Back to Medicine Cabinet

Rehydration Solution

I'm referring here to liquid you give your baby when she has any illness that dehydrates her (any fever does that to some extent) especially when she has stomach flu and vomiting and/ or diarrhea. This fluid is essential to recovering from illness and without the right balance of liquid and electrolytes like sodium and potassium you can get quite sick and even need intravenous fluids and hospitalization. There are few choices of perfect solutions out there but one outshines the others by far. KAO LECTROLYTE is kind of new and comes in single serving packets of easy to make powder so you just tear open a packet and add tap water and voila you have an 8 ounce bottle of "the right stuff". Pedialyte and Infalyte are identical in composition (Ricelyte is slightly different but not better) and they come in HUGE heavy bottles you have to drag home and have short shelf lives (KAO has a 3 year life so you can put a packet in your diaper bag and in your stroller pocket and on your kitchen shelf and you're ready at 3AM or 3PM without going out shopping) There's an awful lot of waste when you've got a liter bottle and your 20 pound baby only drinks 4-8 ounces 3-5 times a day, if you're lucky, when they are sick. Pedialyte also makes popsickles but it takes 4 pops to equal one 8 ounce bottle of KAO so only use a popsickle as an addition to fluid replacement. Also KAO tastes pretty good and Pedialyte (even the fruit flavored one) does not cut it with most kids. My cousin's babies refuse to get near most rehydration fluid but they ask for KAO even when they are well!. They think it's a sport drink! Speaking of which Gatorade and other sport drinks are not what your baby needs but until KAO came along I recommended it when the sick babes refused Pedialyte and it was better than nothing or just plain water. Ask your doctor how to use fruit drinks during illness in case you can't find KAO Lectrolyte.

Send your comments to: webmaster@drpaula.com