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Primary education

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Original poster

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

789 replies

TheOriginalNutcracker · 04/07/2013 17:08

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.

OP posts:
3boys3dogshelp · 04/07/2013 19:52

I'm on the fence. My ds has kidney problems and also has some sort of (as yet undiagnosed) sensory issues. We have struggled since he was a baby to get him to drink water. He is in reception and I persevered with sending water for 2 months until he had a urinary infection and back pain. At this point I spoke to his teacher who wouldn't let him take anything else-so I asked her to encourage him to drink more (he is only 4 and it's a small school before anyone jumps on me!). After watching him retch and gag trying to 'be good' and drink his water she has happily allowed juice as long as the other kids don't see.
However, I am generally strict with him and am only making allowances for him being new to school. I have no intention of this carrying on long term and regularly make him try things he says he doesn't like, including water several times a week. We are getting there slowly.

AvonCallingBarksdale · 04/07/2013 19:56

But 3boys3dogshelp, your DS is only in reception, so, what 4/5? OP's DS is 10, so probably more able to understand the reasoning.

zigzoo · 04/07/2013 19:56

Does the squash have aspartame in it?

Please please change it for one that does not. Aspartame can

.

Floggingmolly · 04/07/2013 19:58

Doctors letter! Phone GP first thing and ask to speak to someone urgently
No doctor worth his salt will prescribe squash to a 10 year old on the grounds that he'd rather not drink water.

curlew · 04/07/2013 19:58

All squash has aspartame in it, another reason fr a migraine prone child to have water.

mrz · 04/07/2013 20:04

A GP will tell you that squash is likely to trigger a migraine and to drink water

3boys3dogshelp · 04/07/2013 20:07

Exactly avon, that's what I mean. I resisted it even in my 4 yr old and have no intention of carrying on allowing in 6 years!

Damnautocorrect · 04/07/2013 20:07

Sainsburys High juice doesn't have aspartame in it.

I've no help just sympathies as I've a water refuser too.
I never understand the water police who say you can't not like it, we all have likes and dislikes. Water can be one of them

Blu · 04/07/2013 20:14

The migraines sound awful - a horrible thing for him to suffer.

But surely at 10 he is old enough (depending on the other issues you allude to) to understand that it's better to drink water than to get a migraine? I say this from the pov of having a child who has had to endure an extremely painful medical procedure every day for a year because he knew the alternive was worse...

I too would wean him off squash, with it's sugars, sweetners and aspartame, and substitute diluted pure apple juice, or else encourage him with iced water from a mineral water bottle with ice cubes and tell him it is Mountain Water. That's how I got DS onto water instead of apple juice.

cheerfulweather · 04/07/2013 20:16

How about natural flavoured water? You can do it yourself, by squeezing lemon, lime or adding juice from fruits.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/quick-easy-flavoured-water#close

What are the objections to squash, given by the school? Is it only banned on health grounds? Or is it connected to practical issues like spillages being more troublesome in cleaning up etc?

Blu · 04/07/2013 20:17

If he has agreed with the school that he will drink water, why are you undermining that?

If this works, and he gets used to water (isn't it a bit like getting used to tea without sugar for the first time?) it will be better for his teeth and other health.

If it doesn't, you can try plan B. But if he has said to the school that he will drink water, I would not interfere with that experiment.

ihearsounds · 04/07/2013 20:19

Squash has additives in it. Additives are a high trigger. A GP will not write a letter endorsing squash because it is a known trigger. The go also will not write a letter because squash is not a healthy option, and should be avoided because of the increase of weight as a result of the meds.

Is it orange squash that he drinks?

Does it contain aspertamine? Ie sugar free.

cheerfulweather · 04/07/2013 20:20

Not all squash contains additives or aspartame. Very easy to find one which does not.

Heifer · 04/07/2013 20:41

My DD is 9 and has the same issues. I'm lucky in that she does drink water and is allowed to at any time during school. She is even allowed to take her water bottle with her wherever she goes.
Have you tried to dilute the squash down gradually to ween him of it?
Something that helps the water taste better is to get a bottle with a filter in it. DD loves hers, was £10 but worth the money for the amount she drinks, assuming it doesn't get lost of course.
I do sympathise as I know how upsetting it can be when they get a migraine but you really do need to get him off the squash.

