We’re all prone to getting a little dehydrated from time to time. After all, there’s always so much to do! And when you have children, we all know that there’s always more than enough to think about! However, keeping your children properly hydrated is critical to ensuring they grow up happy and healthy. Water makes up two-thirds of our bodies, and maintaining a good balance should always be a priority.

Children in the preschool age bracket, in particular, can be very sensitive to dehydration as they’re extremely active, have smaller bodies and have a higher proportion of body water than adults. They are less heat tolerant and will often forget to have a drink.

Take a moment to consider - does your child get headaches often? Do they easily become moody and tired? Does their pee often appear to be dark yellow or strong-smelling, do they take fewer bathroom breaks than they should? If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s important to take note and take action.

So, here are 6 key indicators that your child is dehydrated, and what to do about it:

Your child has been ill with symptoms such as a fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and excessive sweating

If your child has been taken unwell with a bacterial infection or a virus, they might have symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, or excessive sweating. These symptoms themselves cause excessive dehydration, as your child is losing a lot of liquid, and will often feel too sick to replace their fluid loss. In this situation, dehydration is extremely likely. It’s crucial to monitor how much they are drinking, and help them rehydrate themselves to feel better. If they’re refusing to drink a lot of water, try feeding them popsicles, ice chips or clear soups.

Your child is particularly fussy or irritable

It’s common for young children to have mood changes and get easily irritable when they’re bored in situations such as being at a family gathering when they’d rather be in the playground or being taken around a supermarket during the weekly food shop. However, if you’re noticing a high amount of irritability in your child frequently, they could be dehydrated. Make sure to monitor this and ask them if they’re thirsty. If they don’t want to drink water, try diluted apple juice or squash, milk, or other oral rehydration fluids.

Your child is prone to headaches

Headaches can be a classic sign of dehydration. Since it’s extremely easy to become dehydrated, especially for a child, headaches will often be one of the first symptoms they complain of. If this is becoming a regular occurrence, before jumping to worrying about there being something abnormal or wrong, first ensure they are drinking enough. There’s a high probability this could solve the issue.

Your child lacks concentration

When a child is properly fed and watered, they will usually be extremely engaged in the opportunity to have conversations, learn and play games. However, when they are dehydrated, their concentration will be nowhere near their optimum levels. They will find learning more difficult, and you may notice a disinterest in joining in with conversations. Again, try to rehydrate them with water, popsicles, diluted apple juice, or other oral rehydration methods.

Your child isn’t passing urine often, and when they do, their urine is often dark-coloured and/or strong-smelling

When your child is hydrated, they will take regular bathroom breaks and their urine will typically be clear and will not smell any more potent than normal. However, if you have started to notice that your child isn’t taking as many trips to the toilet, or using their nappies up at a normal rate, then they could be dehydrated. In addition, when they do go to the toilet, if their urine is dark-coloured or strong-smelling, then this is a further sign that dehydration is the cause. It’s important to take note of how regularly your child uses the bathroom, and use a urine colour chart that rates the colour of urine from 1-8, signifying health by colour, to understand how hydrated your child is.

Your child is crying but not producing tears

It’s very normal for young children to burst into tears at the drop of a hat, and you’ll be used to this as a parent. However, you might be surprised when you notice that your child is crying, but not producing tears. If you’ve experienced this, you must intervene with fluids in whatever form you can, as this is a sign they are seriously dehydrated.

How do I know if my child is dehydrated?

Unii looks at how to tell if your child needs to drink more water or eat more water-rich food.