What are the common baby dehydration symptoms? How can you recognize these symptoms and what steps to take urgently?
Dehydration of baby means that your baby does not have sufficient fluids in the body. Babies are more prone than adults to dehydration. Babies lose fluids from body through vomiting, diarrhea, fever, sweating, stools or urine. If the baby loses more fluid than he is taking in, then dehydration is the result.
Baby Dehydration Symptoms
Some of the signals to identify dehydration in babies are:
1. 6+ hours pass without a wet diaper
2. Urine smells stronger than normal and/or looks darker in the diaper
3. dry and parched lips
4. sunken eyes
5. excessive sleeping
Steps to Take If You Notice Baby Dehydration Symptoms
Take the baby immediately to a doctor. Do not delay unnecessarily because babies can quickly become seriously dehydrated. Your baby may even need to be given liquids through intravenous tube (IV tube) so that he is re-hydrated.
If the baby is only mildly dehydrated, then the doctor might give instructions about giving special liquid to restore the body's lost salt and water. There are many such infant electrolyte liquids available in leading pharmacies. But you should not give these on your own without consulting a doctor first.
Reasons for Baby Dehydration
Some of the common reasons for baby dehydration are - hot weather, fever, asthma, allergy, infections, not drinking enough fluids on regular basis, diarrhea etc. Among all these reasons, the most common one is fever accompanied by vomiting or diarrhea.
In such cases, babies lose a lot of fluids from the body rapidly. Due to this the condition of dehydration occurs. Dehydration may be severe or mild. Whatever the case, do not delay in seeking medical assistance as this is a serious situation which should not be taken lightly.
Re-Hydrating the Baby
Remember that dehydration means not only loss of water but also essential minerals, sugar and electrolytes from the body. If the baby is only mildly dehydrated, then take steps to re-hydrate.
These steps include giving lots of fluids to the baby. A few sips might not prove sufficient. Tr to give something to drink every 15 minutes or so. You might want to set a timer for this. If the baby is only taking a tablespoonful of liquids at a time and refuses to take more, then try giving fluids every 5 minutes instead of 15. You can mix little bit of salt or sugar like diluted juice in order to add little bit of taste so that the baby drinks it up.
Continue this till the baby recovers sufficiently and feels better. Then you can increase the time duration of giving fluids. The best thing you can do to rehydrate your baby quickly is to continue breastfeeding him or her. Breast-milk is excellent for the baby as it also contains water. It is very helpful in overcoming baby dehydration symptoms as the breast-milk contains everything the baby requires, including things which will help in boosting the baby's immune system.
For older infants who eat solids, give lots of fluids as well as small amounts of food which contain fiber and fat as these will bulk up the stools and help in reducing diarrhea symptoms. Giving yogurt is also a good idea as it is good for digestion. It is better to avoid anti-diarrhea medicines for babies less than a year old because they can hinder the body's natural process of eliminating bacteria and virus.
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