Dehydration In Children

Loss of water in body tissues is termed as dehydration. The reasons for it could be reduced water intake, excessive sweating or falling ill due to diarrhea or vomiting.

There are three kinds of dehydration, which are as follows:

• You can recognize mild dehydration through signs such as increased thirst, dry mouth, restlessness along with a normal urine output.


• In moderate dehydration, thirst is increased but the person becomes drowsy or irritable and can have a reduced urine output. He may have a higher pulse rate and need to take deeper breaths.


• Severe dehydration is the extreme situation where the patient suffers a dry mouth, cold hands and feet, cramps, lethargy and extremely reduced urine output. The skin also loses some elasticity due to loss of water and breathing becomes deeper.

If you see any of such symptoms in your child, you can take the following treatment. ORS or Oral Rehydration Salts are very easily available in the markets. A good example commonly used in our households is ?Electral'. If going for some other ORS, then you can compare its composition with the standard ones given by the WHO. These are as follows:

Boiled water 1000ml
Sodium chloride 3.5 grams
Potassium chloride 1.5 grams
Sodium bicarbonate 2.5 grams
Glucose 20 grams.

If you want to prepare the solution at home then all you need to do is to add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar to a glass of boiled water. Other than this, you can also add a pinch of salt to very a very watery rice kanji. That would also solve the same purpose.

You should keep giving this solution till the time the child passes sufficient urine. There is no harm in giving large amounts of the solution as they would be excreted through urine.

Water and electrolytes are important for the body to avoid dehydration. Especially in children's body, water content is higher than that in adults. It is essential to maintain this balance by proper intake of water (and other liquids and food) and proportionate passage of urine, (also normal sweat and faeces).

The loss of water in a human body is largely through urine, then through sweating and least by faeces. It happens more in dry climatic conditions than in humid ones. Electrolytes are ions (like potassium, sodium, chlorides and bicarbonates) found in body fluids like water and play an important role in all body functions. Loss of water means loss of electrolytes thus resulting in dehydration.
It is good to remember that there are no alarming symptoms of dehydration but only subtle ones. It is important to recognize them and start treatment immediately. Symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea may continue for sometime even after the administration or the ORS. This is because the body needs some time to correct itself and become normal.

Do not replace ORS with any other solution and if symptoms persist or get worst then consult a doctor.