The water bottle comes home from camp full again. Her face is red, and she swears she isn’t thirsty. An hour later, a sock sets off a meltdown. It is easy to call that stubborn. To us, it doesn’t look like stubbornness at all.
Hydration’s Impact on Sensory Processing Disorder
One key insight shared involves the critical role of hydration in managing Sensory Processing Disorder. For children with this condition, starting treatment sessions with a drink of water can significantly impact their nervous system regulation. A book mentioned in the transcript emphasizes hydration as the number one tip for addressing regulation and behavior challenges in these children. By ensuring adequate water intake, parents and therapists can help improve overall behavior in children with Sensory Processing Disorder. This means that maintaining proper hydration levels is a simple yet effective strategy for supporting children with Sensory Processing Disorder in regulating their nervous system and enhancing their daily functioning.
FROM THE VIDEO
Key moments from Sensory Smart Summer: Interoception Tips and Tools That Work, with Rachel and Jessica of All Things Sensory by Harkla:
Common questions from parents
What is interoception?
Why won’t my child drink water when it’s hot?
How do I help my child notice hunger and fullness?
Should my child be evaluated?
Water bottle home full again, and she swears she isn't thirsty? For some kids, the inside signal for thirst and heat is quiet. Here is how to teach it.
Why Doesn’t She Feel Thirsty?
There is a sense most of us were never taught about. It is called interoception. It is how your body tells you what is going on inside. Hungry. Thirsty. Full. Too hot. Needing the bathroom. Worried.
Rachel and Jessica are occupational therapy assistants. They host the show All Things Sensory by Harkla. They say no one taught them this sense in school, either. They point parents to Kelly Mahler and Gwen Wild, who focus on it.
In some children, these inside signals are quiet. The hosts see it in kids who under-respond to sensory input. These kids get hot and sweaty and don’t notice. In winter, their fingers turn blue, and they don’t feel cold. Their brain and body are not making the link.
Other children are the opposite. The summer sun feels too bright, so they stay inside. For more on how sensory differences look at home, see our guide to sensory differences.
So when she says she isn’t thirsty, she is telling you the truth as she feels it. Your child isn’t broken. Her brain is learning differently.
When she says she isn’t thirsty, she is telling you the truth as she feels it.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
How Do You Teach a Child to Notice Her Body?
The hosts treat interoception as a skill. You teach it the way you teach most things. You give it a name, and you practice.
- Name it in the moment. “Your cheeks are red and your shirt is wet. That is what too hot feels like.”
- Read about it. The hosts like a simple picture book from Sensory Explorer, I Am Learning to Listen to My Body. It covers feeling too hot, feeling hungry and needing the bathroom.
- Play it out. A stuffed bear gets too hot at the park. What does he need? A drink and some shade.
- Check in at set times. Ask, “How does your body feel right now?”
The hosts say stories and play help it stick. Over time, the goal is for her to check in on her own.
The hosts also tie this sense to how kids handle big feelings. One small study looked at a related skill, body awareness. Brown and colleagues (2021) found that body awareness and emotional control went together in children. That shows a link. It does not show that one causes the other.
If big feelings are the hardest part at your house, our free course The Overly Emotional Child walks through them.
Key takeaways
- A sense few were taught: Interoception tells your child she is thirsty, hungry, hot or cold.
- A quiet signal: Some kids get hot and sweaty and never feel it happening.
- Lend her a cue: Timers, extra water bottles and set meal times stand in for the signal.
What Helps on a Hot Day?
Until her own signal gets louder, you lend her one from the outside. Here are the cues the hosts use.
- Set a timer. Every 30 to 40 minutes outside, she comes in. She drinks water and rests in the shade for a few minutes.
- Use more than one bottle. One host drinks from three bottles, each a different color. When all three are empty, she knows she drank enough. Try it with your child.
- Set meal times. A child who grazes all day never gets to feel hungry or full. Set times to eat, and close the kitchen in between. “The kitchen opens at 3:30 for snack.”
- Write it down for others. You often see her fading before she feels it. Her words slow down or slur. Give camp or school a short note on what to watch for and what to do.
- Ask before adding electrolytes. The hosts note that a sweaty child needs salt, too. A child who eats mostly packaged foods likely gets plenty already. They say to talk with your doctor first.
What about water and mood? The hosts put water first on their list for a calmer child. They credit a book whose name they could not recall. So we treat it as their practice, not a finding. Still, a hot, thirsty child is rarely at her best. That part needs no study.
We wrote more on sensory challenges and play at home.
Until her own signal gets louder, you lend her one from the outside.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
You want your child safe and calm in her own body. The old habit of calling every hard moment bad behavior stands in the way. You are already your child’s first teacher. Is schoolwork hard for her too? The free Learning Difficulties Analysis asks what you see at home. It is a starting point, not a diagnosis: start the free analysis here.
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Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.