LunaticFringe · 04/07/2013 21:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

clam · 04/07/2013 22:01

Sorry but there isn't "a medical reason for it." The medical reason is that he drinks plenty. That doesn't mean squash - that's your take on it. As others have said, he's agreed with the school (who he's seemingly unable to 'play' as he does his mum) that he will drink water, so why are you moving everything backwards by insisting he have squash after all.
If you insist on him drinking the stuff, then let him have it before and after school - and all day every day during the summer holidays. It's only a few hours a day during term time that he has to force himself to drink water.

ArtexMonkey · 04/07/2013 22:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheBuskersDog · 04/07/2013 22:22

Sorry but I agree with others that he is old enough to understand that he needs to keep hydrated to prevent migraines and that it needs to be water whilst at school. He does not have a medical need to drink squash, he has a medical need to drink fluids, and water perfectly meets that need.

I speak as another mother of a migraine sufferer, my son suffered migraines with vomiting from about the age of three but thankfully at the age of 16 seems to have almost grown out of them.

FamiliesShareGerms · 04/07/2013 22:30

Try and work with the need for water, not against the school?

Eg get a water filter so that there isn't a chlorine taste

Try a Siig bottle for a longer lasting metal bottle - they come in some pretty cool designs too.

Freeze the bottle so it is really cold and will taste less strong.

Teach DS that if he pinches his nose when he drinks there will be no taste.

you can also explore bribery to make him want to drink water

dangly131 · 04/07/2013 22:31

You say school don't remind him about punctuation and capital letters. I work in a school and I can tell you we remind the children at this age until we are blue in the face about CL and FS but some children choose not to act on that advice much like the advice to drink more water and not get ill!
Maybe you should tell your child to act on advice given to him and not ignore it. Clearly if he is that dehydrated then he is not getting enough fluids from his food either? Is he having fruit and veg to provide him with water?

clam · 04/07/2013 22:34

My dd has suffered with migraines for the last 18 months. Initially, she point-blank refused to swallow tablets to help alleviate the symptoms (gagged on them and vomited), so she'd only take Calpol (at age 14) which was hopelessly inadequate. She soon learned that if she didn't want the unpleasant symptoms, she needed something heavier duty.

She now swallows tablets no problem.

AbbyR1973 · 04/07/2013 22:43

You are quite correct that fluid intake is important in headache prevention, however I personally would not be inclined to write a letter to a school recommending that a child be allowed to drink squash rather than water.

I actually wonder if you might take a different spin on this with DC and see if you can make some progress on the water front, which will pay off at home as well? Is it really a big problem that school discussed drinking water rather than squash with him without a parent present and that he agreed? It might be worthwhile picking up on this and using it to your advantage in the battle to get him to drink more water: make the point that it was really grown up of him to agree to this and provide some reward mechanism if he sees it through next week? I would start gradually watering down squash more and more when he has it at home.

Really water is a much better choice and I would try and use this as a way forward at home as well. What does DC drink at bedtime/ during the night if he wants a drink? Surely he must drink water then??

NannyPlumIsMyMum · 04/07/2013 22:50

There is recent research ( I'm a nurse) that many primary school age children are in a state of mild dehydration at school and that they are no where near drinking enough ...

I think it's shocking that school raise such a fuss about weak squash for any child, never mind one that suffers with migraines Hmm.

The over riding importance according to the hierarchy of needs is to stay hydrated!!

edwinamerckx · 04/07/2013 22:54

Erm, why do 10 year olds have to take a bottle of drink to school with them anyway? There are water fountains in the corridors and water jugs in the dining hall aren't there?

NannyPlumIsMyMum · 04/07/2013 22:54

The point about headaches being linked to artificial sweeteners doesn't hold any weight in this case as migraines are thought to be caused by vascular changes .