There's no such thing as too much drink for a child?

[confuddledDOTcom]

My 7yo has packed lunches and a dinner lady told her yesterday that she takes too much to school to drink (two drinks, Capri type). I'm cross because children shouldn't be discouraged from drinking anyway, I was a terror and our GP told me that she wouldn't come out to see me next time I made myself ill when I was not much older - I don't think she meant it!

Besides that, which yes dinner lady wouldn't have known but then she wouldn't have known so she should keep her mouth shut because she doesn't know the personal details, my daughter has chronic constipation which has caused her bladder to be half the size it should be which has affected how much she drinks, makes the constipation worse because she's not drinking and we've been told she must drink more to get the fluids in and because her bladder needs the exercise to increase it's size. She is a terror for drinking so we do need to encourage her, it doesn't help that the list of things she's not allowed to drink has left her with little she will drink! Apparently she tried to speak up for herself and was told not to and the dinner lady walked off. She's feeling a little upset about it, she's very much a fair's fair type person.

Yes, we're going into school Monday, she didn't bring it up with us until it was too late. I just think this lady was out of order to tell a child they have too much drink! She's 7yo, she doesn't pack her own lunch so if they have a problem they should ask the class teacher to bring it up with the parents (where she'd have been told to leave her alone I hope) and no child should be discouraged from drinking!

IME dinner ladies don't get filled in on the personal circumstances of the children they look after and so can at times put their foot in it. Dd has autism and sensory issues make eating quite difficult for her sometimes and she also has a severe allergy to fish. To be fair there has always been understanding of her fish allergy which isn't that much of a concern as she has packed lunches but it has taken patience to get them to understand the sensory issues. I , for a while, put a note in her lunchbox that she handed over and her TA did have a word with one dinner lady who was over zealous (dd at times can't eat and encouraging her to makes it worse) but it's been fine since. Maybe a polite note in her lunchbox alongside a quiet word with her teacher will make things easier on your dd.

If one of those drinks was a bottle of water then I imagine she wouldnt have said anything. Two capri suns is crap tbh.

Retro, thats right re the sugar alcohol :)

If I remember correctly, its been suggested that sugar water calms babies because its sweet, and that the sweet taste of calpol helps just as much as the paracetamol in it

I have a random question too - do dinner ladies have any nutrition related training or is it all their own opinions?

Side-tracking slightly here, but it's not just tooth decay that is the concern with drinking excess fruit juice (100% natural or not). There are serious health concerns about obesity and type 2 diabetes. See link below:

www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/07/smoothies-fruit-juices-new-health-risk

I realise it is difficult getting a child with constipation to drink enough (I have been there), but I have a bee in my bonnet about how 'healthy' and 'natural' fruit juices and smoothies are promoted to be. Drunk in moderation, yes, but not more than one portion a day.

(Its a genuine question btw, not a dig. Neither of my DSs are in school yet, I have all this to come!)

I've read several times that too much sugar is one of three main causes of constipation - up there with too little fibre and fluids.

confuddledDOTcom

Ignore all the sugary crap type comments.

LtEveDallas speaks good sense:

OP, when you go in just say that you do not want someone who does not know your DDs medical history commenting on her lunch. No need to be bolshy or annoyed, just clear. Hope it goes ok.

If you get bu,t but, but type comments back just repeat.

You know your DD, you know what she needs now.

sugar can cause a laxative effect and is one of the things looked at if your child has toddler diarrhoea - from a fact sheet for managing toddler diarrhoea:

Refined sugars and sweeteners in a child’s diet include fizzy drinks, squashes, sweets and chocolate and table sugar added to foods (e.g. breakfast cereals) and can cause toddler diarrhoea. Even fruit juices, which are often seen as a healthier option, still contain natural sugar which can also cause a problem, especially pure apple juice due to the fermentation process of the apples

The fact sheet then says to limit Fruit juices, fizzy drinks and squashes including sugar-free versions so I suppose you could do the opposite to deal with constipation issues.

My GP told me that a spoonful of orange juice or sugar water has a laxative effect in babies when my dd was constipated.

Orange juice I get,it has acids and fibre in.

Sugar certainly causes a laxitive or rather a 'softening' effect on me. I'd been having some 'issues' for while and one of the things my doc suggested was cutting back on sugary foods or drinks. He also suggested cutting out alcohol, caffeine, nicotine etc, but I doubt that would bother the OP .

My school does not have dinner ladies, we have kitchen staff and midday/lunch supervisors. The midday supervisors are actually almost all TAs, who do not turn into power crazy dragons at lunchtime. When I was at primary school in the seventies they were quite often scary old bags, but in my experience that is not the case now.

Regarding taking water bottles out on to the playground, that might work in a small school but in a school with 500 children it would be a PITA, where would they put them down whilst playing and they'd forget to take them in again.

The GP said sugar water would work too
She is a pretty good, experienced GP

Altinkum I would expect his teacher to be made aware of his special dietary needs and this info to be passed on to the lunch staff. The sausage rolls etc. would be fine but he would not be allowed a chocolate bar at my school, that is a school wide rule.

I work in a school and I am sure this was just an off the cuff remark from the dinner lady.
I was joking with a child last week who was eating crisps and said 'lets have a crisp I love them' (obviousy I would have refused if they had actually offered one). Will I now have parents coming in say 'Mrs Fairy tried to steal my childs crisps?
I think you have to try and teach your child to be a bit more resilent op.

DS had constipation problems when he was younger, specifically withholding. I was told to let him have sugar water by my GP, to soften everything, before they started him on a course of medication. As someone who had to use suppositories regularly on him as a toddler, I would and still am happy to let him drink whatever and whenever he wants. If we hadn't had these issues, I daresay I would be a lot more prissy and judgemental about the subject.

I have lactulose for issues caused by adhesions, it's essentially gloopy sugary water, so sugar definitely does cause a laxative effect - I also assumed that was why having lots of fruit makes going to the loo a bit easier

Sugar - as in glucose, fructose, sucrose doesn't have a laxative effect.

Lactulose works in an entirely different way - your body does not absorb it, resulting in an osmotic effect in the lower bowel which draws in water and therefore softens the stool.