Recently, the hot weather has been felt by most of the Indonesian people in various regions. In Jakarta, the air temperature even reached 36 degrees Celsius some time ago.
Extremely hot weather can cause children to become dehydrated. Especially children who are active outside the home and don’t drink enough to replace lost body fluids during activities under hot weather.
Children often do not realize that they are dehydrated because they are too busy doing activities. Therefore, it is important for parents to recognize the signs of acute dehydration in toddlers. Here’s Thevolume.net summarizing the signs:
1. Dry lips
Dry lips are the most visible sign when your child is dehydrated. Lips that are dry, cracked, and peeling are a sign of a child’s lack of body fluids.
Wet lips with saliva can actually exacerbate dryness of the lips.
2. Thirsty
Another sure sign that your child is dehydrated is thirst. Thirst is mild dehydration, in which the body signals to drink immediately. However, because of the fun of playing, children often underestimate this thirst.
Parents should bring supplies of drinking water for children when he is active outside the room. Ask the child to drink at least every 30 minutes, thirsty or not thirsty, to prevent acute dehydration.
3. Dry skin
Another sign of acute dehydration can be seen from the child’s dry skin. It’s easy to check, Ma. Mama just needs to scratch the child’s skin a little slowly. If you pull out white scales or reduce skin elasticity, this is a sign that your child is dehydrated.
4. Weak and lethargic
Weakness and lethargy are signs of dehydration. Sometimes children seem uninterested when spoken to. If this happens, immediately take the child to shelter and provide adequate drinking water.
5. Rarely urinate
Hot weather triggers the release of large amounts of sweat from the body. In addition, if the child lacks water, it will have an impact on the intensity of urination.
Normally, children should urinate every six hours. If it is less than that, or the color of the child’s urine is dark yellow, it means that the child is dehydrated.
Do not underestimate dehydration in children. Dehydration can be serious enough to cause death if not treated immediately. Make sure to meet your child’s fluid needs of at least two liters per day, Mom.
I hope this information is helpful.
