How to Knjow if Month Old Baby Is Sick
My son has ever been a happy, easygoing kid. Simply at 4 months, Samuel was really cranky for a few days. I called the pediatrician'due south function, and the nurse said it sounded like teething. That, though, didn't seem correct, so I asked to come in for a dr.'southward take. I felt awkward. After all, I'd been a mom for a fraction of this nurse's career. Who was I to second-guess someone with so much experience?
What I didn't consider was that I'd developed my own expertise on Samuel. I could differentiate his feed-me wails from his caress-me whimpers and his I'm-so-sleepy sobs. Turns out, he wasn't teething. He had an ear infection, ane we were able to catch and treat early.
Indeed, parents tin can help docs diagnose properly. "To sympathise when a babe is sick, y'all take to empathize what he's similar when he's well—and that's something a parent knows best," says Paul Horowitz, Chiliad.D., a pediatrician in Santa Clarita, California. Follow this guide to common childhood illnesses, how to care for them, and when to see the doctor.
Fever
This is a sign of an underlying problem rather than an affliction on its own. "The torso raises its temperature because the enzymes that fight infection work better at college temperatures," Dr. Horowitz says. A fever tin can be related to an ear infection, a common cold, the influenza, or information technology tin exist a reaction to a vaccine. Feverish kids are lethargic and irritable.
How to treat: Some parents have "fever phobia" and want to take their kids to the doctor for the slightest increment in temperature. Just low-class fevers (101 degrees or beneath) typically aren't unsafe. Give baby Infants' Tylenol, undress her, encourage her to drink fluids, and bathe her in tepid h2o. "Just wiping her downwardly could lower her fever by a degree or 2," says Christopher Tolcher, MD, a pediatrician in Agoura Hills, California.
When to call the doctor: If your babe is a newborn (3 months or younger) and has even a fever of 100.four or higher, if your kid is younger than 1 year and has a fever of 102 degrees or higher, if a child has a fever of 104 degrees or higher, or if the fever (even a low-grade ane) lasts more than 3 days. Desperate changes in behavior—such as your child'due south becoming very lethargic—are also crusade for concern.
The Cold
'Tis the season for sniffling. Young children get six to viii colds a year, primarily during fall and winter. Symptoms (a stuffy or runny nose and sneezing, coughing, and sometimes a fever) unremarkably build for ii to 3 days, acme for 3 to 5, and and so subside.
How to treat: Avert cough or cold meds, but give him Infants' Tylenol for fever. Dry air worsens congestion, so run a humidifier in Babe's room while he sleeps. If he'due south non drinking lots of breast milk or formula, give him water or, if your child is over ane, an electrolyte beverage, like Pedialyte.
When to telephone call the doctor: If your sniffling baby is a newborn, or if he has a loftier fever.
The Flu
This very contagious virus travels quickly through daycares and families. An infected baby will exist cranky and will lose interest in playing or eating. Then she'll develop a fever followed by a runny or stuffy nose and a cough. A flu-related fever tin can final three to seven days, and kids can continue to feel cranky for a few days after that.
How to treat: Care for your child as if she has a cold: Give her enough of liquids and watch out for astringent coughing or animate problems. To forbid a future tour, get your child vaccinated, which experts recommend for all kids over 6 months.
When to call the doctor: If Baby is a newborn and sick, if it'due south influenza season and your child spikes a fever, or if symptoms don't improve inside v days.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
This sounds scarier than it is. It'due south a mutual virus affecting the lungs and breathing passages. Preemies are specially vulnerable because their airway and immune system aren't completely adult. Information technology mostly begins like a cold does; past twenty-four hour period three, a potent cough and wheezing-like breathing begin. Symptoms recede after a few days, merely the cough can linger for up to 2 weeks. Kids who accept a bad episode have an increased risk of to developing asthma.
How to Treat: Use a humidifier. As well give him Infants' Tylenol and extra fluid. Cool air can calm irritated airways: place him in front end of an open fridge for a minute.
When to call the doctor: If your child is a newborn and sick, shows signs of aridity, if skin, lips, or natural language announced grey or blue, or if he has severe nonstop coughing or trouble breathing. "Notice if he's using actress muscles to breathe," Dr. Horowitz says. "Take off his shirt. If the spaces between his ribs become sucked in with each breath and his nostrils are flaring, call your doctor right away."
Ear Infection
Infant trunk linguistic communication is catchy because sleepy kids often rub their ears. Only if she tugs her ears and also has a stuffy nose and a fever, an ear infection might exist the culprit. Infants are especially prone to these.
How to Treat: Some infections articulate upwardly on their own. "To avoid the overuse of antibiotics, we've gotten less ambitious about treating ear infections," Dr. Horowitz says. But a doctor volition prescribe an antibiotic to relieve ear pain. You can as well give infant Infants' Tylenol to help her slumber.
When to phone call the doctor: If you suspect an infection. "The simply mode to diagnose is for your dr. to look in your kid's ear," Sue Hubbard, M.D., a Dallas pediatrician. "One day the ear tin can look normal, and the next it might be infected. Give it a few days to see if symptoms amend. If they don't, visit your dr. again." A severe, untreated infection can lead to a ruptured eardrum, and repeat ear infections can lead to hearing loss.
Diarrhea
Changing diapers—specially if they're runny—is not i of parenthood's joys. Watery and frequent bowel movements are frequently caused by a virus; simply a bacterial infection, allergy, food intolerance, or medicine could also exist to blame.
How to care for: Diarrhea unremarkably lasts 5 to ten days. Dehydration is the main business concern, so requite baby lots of fluid. Is he likewise vomiting? Wait 30 minutes later he throws up to offer pocket-size, frequent doses of an electrolyte drink. Start with a tablespoon, slowly increasing the dose over time.
When to telephone call the doctor: If your sick baby has a high fever, exhibits signs of dehydration (fewer wet diapers, sluggishness, skin that'southward not equally elastic every bit usual), or if there is any blood or pus in the stool.
Conjunctivitis
Known as pinkeye, this condition makes your child'southward optics wait cherry-red and puffy. It's an inflammation of the eye's mucous membranes and usually affects both eyes at once but sometimes starts in i eye just. The cause tin be a bacterial or viral infection: yellowish or green drainage signals bacterial; no tearing or pus indicates viral. Another style to differentiate: viral infections ordinarily come with cold symptoms. Both are very contagious and spread quickly.
How to care for: A viral infection normally clears up on its own inside a calendar week. Keep baby'southward heart area clean by gently washing information technology with warm water. If the infection is bacterial, your doctor will treat it with an antibiotic eyedrop. For either infection type, a warm compress will brand your baby feel better.
When to call the physician: As soon every bit symptoms appear. Consult a doctor to ensure the cause isn't bacterial and to get antibiotics if needed.
UPDATE: A previous version of this story recommended having babies sleep on an incline or slight meridian to aid with the mutual cold or RSV. Withal, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that a infant should always sleep apartment on their dorsum, with no incline.
Originally published American Baby magazine.
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Source: https://www.parents.com/baby/health/sick-baby/what-to-do-when-baby-gets-sick-7-solutions/
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