, I do get it but it's just frustrating too, I will try to push water but honestly every other attempt we've tried, she just won't drink all day 🙈

It seems she's permitted other drinks with lunch. So pack plenty for then.

It really won't matter is she has nothing to drink during lessons and morning/afternoon break if she drinks with breakfast before drop off, at lunch and after pick up

Red flags? Surely encouraging her to listen to her body and learn the consequences of not treating her body well will stand her in good stead? She will learn that she gets thirsty if she doesn’t drink water, and that if she drinks water she feels better than if she drinks sweet drinks all through experience. It feels like you’re enabling her whims and allowing her to wriggle out of learning natural consequences.

Teachers can drink what they like because funnily enough, I haven't spilt my drink all over the desk... Ever. Whereas I've had children in my class spill water at least once a week. If it was juice it would make much more of a mess than it already does.
I wouldn't worry about her not drinking during the day. Presumably she has a drink at breakfast, she can have juice at lunch and then she can drink as much as she likes when she gets home. Not drinking from 9-12 and 1-4 is not going to do her any harm. The water is there for if she gets really thirsty, otherwise she will manage until lunch/home time. We never used to take drinks into school as children. Use of the water fountain occasionally and a drink of milk at break and water at lunch and that was it.
Also, her size has no impact on this issue. She's not getting her calories from drinking vimto.

My DD comes home from school every day with an untouched water bottle. I make sure she has a drink before school, takes one (fruit juice) for lunch, and has one as soon as she gets home. I don't engage in any conversation about the water- just make sure she has it if she wants it. The one time I thought she had used the water bottle it had just spilled in her bag! The only adjustment I have made is to allow her to take packed lunch so she can have a non-water drink (school offer water only). I've never mentioned it to school and they have never mentioned it to me so must be pretty common.

How ridiculous, maybe you should give your daughter some wine, just to make it fair 🙄

Vimto has a really strong distinctive smell.

Can you try the flavoured squash drops that go into water? Build up and reward chart? Get them from the till in Aldi. .

We never had drinks at school except break and lunch and maybe in. Heatwave. To be fair I do r know how we drank so little just a tiny carton at lunch. Conveniently forget the Pepsi machine.

I'm a secondary teacher and have juice in my bottle. I don't care for water really pathetically. I have apple squash as it's clear. If a pupil wants a drink I let them as long as it a bottle and goes back in bag. Won't allow energy drinks obviously red bull etc. most just have water.

Could she have flavoured water instead? I know at my school children are fussy about not liking water and I wouldn't enforce not having squash, it's fine if it's sugar free. However, you'll get no where saying "well teachers are allowed" ffs we're adults, I bet you are allowed to drink liquids other than water at work!

Teacher here - we have the same policy.

A few of the children in my class use the 'Air Up' bottles and love them.

We have the same policy.

The last parent that kicked up a massive fuss about it was told that they're welcome to take their child to a different school.

Does no one actually read the home/school agreements they sign.

Reminds me of those mums passing fish suppers through the school fence when Jamie Oliver was trying to get them to eat vegetables.

Its attitudes like this that make me think a career in public health communication is not a wise move for me.

Surely you’d want to support the school in helping your kid make healthy choices?

Ffs just give her water. Unfair to make exceptions and makes it really hard for other parents who are saying no to squash

She will drink water if thirsty

I think if they want kids to only have water, teachers should be setting an example. I get teachers are adults but i just feel it's unfair on the children.

I'm curious, what do you drink at home?

I think this is a normal policy. Dentists will tell you sipping drinks other than water even sugar free isn't good for teeth too

I wasn’t allowed to drink at school during the day, I went home most days with a headache until I had rehydrated myself.

I also cannot drink water, I did a half marathon without a drink because I couldn’t force myself to drink the water because I hate the taste. If a child in my class brought fizzy pop I wouldn’t allow it but I would never say no to juice, I don’t see the harm. A juice spillage is just as annoying as a water spillage so I don’t see the difference.

Wont not can’t.

I’m genuinely interested - are people here giving their children loads of juice, vimto etc at home? We have only water or milk. Every now and again we might get juice for a special occasion. But it wouldn’t occur to me to introduce anything else. Our school says bring a water bottle and nobody has ever expressed a desire to fill it with anything else. I can’t imagine we’re unusual in this?

As someone who also has a history of eating disorders I am taking the opposite approach to you - making healthy eating normative and not bowing to whims or making them into discussion topics in the family, in a bid to ensure food and water are seen as sustenance and something to be enjoyed, but not something that dominates.

Hey, thanks for replying and also as a fellow person with/who had eating disorder. On not sure what you had but mine was/is ARFID (anxiety based)
If we try to push foods on her, she withdraws even more, we do encourage healthier foods, although the foods she does eat are quite good to be honest, we've managed to re introduce baked beans by just having them on the plate, she ate some, in her own time. When pushed she goes into her shell and I see alot of me in her when I was in that situation too, my parents were old school with the whole "not leaving the table until plates empty" so I'd sit there for an hour or more some days until they realised it wasn't working.
She did used to drink water when she started school, even other cordials but liquids have become very limited.
As I said in a previous post, I will try and keep up with offering/getting her to drink bits of water but as she's at the age I was when I started with my Ed, I do try to tread lightly. Her younger sister ears anything and everything so I they're polar opposites in that sense.

Sorry op you just sound like an parent who thinks the rules don't apply to you. Sorry you had an earing disorder but not sure that is relevant.

Schools have rules - otherwise the kids just do what they want. She won't dehydrate.

I grew up in QLD, Australia with regular days over 34 degrees and 100% humidity and no air conditioning in classrooms in the eighties and nineties. We never even considered having drinks in class. She’ll be fine.

Unless she is SEN no child will dehydrate themselves to the point of hospitalisation either. You are ruining her teeth. Stop pandering and go on a water only regime.

Our dcs school is the same. Often comes home with a full bottle. No harm has come of it! So is the youngests dcs pre school.
I have a teen and was never known to take a bottlw for during the day. Lunchtime drink or water from tap in paper cup.
Again never got ill from it even in summer.

How on earth does she know what teachers may or may not be drinking?
And even so, teachers also drink coffee, which children aren't allowed. They wear non-uniform too, unlike children. Rules for adults are different and I don't think you're helping the situation by planting the idea there should be parity here.

You can NOT be serious. Do you want teachers to wear uniform too? Not wear earrings or makeup? Tie long hair back? Do homework? Funnily enough, teachers are adults and not school pupils. Good grief.

OP, I feel sorry for your daughter... while it's obvious you care a great deal about her, it sounds like pandering to her is likely to only increase this issue. I'm sorry you had an ED, but do be careful not to push this onto your daughter. She can drink water.

we've managed to re introduce baked beans by just having them on the plate, she ate some, in her own time.

Perhaps i'm not understanding your posts correctly, but are you offering her water at all during the day? If the technique worked with baked beans then it makes sense to send water in the bottle and a different drink for her packed lunch. She can't start to drink water in her own time if it's not actually being offered.

OP I would probably contact her doctor.

A lot of people are saying unless she is SEN, but it's so easy for girls to not even be on the SEN radar because they present differently.

Also, packing in fluid before school and during lunch makes no sense to me, she'll just wee it all out!

Fluid intake should be regular throughout the day.

Really we shouldn't be feeling thirsty at all, with correct fluid in take. Feeling thirsty is like the first step of being dehydrated. It's the body's first signal.

If you know she will just go thirsty rather than take water then there is clearly something else going on, and it warrants looking into, and then you can make requests for reasonable adjustments on the grounds of disability for her to access something she can and will have.