Primary school insisting my child takes water not squash to school, despite there being a medical reason for it

[TheOriginalNutcracker]

My ds is 10 and suffers from frequent migraines. He takes daily preventative meds for them, and we try hard to manage them by eliminating triggers.

Obviously, dehydration is a major trigger, and so I need to make sure he drink enough during the day. I send him to school with weak squash in his water bottle, as he is not overly keen on water, and so will not drink enough of it. I know this to be the case from seeing him drink at home.

School are kicking up an almighty fuss about it. I have spoken to them countless times explaining why he needs the squash, and have also written a letter insisting he be alowed it, abd again explained why.
Today he was pulled into the heads office because of the squash.

I went in after school and asked to see the head. I was told she could only speak to me for 2 minutes. She came out and right away knew why I was there. She just went on and on about many people not liking water and getting headaches, but that other kids would think it was ok for their child to bring in squash also.
She then said that my ds had promised earlier that day, to try and drink only water next week. So basically they got him to agree to this in a meeting with no parent present.

I explained again about his migraines, but she basically insisted and just said that ds had agreed now.

Is there anyting I can do about this ? I think their treatment of him and his condition is appaling. We have also had issues where they have made him wait for calpol when a headache starts.

Happpybubble brain, tbe fun squeezed out if everything? Puritannical?

I think life is all about indulgence ( go on, you deserve a treat), instant gatification ( i want it nw, I NEED it) and a constant stream of entertainment ( tv, pods, pads, apps)

Rather the opposite of a puritanical society

or provide more support and help him to drink water.

Chandon Rather a tyrannical society that demands perfection (from children) then winges when they don't get it....

Even when water wasn't dangerous to drink, I wonder how many societies happily drank water without trying to flavour it and make it more interesting? Is there a blissful time in the past when man didn't want to flavour his food and drink to make it more palatable and enjoyable?... Obviously humans have intensely unnatural desires inherited from their ancestors.

rabbitstew Garden of Eden?

Strikes me it's a society where people think children should be protected from anything even remotely difficult. Or from accepting any responsibility until the age of 25.

curlew Where's your turnip?

I ate it for breakfast. Raw, as God intended,

I don't think mankind has ever considered water the preferred drink until modern times.

I'm ready a Philippa Gregory book at the moment. None of them drink water, it's all beer and wine.

The only reason people didn't consider water a good drink in Ye Olden Days is that it killed you. Not a matter of taste or personal preference. You were on balance a lot better off drinking beer and ale.

My answer would be that at the moment he can drink squash but I would expect the mother to wean him off- getting weaker and weaker until he is used to water. Not just bend the rules for one child who can manipulate his mother. Why would he settle for water if he knows he can hang out for squash?
I still would be fairly disappointed if my DS was 10 yrs old, knew he got migraines through not drinking enough and still didn't drink- he would be totally lacking in common sense.

Maybe the idea that water is the best drink and all other drinks are sticky and rot your teeth is a myth started by the bottled water industry...

My answer would be that at the moment he can drink squash but I would expect the mother to wean him off- getting weaker and weaker until he is used to water. Not just bend the rules for one child who can manipulate his mother. Why would he settle for water if he knows he can hang out for squash?
I still would be fairly disappointed if my DS was 10 yrs old, knew he got migraines through not drinking enough and still didn't drink- he would be totally lacking in common sense.

duchesse - the technology for filtering and boiling your water is not more complicated than brewing beer. People preferred beer.

I think it comes from dentists, rabbitstew.

Beer, after all, contains that dangerous substance.... WATER! And that, apparently, used to kill you if you drank it!

But they are maybe being conned, exoticfruits, like the GPs who advise patients to drink more fluids, even though they don't feel thirsty. The drinks industry is very cunning.

exotic A child who is prepared to risk migraine by not drinking water should be treated as a special case.

Yes, the mother should wean off squash, but a plan needs to be in place for the meantime, which will inevitably involve some degree of support from the school.

Spot on, daftdame.

Yes, it's a little bit funny that people think getting a child to run twice round a playing field will cure his problem of avoiding water when he is willing to get a severe migraine rather than drink enough water. It would be a great way of convincing him that exercise causes migraines, though, just to add to the OP's problems! It's funny how the mind works...

Just let him have the squash it's not hurting anyone and no one needs to know. Just because sammy has a chocolate bar in his lunch box doesn't mean everyone else has to follow suit. They cope with eating an apple while their friend eats cake and they will cope with water if this boy has squash. No one would be any the wiser any way. I repeat , they should be working not inspecting bottles. Just be grateful your kids all drink water.

"But they are maybe being conned, exoticfruits, like the GPs who advise patients to drink more fluids, even though they don't feel thirsty. The drinks industry is very cunning."

Are you really saying that you don't think the drinks industry is even remotely involved in the "must have access to liquid at every moment of the day" mantra?

It's very interesting what people choose to be taken in by.......

curlew This is about a boy who gets migraines. Drinking enough fluids prevents one of the triggers. Why argue with this? The OP has sought medical advice...

If people were not such sticklers for these type of rules, which are not purely there to protect the child otherwise they would be contradicted as a matter of course, additional support costs would not have to be so high. Sometimes the tactical solution is best for a fixed period of time.

The school could just accept the parent is happy with this solution and no additional support would be required. She could wean her child off the squash without any additional pressure in her own time, without progress meetings etc.

curlew - of course I think the drinks industry is involved in trying to get people to drink constantly. I don't think that has anything whatsoever to do with a boy who has been told by his GP, not Lucozade, that one of his migraine triggers is insufficient intake of fluids, particularly if the mother has proven this by finding that when he drinks lots of squash, he gets fewer migraines, but when she tries to get him to drink water, he gets migraines because he isn't drinking as much. She might of course be wrong and it's the stress of trying to make him drink something he hates that triggers them...

I do, also, think the whole fuss about not drinking anything but water from a beaker because of your teeth is going a bit OTT when applied to a boy who has no signs of tooth decay and who is highly unlikely to be wandering around the classroom with the beaker hanging out of his mouth, constantly bathing his teeth in sugar. There is time for him to be weaned off his squash before all his teeth fall out - his migraines are a far more important issue at this point in time.