Helping Your Teen Through Their First Hangover

Whether your child drinking alcohol for the first time is your worst nightmare or whether it doesn’t bother you all that much, one thing is for certain — they’re going to suffer come the morning, and you’re going to have to be there to help them through it. As it is their first time having to go through this plight, there will be moans, groans, requests for water and toast, and probably a bit (a lot) of vomiting.  

You cannot shy away from this task — your parents helped you through your first hangover, and there will come a time when you have to help your teen through theirs. To see what needs to be done in this instance, be sure to read on. 

Don’t judge them 

Judging your child for drinking alcohol is just going to make everything ten times worse. They need to focus all of their energy on rehydrating and resting, not worrying about what think of them. You should, then, be sure to save the lectures, the criticisms, and the arguments for a later date. Remember, you were young once, and how would you have felt if your mom and dad judged you for drinking alcohol? 

Make sure they rehydrate 

Dehydration is a common hangover plight. This is because alcohol is what is known as a diuretic, a type of substance that forces the body to pass more urine — the more urine that is passed, quite simply, the more dehydrated one becomes. 

Dehydration isn’t nice at the best of times, but it’s even worse when your head is spinning (and you’re having flashbacks of all the embarrassing things you did the night before). To make your teen feel comfortable during their hangover, you should take it upon yourself to ensure that they remain hydrated at all times.  

An effective way to do this in this day and age is to set them up with an IV drip for dehydration. This kind of care replaces lost fluids, electrolytes, and nutrients quickly, which not only makes the patient feel more comfortable but also speeds up their recovery process. 

Hangover symptoms tend to be very unpleasant and they can include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headache, and dry mouth. When talking about IV treatment, it should be noted that they have become one of the famous ways not only to cure a hangover, but also, they are useful for allergies, flu, immunity, etc. As they have various types you should deeply research and choose a related one for you and your family. For example, a banana bag for hangover can be a special treatment, as it contains essential vitamins and electrolytes to help alcohol abusers. You can as well check with your family doctor or a professional nurse about which method to choose.

Ensure they sleep on their side 

Allowing your hungover/still drunk child to fall asleep while lying on their back could result in devastating consequences. If they were to begin throwing up while sleeping on their back, they could easily inhale the vomit and choke on it. If this were to happen, not only would they not be able to breathe, but they wouldn’t be able to call out for help either. 

If you take only one piece of advice away from you, let it be this: keep popping your head into your child’s room to ensure that they are sleeping on their side. By doing so, you could very well end up saving their life. 

As their parent, you’re not going to want to see your teen suffer too much through their first hangover, whether it was self-inflicted or not, so you’re naturally going to try and help them. When you are eventually faced with this plight, be sure to put all that you have read above into practice. It’ll make everything easier… for the both of you.