PSA: Make sure you drink water in the heat
Yesterday my little girl ended up with heat exhaustion and I spent the rest of the 4th of July evening tending to her, trying to keep her cool and get fluids into her. We were concerned as she was vomiting up everything she would drink (and what little she ate), but finally, she was able to hold down some Pedialyte and started feeling better towards the end of the night. This morning she was doing a lot better.
Why did this happen? Yesterday we had temperatures in the mid to high 80s with some humidity here, and my daughter was outside, riding her bike with her friends. I thought she was drinking water but apparently she was not, because when she came inside, she told me "I feel nauseous, can I lay down?" I told her yes and asked if she had been drinking water, she said no and asked "Is that why I don't feel good?", I told her that is why I have her drink water all the time.
While I took care of her, I ended up with a bit of heat exhaustion because I realized I wasn't drinking enough water or looking after myself, so I started drinking a large cup of water slowly. In the end, I hope she learned her lesson about the importance of drinking water and keeping hydrated, because yesterday's events were not fun, especially for her!
Despite that, we had a great 4th of July, and a wonderful BBQ on a tiny budget! I'll post about that one tomorrow!
Labels: heat exhaustion, hydration, water
posted by Jennifer @ 2:01 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
80s!?! Oh my goodness... you definitely are from the north, huh? It's frequently in the 80s here at night. Well, clearly environment has a lot to do with personal physiology... I always thought that was something of a load of crap but it's pretty obvious it's not.
Our temps are usually mid- to high-90s through the summer, but being on the coast, our humidity is tremendous so the heat index is way up over 100.
Now, where I used to live in N. Texas (D/FW area) the air is much drier and much hotter (so much that now I feel like a prune whenever I go visit family up there). Summer temps are pretty normal between 102 - 106. Blech. That is just not nice at all.
You're so right about drinking lots of water, it is equally important to wear good sunscreen. I'm sure you already know that.
Anyway, bless her heart, your daughter. Heat exhaustion is a nasty bit of business. Happened to me once in Virginia; I was moving in August and ran up and down stairs all day and never drank a drop... I felt like hell later that night and the next day woke up feeling like I'd had half a bottle of tequila the night before and the sad thing is: I hadn't!!!
BTW, you asked me where I live... I live on the south (Gulf) coast of Texas, on the arc about halfway between Corpus Christi and Galveston.
Oh how scary! I drink 3 32 ounce cups of water a day and try to get my kids to as well.
It is scary to think how easily this can happen.
Titan, definitely from a cooler part of the world, for sure! I grew up in Monterey- it's usually breezy from the ocean there and not over 75 during the summer unless there is a heat wave. Here it's a bit more warm and humid, but it's still bearable.
Kristen, yeah, I've been extremely vigilant on pushing the water on my daughter. We're supposed to get to 90 (which is VERY rare for us) on Wednesday, so I am thinking of taking her somewhere to keep cool.
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