Stages of Dehydration

Dehydration deepens through three clinical grades, and each grade has its own correct response - the whole game is acting at the grade you are actually in.

Mild (1-2 in 100 parts of body water lost)

• Thirst, slightly dark urine, maybe a dull headache
• Right response: drink - water is fine at this stage; ORS if there is diarrhoea or heavy sweating
• Fixed within an hour or two of steady sipping

Moderate (roughly 3-6%)

• Dry mouth, much less urine, dizziness on standing, fast-ish heartbeat, tiredness, irritability
• In children: fewer wet nappies, no tears, sunken soft spot
• Right response: ORS actively - small frequent sips, a glass after every loose stool - and a doctor's call if vomiting prevents keeping fluids down or the person is a baby or elderly

Severe (7% or more)

• No urine for 8+ hours, sunken eyes, confusion or lethargy, very fast pulse, cold extremities, fainting
• Right response: hospital - intravenous fluids. This is a medical emergency, and oral fluids alone are too slow and often impossible
• In children this stage can arrive within a day of heavy diarrhoea

The recovery direction

Rehydration works the same ladder in reverse: IV or aggressive ORS for the severe, steady sipping for the mild. Urine colour is the home scoreboard - dark to pale is progress you can see.

The stage to never tolerate at home

Confusion, fainting, or a baby too weak to drink is not "watch and give fluids" territory - it is emergency territory, every time, in every season.

One-line summary

Mild dehydration answers to water, moderate to active ORS and close watching, severe to hospital IV fluids - with confusion, fainting or a baby too weak to drink marking the line where home care ends.