I am a firm believer of gateraid, I think water is good but my dr always tells me to drink gateraid especially since I have been having problems with heart palputations. Anywho, when we go to the beach and it is extra hot, is it okay to give my LO (14 mos) gateraid (in non-excessive amounts that is, I know that too much gateraid can be bad) What do yall think??

I don't know about the minerals and whatnot and whether that is ok for toddlers - I suspect it is. My problem with Gatorade is that it is full of sugar (and high fructose corn syrup at that, which I try to avoid whenever possible), artificial flavors and artificial colors, which I do not want my children to have. During baseball season there were many struggles with my kids over the Gatorade issue. When my son gets it at his game, my 3yo daughter wants one to, and to me it is as bad as a soft drink, which they are not allowed to have at all. There are much better ways to stay hydrated and plenty of "cleaner" alternatives, IMO.

I hope your heart is OK, HollyAnn.

It's funny, as I read this I'm drinking a Powerade. I love that stuff. And I'm looking at the ingredients list and the second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup, which means there's a lot of it in there. I personally would not give this to Jack. But Jack isn't too fussy about what he drinks. He is happy with his organic milk or water with a splash of apple juice. So I don't see any reason to introduce him to sugary drinks just yet.

IMO, anything in moderation is fine.

I wouldn't give a lot of it, but at the beach, in the hot sun, the key is to stay hydrated. If your LO will take gatorade better than water, I'd say go for it. If he likes water as much as gatorade though, not really any need.

When my littlest was sick last winter (and she was just barely 1) with the flu, the ped told me to give her gatorade mixed with water. She said most kids hate pedialyte (mine do), and that gatorade would keep her hydrated better than plain water.

You can actually get chewable electrolyte tablets. Granted, it doesn't do nearly as good as water does, but when you are out during the summer, all the electrolytes you can get are good. We used them in our first aid packs when I was a camp counselor. So, if you can find a less sugary drink and do the tablets. Or if not, then I would at least mix it half and half with water, that way they still have the good taste but with less of the sugar.