Lesson overview
Paediatric Maintenance Fluids
Learn how to calculate hourly and daily paediatric maintenance-fluid estimates, then separate the arithmetic from fluid composition, clinical restriction, route, monitoring and guideline-specific limits.
About 30 minutesPaediatric CalculationsNo account required
Learning outcomes
What you will learn
- explain what a maintenance-fluid formula result represents in this maths lesson
- split a weight into the first 10 kg, next 10 kg and kilograms above 20
- calculate the 4-2-1 hourly estimate one band at a time
- calculate the 100-50-20 daily estimate one band at a time
- recognise which bands are used at 10 kg, 20 kg and weights above 20 kg
- keep the hourly and daily methods separate instead of forcing them to match, while recognising that they can occasionally coincide at a particular weight
- recognise that the arithmetic result does not by itself choose a real clinical fluid plan
- separate maintenance volume from IV-fluid composition and understand the modern isotonic-maintenance boundary in the population covered by current guidance
- recognise that reduced maintenance and large-child maximums are guideline-specific clinical adjustments rather than extra MedMaths formulas
- use the current authorised kilogram weight basis without letting a unit conversion silently choose the clinical weight method
- recognise that the formula does not decide whether IV therapy is needed and that oral or enteral hydration may be preferred when clinically appropriate
- account for reassessment, total fluid exposure and fluid creep while keeping display precision separate from prescribing or pump precision
Clinical connection
Why this matters
A common arithmetic mistake is applying one band's rate to the whole weight. A separate clinical mistake is treating a mathematically correct full-maintenance estimate as the whole fluid prescription. This lesson teaches both boundaries explicitly.
Lesson plan
How the lesson works
- 1
Learn
Short teaching slides explain one idea at a time with plain-language examples.
- 2
Practise
Answer calculation or scenario questions and receive immediate feedback.
- 3
Finish
Complete the lesson mastery check and save your progress on this browser.