To think it's primary school teacher's responsibility to ensure children drink during the day?

[LondonGrimmer]

Happy to be told otherwise. Child is in year 3. Frequently comes out pale, lethargic and today with stomach cramps. Transpires his full water bottle was still in his backpack so hadn't drank all day again (8.45 - 3.15) and he doesn't have a drink at lunch time either. He's an introvert who struggles with anxiety at times if that makes any difference.

Yes I have tried to explain to him the importance of staying hydrated and tell him he should try really hard to remember. I emailed the teacher last year and she said she'll try and remember to remind him (there are 23 kids in the class and one TA so I know they have their hands full).

Just frustrated and not sure if I'm being unreasonable?

YABU - your child is 7 or 8 and fully responsible for taking his water bottle out each day and remembering to drink.

YANBU - the teacher/TA should be helping more.

Would he actually drink if reminded though? From what you have written nothing suggests he would. If he didn't drink despite a teacher or TA reminding him then what would you want the next step to be?

They can't force him to drink and if he is already fixating inaccurately on small issues like the cups being dirty then I strongly suspect he is the sort of child who will find some other reason why he cannot drink even if he is reminded.

If the teacher has agreed to remind him she should do so. Maybe work out a strategy with her?

That said though he's unlikely to actually be dehydrated unless the weather is very hot. We don't really need to drink two litres of water a day. We do need fluids but we get these from food too, and if he has a drink at breakfast and eats his lunch ok he won't be so low in fluids that it causes him issues.

Why doesn't he get a drink at lunchtime? I've never been to a school where there isn't a jug with water and cups on the table at lunch- and if he has packed lunch you should put a drink in his lunchbox.

I don't get this idea that going without water for a few hours leads to being pale and lethargic- it takes more than half a day to become dehydrated to this degree- thirsty, yes, but not truly dehydrated to the point of lethargy and paleness. They are only in school for 6.5 hours!

[quote Babysteadygo]@LondonGrimmer
Sorry not read all thread, has the teacher said they won’t remind your child to have a drink ?[/quote]
@babysteadygo I emailed last autumn and explained I was worried about him going 7hrs without a drink and he was coming out lethargic, moody and sometimes with stomach cramps and she said she'd do her best to gently remind him to have a drink.

I'm not talking about constant reminders but like others say just a quick "don't forget to drink" once a day at break time or something can't be too difficult?

I'm in a similar boat with a 6/7 year old. When it was really hot the teacher was telling everyone to have drink breaks between lessons. I'm not sure why that can't be incorporated in all the time rather than just when it's particularly hot

Wow some really fierce comments on here notably NOT teachers! As a primary teacher I'm taken aback actually.

If a parent asked me to keep an eye on a child who wasn't drinking and they were worried - I would gladly do so!!

I'm not there just to teach - I am there to holistically look after my class as best I can. And I don't get it all right and some days might not remember but for anyone reading this and thinking they can't ask a teacher this - you absolutely can. Drinks bottles are on the children's tables in our school: you can't learn well if you're dehydrated.

And I would never think of a parent who voiced a concern as a having 'pfb'

So YANBU to ask but the teacher might they not always remember. We're actually a pretty decent bunch for the most part.

@LondonGrimmer

Oh if she’s anything like me it’s just slipped her mind over the Christmas break.

@CorrBlimeyGG

Do you know the source of the anxiety? If he's worried about going to the toilet at school, then he'll deliberately not drink to avoid it. In that case, no amount of reminders will help. Try to get him to explain what he's anxious about, then if need be the teacher will be involved in managing/ overcoming that.

Exactly this. There will almost certainly be a reason. I avoided drinking at school well into my teen years because the school loos were always the domain of the smokers and drug takers, so you really, really wouldn't go in during breaks/lunchtime as you'd almost certainly get kicked out (literally). So, going to loo was dependant upon the teacher allowing you out during a lesson, and as we know, many teachers don't!

I stopped drinking during the day at school because of the state of the water jugs at lunch (people would pour half finished glasses back into the jug or drop rubbish in - they were grim). I survived.

DS didn't drink from his water bottle, but would drink a carton of fruit juice at lunchtime. Is the school dinner possible to switch to packed lunches? DS had to drink as it was above 40C for half the year! I'm not so bothered in the UK.

