Why do they tell you to give ribena to stop dehydration during a sickness a bug??

[nappyaddict]

Why is ribena better than just plain water?

the sugar ?

am i being really thick? how does sugar stop you being dehydrated?

I've always assumed because a child is more likely to drink something sweet, but also because the sugar can give them a little energy if they're not eating much else.

I think its rich in vitamin B12...not sure if that's the reason?

I think because when you are dehydrated your body need to replace sugar and salts too. The sugar in Ribena is fuit sugar which is absorbed quite quickly (IIRC)

I don't know about ribena - haven't heard that before - but when DS had gastroenteritis years ago and couldn't even keep milk down, we had to give him rehydrating salts to keep up his blood sugar levels and so on. He was quite addicted to the blackcurrant one after he'd lived on it for a week

Also, like headfairy says, it is easier to get a sick child to drink a sweet drink as opposed to plain water.

I've never heard this, but I have heard watered down lemonade helps. Maybe it's the sugar? I was given a powder that you mix with water from GP when DD had a bug - think it had sugar, salt and vits in it.

I thimk head fairy is right your more likely to get kids to drink juice, theory being better they drink something than nothing at all
Icepops are good too

Flat coke is always the favourite in this house

dhyrolite the powder is called
Having tasted it I'd rather drink ribena and I don't like that either

Argh DS won't drink ribena i've just tried. What will happen if his blood sugar gets too low. I'm worried now!!

Any juice or ice pop/lolly

It's to do with the sugar. Rehydration salts contain sugar and salt, which makes water go into cells quicker and therefore hydrates them quicker. Anything sugary can help.

It's always flat here, same reasons I think

No luck with orange either

That shoule be flat lemonade...not just flat! lol

Some juices are too acidic though - OJ is no good on a dodgey tum.
DS just loves Dioralyte though and that has the salts as well as the sugars so I assume is better than Ribena? More expensive possibly and certainly won't get finished off if there is some left once illness is over, whereas ribena would be finished in this house.

Are the salts very important? We haven't got any Diarolyte and I don't think DS is up to going out.

nappyaddict, my mum used to swear by water with a couple of teaspoons of sugar dissolved in it too... I suppose it's a bit like making your own rehydration solution, perhaps a tiny pinch of salt too to replace lost salts, although it does taste odd if not disgusting with too much. Ice lollies are a good idea too.

We always had 7-up if sick. I give it to DS too.

Water is great obv but if you are dehydrated you need more than water and something with sugars etc in is ideal.

A friend of mine here poo-pooed the theory until one day last summer she was complaining of a splitting headache - had been out in the sun all day and although she had drunk water she hadn't had anything else. I suggested coke or lemonade and her headache went.

DS had really bad d&v over the weekend and I gave him lots of 7-up, very weak apple juice and water.

We have hot Pepsi, recommended by a friend who had been ill on a Safari in Kenya.

salts are very important nappyaddict, a friend of mine was very very ill when she only drank water on a 45k walk on a hot summers day a few years ago. She drank about 5 litres of water and diluted her body salts too much. She was in hospital for a couple of weeks and off work for three months. If your dc is able to eat anything, a piece of toast with a scrape of marmite can be useful for getting some salts in to them, it doesn't have to be in liquid form iyswim.

Our gp always says to use ice lollies.

The salts are increasingly impt if the symptoms get really bad. Don't take him out though. You can get Dioralyte from any chemist an dmost supermarkets - is there someone you could call to pick some up for you and drop them in? Do you have a DP who could bring some home with him? Don't panic though - things have to get REALLY bad before you need to actually worry about him.