How to Know If Your Baby Is Dehydrated

Dehydration is a condition of the body wherein water is depleted and is less than what the body actually needs. It happens when a baby's water intake is less than what he or she loses. Usually, they lose more fluid if they experience a physiological disturbance like in the case of diarrhea, vomiting, and high fever. Staying too long outdoors during warm weather could also make him lose more body water in the form of perspiration.

Although dehydration is usually mild and easy to treat when attended to right away, sometimes it can be fatal. If dehydration is left undetected for quite a long time, this can potentially cause shock and multiple organ failure. Babies and infants are more commonly susceptible to dehydration because most of the time it is not identified quick enough.

Here are the signs and symptoms that you should be aware of to know if your child is dehydrated.

- Your baby appears restless, irritable, tired, lethargic, or unconscious
- Your baby's eyes are sunken (In some babies and infants, their eyes normally look sunken. It is important to assess appropriately if the eyes are normal or more sunken than normal.)
- The eyes don't produce tears when the baby cries. His eyes are dry.
- Your baby 's lips, mouth and tongue are dry
- When given water, your baby drinks eagerly (if moderately dehydrated), or drinks poorly (if seriously dehydrated)
- Your baby passes out very little urine than normal or does not urinate for about six hours or more.
- The color of your baby's urine is dark yellow, which suggests that it is concentrated due to lesser water content in the urine
- Your baby's hands and feet feel cold and clammy
- The baby's pulses are faint
- Your baby's skin goes back slowly when pinched

If you suspect that your child is mildly dehydrated, consult a pediatrician at once. But before you leave the house, make sure you begin giving your baby a liquid drink rich with electrolyte (e.g. pedialyte, or infalyte) that are specially formulated to help recover water and salts depleted from the body. Never give your baby Gatorade or other adult drinks because although they consist of electrolytes, their glucose content is too much for babies and children.

If you suppose that your baby is extremely dehydrated or can not tolerate oral rehydration, bring your child right away to the medical center. An intravenous access would be needed to administer the rehydrating solution and correct the dehydration faster.

Dehydration is truly a reversible condition if timely treatment is initiated. Nobody must die from it, especially infants and children who are still helpless and dependent on their primary caregivers. Therefore, parents or whoever is taking care of these little ones should know about dehydration.