Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wish that parents would send their children with water bottles etc

198 replies

katydid02 · 18/07/2013 17:23

Children are hot and thirsty with this lovely weather and yet parents are sending them to school with no water bottles, no sun hats and without suncream. 2/30 had a sunhat today and only about 10 had water bottles.

OP posts:
MrsHeinzDoofenschmirz · 19/07/2013 14:51

Some children do need extra water in this heat, though, not just a drink before school, at breaks and after school.

I had to go into school the other day to give my DS painkillers, as he hadn't drunk any of the water in his bottle during lessons, and started to get a migraine because of it. He'd had water before school and at break time, but he was still dehydrated and overheated as he'd run around in the sun at playtime.

I did give him a real telling off about not wearing his hat at playtime though!

HeySoulSister · 19/07/2013 15:00

How do you know it wasn't just a headache though? Maybe squinting in the sunlight or any other reason.....

ShadeofMe · 19/07/2013 15:07

The doctor in the eye clinic at my local hospital said that headaches in children are normally only caused by dehydration.

She said that even though my daughter had eyesight problems that needed correcting they shouldn't be causing her a headache and it was more than likely down to dehydration.

Feminine · 19/07/2013 15:12

parakeet that is not true.

We need to drink way before we feel thirsty!

That is a sign we should have had something earlier.

parakeet · 19/07/2013 16:04

Hi Feminine - please could you provide a link to the research evidence demonstrating that we need to drink before we feel thirsty?

notso · 19/07/2013 16:35

DD went through primary school only having one drink at lunchtime because the healthy school policy said they could only have plain water and she wouldn't drink it. For a while I gave her squash in an aluminium bottle but someone told the teacher so they changed to clear bottles only.

DS1 says the teacher tells them off if they have too many drinks of water in class so he barely has any.

Hats make you sweat more. I encourage my DC to wear them but they end up taking them off because they get too hot and I don't blame them.

We are always getting letters warning about heat stroke and sunburn but the school still insist on forcing them all to play out during the hottest part of the day.

Feminine · 19/07/2013 16:38

Parakeet, I have known that fact for years... I am surprised you haven't? Sorry no links. Try Google ;-)

olidusUrsus · 19/07/2013 16:57

Sorry Feminine, but parakeet is right, "drink before you get thirsty" is a bit of a myth. It's sometimes a rule used by elite athletes, but usually it's used as a marketing ploy by drinks companies.

You can also drink too much (hyponatraemia), read up on the Boston Marathon 2004. The temperature suddenly peaked and racegoers were reminded to drink lots at water stations. I think they had more cases of hyponatraemia than dehydration that day, certainly lots of runners were affected.

olidusUrsus · 19/07/2013 16:59

I think it stems from the fact that people think if you feel thirst you must NEED to drink and quickly or you'll tip over into being dehydration. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Thirst is not a sign of a dried up body in desperate need of fluids, it's just a cue.

curlew · 19/07/2013 17:13

I can link to loads of research, published in reputable journals showing that the the "drink before you're thirsty" line is a myth. Can you link to any research that says it isn't?

HeySoulSister · 19/07/2013 17:21

my PT says its a myth too.....but so is the sports drink. you don't need sports drinks!

MrsHeinzDoofenschmirz · 19/07/2013 17:24

HeySoulSister I know it wasn't just a headache because he was white and nearly throwing up and when I got to the school he was lying listlessly on the bed in the medical room. When he has just got a headache, he complains his head hurts but carries on playing/running around.

His migraines are very different from a plain old headache.

HeySoulSister · 19/07/2013 17:28

its a migraine now is it? you said a headache.......

migraines only happen to dehydrated people who have been in the sun? or can they happen at any time of year?

Tiredmumno1 · 19/07/2013 18:09

MrsHeinz said migraine HSS at 14.51 Wink

Tiredmumno1 · 19/07/2013 18:10

Don't know what the wink was for Blush it was meant to be a Smile

Mammagaga · 19/07/2013 19:19

Do they not have taps in school?

parakeet · 19/07/2013 19:24

Dear Feminine I, too, have heard that claim for years - ever since the sports drink industry started promoting it as a way to sell more products.

MiaowTheCat · 19/07/2013 19:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Feminine · 19/07/2013 20:54

Parakeet I have read it for years... not in relation to sports drinks. I have never had any.

I stick to water and tea. :)

curlew · 19/07/2013 21:22

Feminine- the "research" is sponsored by drinks companies. I can find loads of evidence to show that it isn't true if you would like me to,

MrsOakenshield · 19/07/2013 21:28

I googled 'drink before thirsty' and the first thing that came up was a British Medical Journal article debunking this (couldn't read article as subscriber only).

I still can't see why anyone would object to children having ready access to water in a heatwave.

parakeet · 19/07/2013 21:45

I don't - but I do object to health myths being pedalled.

curlew · 19/07/2013 21:58

I think children should have ready access to water in a heat wave. But I hate the fact that we are being taken for mugs by the "hydration industry".

Flobbadobs · 19/07/2013 22:05

Miaowthecat I gave up after DD2 lost 3 hats in 2 days. We now use bandanas and a sun parasol on the buggy!

Viviennemary · 19/07/2013 22:12

We survived without water bottles and hats. If we wanted a drink of water at school on a hot day we got one. But most people waited till break.