You know when your children go to bed, what they ate for lunch in school, and what medications they are taking. Or do you? An important step in diagnosing your child's headache is determining what their triggers actually are. When treating small children with potential migraines, parents should eliminate triggers that are within their control.

Dehydration can cause headaches. The definition of dehydration is excessive loss of water from the body. If a child has not been drinking regularly, typical signs will include fatigue, headache, darkcolored urine, less frequent urination, a dry-feeling mouth, and a sticky feeling inside the mouth. Children dehydrate easily, partly because of their smaller body mass, but also because they tend to get so involved in their activities that they simply forget to drink. Try preventative solutions such as having your child carry a water bottle. If they notice fewer headache signs while they are drinking more, dehydration becomes a more probable headache trigger.

Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is a known migraine trigger. If a child regularly skips meals due to lack of appetite, consult a pediatrician to look for other possible conditions. Some children, however, would rather play than eat, or take two bites of a meal before running off. In those cases, try engaging the child long enough to amuse them throughout a meal, providing fun-shaped child-friendly foods. In the short term, offering liquid nutritional supplements is also okay.

The same foods that trigger adult headaches can trigger headaches in children. Keep track of whether your child consumes cheese, chocolate, fried foods, or processed lunchmeats containing sodium nitrate (bologna, hot dogs, etc.) on days when headaches occur. Also keep a record of whether headache strikes on days when your child has eaten any food with monosodium glutamate; this food additive is a known trigger for migraine in adults.

Beverages can also be culprits when it comes to triggering a child's headache. Favorite children's drinks such as sodas and sports drinks can contain high amounts of caffeine. Read labels carefully on any food or drink that your child ingests regularly; even something as innocent-sounding as flavored water can contain enough caffeine to trigger a headache. Chapter 6 has more information on food and beverage triggers.

While many small children enjoy the sensation of smelling flowers on the side of the road, or brownies in the oven, for other children these scents can trigger a migraine. Common odor triggers for children include heavy perfumes, smoke, and “new car” smell. Anything strong, especially something that your child is not often exposed to, is a possible trigger.

A common adult headache trigger results from motion sickness. If your child notably experiences migraine symptoms after having been in a car, boat, or train, consider this as a possible trigger. The same treatments for adults can be used with children. Experiment with preventative motion-sickness medications, though you will want to avoid any that might make your child drowsy. Always check with the manufacturer, as some common Meclizine-based medications are not suitable for young children. Simple preventative measures may be effective; make sure the child does not read in the car, does not begin a long car trip on an overfull or empty stomach, and seat them in the front seat if they meet your state's height and weight requirements.

Has your child been under an increased amount of stress recently? Has she been staying up too late, talking with friends on the phone or doing homework? When a child does not get enough sleep, their self-regulating body systems are thrown out of balance, and headache is a possible result. In fact, most children with headaches tend to experience them during months that schools are in session.

As with adults, childhood headaches can be triggered by certain medications. Check with your doctor and pharmacist to see if any of your child's regular or special medications list “headache” as a side effect. If this is the case, speak to your doctor to see if there might be alternate remedies available.

Does your child spend several hours playing loud music through headphones? This could easily trigger a chronic headache — and is a relatively easy trigger to test. Have your child give up the headphones for a time and see if this change makes a difference in the frequency and intensity of their headaches.

The same test applies to a child who spends hours at a time in front of either a television or computer monitor. See if breaking up the amount of “screen time” into smaller segments and eliminating a portion of the time spent sitting in front of these devices makes a difference.