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.

a GP will not prescribe squash

Yes, you just need the letter saying it has to be squash, and all will be well, surely?

I remember being on a fluid balance in hospital: squash / water / milk / tea was all counted it was reaching the desired volume that was important.

Generally I agree with squash being banned in the classroom due to stickiness issues! But this boy needs to be drinking more and there might be a compromise made: he's missing school and that's not good.

I remember being told to avoid dairy, caffeine, and squash by my son's paediatric dietician

OP says dehydration is a trigger for her son.

But he IS allowed fluids.

This child has successfully trained his mother to only give him squash. The school should not be so weak and should resist his attempts to train them.

They seem to be less gullible than the mother.

I see it more that she has trained him to think he can only drink squash, to be honest! He was willing to have mature conversation with the head and make a sensible agreement: it's his mother who wants to undermine that because he can only drink squash.

If it was me I would just tell him that the additives in squash are causing his migraines and his system needs pure water- problem solved.

It's weakly flavoured water, not a gin and tonic in the bottle. I have had jobs where I could only drink/eat on breaks or lunch, but I was certainly never told by an employer that I could only drink water.

Surely AICM a doctor would want him to drink the fluid, not merely be allowed access to it.

In my experience GPs aren't nearly so uptight about squash as people on this thread.

Agree fairisle.

Anyway presumably this won't be an issue for the next few weeks and the OP can seek advice from GP before next term.

Certain things are triggers for migraine- red wine is a trigger for my DH.

I have just googled migraines and triggers- and squash could easily be one. Has OP worked out the triggers? Has she tried removing ones she thinks possible from the diet for a test?

It would be interesting to hear from OP if she has asked GP for a medical letter stating that her DC must have squash. This was suggested immediately she first posted but I can't see that OP has confirmed if GP is willing to do this. Surely the GP is the right person to determine if squash is a medical need or whether water would meet the requirement.

Can I ask what people's opinion would be if the boy decided he only likes Pepsi? Or what you would say to another child,or children, in this class if they too decide the rules aren't right for them either ant they have a medical reason to drink Pepsi?

Having now read quite a few articles about children and migraines I certainly wouldn't have them drinking squash.

I would expect the GP to update her on additives in squash rather than say he must have it! Does OP know which additives you need to avoid if you are a migraine sufferer -and how carefully is she reading the labels?

Ignore them and send him in with squash anyway. Where is it written down it is compulsory to only have water? Rules. Pah.

If I were the parent of 10 year old who refused to drink water at school. I would stay out of this TBH as far as chool is concerned and put my efforts into encouraging him to drink water in general. rules are rules and as a parent it is up to you to reinforce the schools rules. He is 10 he should be dealing with this by himself as far as school is concerned, send him in with water, if he suffers for this out of his own stubbornness he will have to learn to take responsibility for his own health needs.

This is a long thread, and TBH I haven't read all the way through!!

But seriously - the squash could very well be causing the migraines.
Most squashes, and all flavoured water contain sweeteners - and they cause the migraines - they should be banned in my opinion.

I have better things to do with my time than go around sniffing the water bottles of the children in my class. However, you can rest assured that the other children will sniff it out from 20 paces and dob their mates in. I was told by several kids by break on the first day that "Harry has got juice, Mrs Clam."
"Harry" looked terrified/appalled and said "Sorry, my dad put filled it up. I've only just seen. I'll make sure it's water tomorrow."
Me: "OK, that's great, don't worry. We're just trying to avoid ants and spills at the moment"
Problem solved.

I thought about this thread today as one of my new class handed me a bottle of J2O to open

I have a ten year old who has to have a certain level of fluid a day - not because of migraines but bladder issues. He's not a baby. Water is not unpleasant. I'd tell my son - drink the water and you won't get a headache. Squash has unneeded extras in it. IMO you're babying him.

He has to have fluids for medical reasons. He doesn't have to have squash for medical reasons - thats just him being fussy and you pandering to it.

Oh I was thinking about this yesterday too. Our school has just invested in 300 water bottles for children to keep in school so we can encourage them to drink more - amazing how many parents don't send one despite repeated requests.

OP, did you ever ask your GP for that letter? How did you get on?