A big drink with breakfast - early enough for a trip to the loo before going to school and a big drink when he gets back from school will help.

the poll is heavily yabu

you don't seem to be taking it on board much op

why no drink at lunchtime though? At primary we also had milk mid morning, thing of the past now

Send him in with it in his hand.
A sticker or line drawn as an incentive is a brilliant idea.
Do you send any food in with him? Fruit for playtime? Remember we do get a lot of water from food.
Really role model drinking water at home, before and after a meal say things like 'now we take five sips' - you're trying to build routines in his head.

That all said, I do think we stress a lot about how much children drink and I don't think it's always necessary. A drink before he goes in, a drink at lunchtime, a drink when he comes out - that's all we would have had in olden times.

I taught Y3 last year, and reminded them all every break and lunch to drink and pee. Now I teach Y6 and expect them to have the maturity to remember this stuff themselves.

I think that the suggestion that he carries his water bottle in his hand is the best thing to do. If he wouldn't get up and go to the sink where the water bottles are then your only other option would be to switch to packed lunches so there was a drink available

Could you stop before he gets into school and get him to have a drink straight away then?

If you then set some prompts up - like taking his water bottle in to lunch say ? (You could get one with a hand strap if it will be difficult to carry with his tray?) then he could also have a drink as soon as he gets out and then it's not more than a few hours at a time?

@pastapestoparmesan

And they still asked in lesson time 🤣🤣🤣

I have this problem but with a 4 year old - comes home with a full water bottle everyday. I don’t know why I bother sending it in

I'm a TAand have been a teacher. I'd definitely try and look out for him coming in and check he'd brought his water bottle in in the morning and remind him around break and lunch. However, if I was busy with something else I can't guarantee I remember every time so perhaps she just doesn't want to say she will and then forget.

Could you send him in with it in his hand or get one with a shoulder strap so it's not in his bag which might mean he remembers to take it with him. We don't do regular reminders but do occasionally say this is a good time ror a drinks break if we've been working ror a while.

I'm actually a 1:1 for a particular child but definitely think part of a TA's job is to help with those little bits of development which are different for all children. I'd always get a cup of water for children who have forgotten their bottle as would my colleagues but I know this doesn't happen in all schools.

I think teachers have enough to do without this added to their list. OK you've asked the teacher to remind however how do you know she isn't reminding the class to drink and your DS is just ignoring it?

IMO it is your responsibility to make sure your DS understands the importance and consequences of not drinking. The sooner children learn to take responsibility for themselves the better. All your DS is seeing here is that you are blaming the teacher for not reminding him, make it someone else's responsbility!

I find this post bizarre. People don't drink because they "remember" to drink, or someone reminds them. They drink because they are thirsty, and water is available.

I suppose it's possible for a particular child to have some peculiarity so it doesn't work the same way for them. But that means they have some special need that sets them apart from everyone else. The implication of the OP seems to be that it's perfectly normal to have to tell a child to drink.

I wonder if the teacher believed this was a real problem. when they got the email request.

DD had a classmate in Y2 who had to drink on a regular basis for medical needs. In order to avoid making him stand out all the time the teacher used it as a reminder for everyone to drink. DD called it their "water break".

Maybe the teacher could add a reminder to all that after lunch/break everyone would get a drink

Could you move him to packed lunch for a while so he would drink then and give him some water rich fruit as well?

Didn't we all drink milk all the way through primary school though? ie not constrained to KS1? I certainly remember being a milk monitor (push the tops in, loved it) well into juniors. So we definitely drank as a class.

I would go with a two pronged attack, firstly if you are dropping off make sure he has it in his hand when he goes into school and secondly ask the teacher or TA to remind him to drink. And yes the caring part is part of the job.

My 8yo only has a sip of water most days and is regularly dehydrated. No bottles in class and a very strict teacher don't help tbh. I don't see any harm for the teacher to remind whole class to have a drink at morning break, I have raised with the teacher but they are clear it is down to the child so I just persist in reminding him.

I don’t see an issue with the teacher reminding the children to drink at set points in the day, but they can keep track of each individual child. There’s just so much going on with the youngsters it’s like herding cats and then you have to pack in the learning on top. I don’t know how the teachers do it tbh.

DS is rubbish at drinking during the school day. So I make sure he has a big glass of juice at breakfast time then a drink with after school snack. And remind him it’s better to have some of his water during the day. But by giving him those drinks he doesn’t feel bad from dehydration.

When I taught I used to prompt children that age to drink, put jumpers on/ take them off and use the toilet. Prevailing attitude among colleagues was that I was mad.
Personally I think the whole system of looking after young children in groups of 30 is really awful and kids don't get proper care. I definitely support building self reliance in kids but independence is a skill that should be scaffolded, not just this "sink or swim" mentality we have in UK school currently.