The weather is getting cooler, autumn diarrhea, influenza, common cold, pneumonia… These diseases will begin to enter an active period again.
The pediatric clinic, which has been overcrowded all the year round, is expected to usher in a new round of peak visits.
According to past reports and experience, the average waiting time in many pediatric clinics exceeds two hours, and under the severe situation of shortage of pediatricians, the average waiting time in some hospitals is as long as 4-6 hours.
Then, does the child have to run to the hospital as soon as he feels unwell?
Obviously not.
Some parents think that cough will cause pneumonia and fever will burn out their brains, so as soon as the child feels a little uncomfortable, he will immediately rush to the hospital without saying anything.
Apart from the fact that the journey in the cold winter months may aggravate the symptoms of children, the long waiting time in the hospital is also a great torture for children and parents. More importantly, there are many pathogens in the hospital and the chance of causing cross infection is greater.
Clove mother does not advocate parents to carry out self-diagnosis and autonomy for their children’s diseases, but would like to suggest parents:
Before taking the child to the hospital, learn to do a good job of correct disease assessment and family care. Grasping the opportunity to go to the hospital can avoid many unnecessary troubles.
Mastering Correct Family Nursing Methods
At present, some parents will look up all kinds of information on the Internet, but they may also find some wrong knowledge, such as simply believing that fever must be quickly reduced and cough must be relieved in the first place.
Let’s take a look at the correct family care methods for the common symptoms of babies and the knowledge of inflation ~
What about fever?
The child has a fever, don’t blindly reduce the fever!
The advantage of fever is that when the body temperature rises, the body’s immune system is mobilized to jointly remove pathogenic bacteria from the body. However, the disadvantage is that if the fever lasts for too long, the body will be weakened and there will be no more strength to fight against the enemy.
You can do this first:
- Keep the room temperature comfortable and wear light and sweat-absorbing clothes for children. Replenish enough water, such as plain boiled water, diluted fruit juice or oral rehydration salt solution; Let the children rest more; Above 38.5 ℃, or if the child is uncomfortable, then start to consider using antipyretics. For babies over 3 months old, acetaminophen can be selected, and ibuprofen can be selected for babies over 6 months old.
When should what see a doctor?
- The baby is under 6 months old; Poor spirit, lethargy, poor appetite, dry mouth, reduced urine volume, anterior fontanelle depression and other dehydration symptoms; Body temperature is higher than 39 ℃; Fever under 2 years old for more than 24 hours and fever over 2 years old for more than 3 days; When I feel unsure.
What about cough?
Cough is a protective reaction. Don’t use cough medicine as soon as your child coughs!
Cough can help eliminate respiratory secretions and avoid risks such as airway blockage and secondary infection.
Cough can occur when pneumonia occurs, but cough itself will not cause pneumonia. If the child finds pneumonia after coughing for a few days, it is actually because there is already a lung infection when coughing.
You can do this first:
- Tap the child on the back to encourage and help excrete phlegm. Open windows for ventilation to keep the air fresh and moist. Make full use of the warm water vapor in the bathroom; Stay away from smoke, dust and crowded places; Drink more water for more than 6 months, or you can drink diluted fruit juice, you can drink honey for more than 1 year old, and you can use cough syrup for more than 6 years old. If cough affects daily life, you can choose a single-ingredient phlegm-resolving drug. You must ask a doctor to write a prescription and do not buy it yourself.
When should what see a doctor?
- Poor spirit, accompanied by dyspnea, purple lips and other hypoxia manifestations; Cough yellow, green phlegm, fever at the same time; Cough lasts for more than 2 weeks or the symptoms continue to worsen.
What about diarrhea?
Never use antibiotics when your child has diarrhea!
Diarrhea, commonly known as diarrhea, is mostly caused by gastroenteritis. Many cases are caused by virus infection and antibiotics are not effective at all. If you have diarrhea, the key is to evaluate the severity of dehydration and replenish water in time.
You can do this first:
- Take oral rehydration salts (ORS); According to the specific situation to children zinc supplement (zinc supplement can shorten the course of diarrhea, reduce the risk of dehydration); Don’t eat raw and cold food and food you haven’t eaten before. Wash your hands frequently and do not grab food with your hands. After the symptoms improve, gradually resume diet, and it is recommended to gradually return to normal starting from liquid.
When should what see a doctor?
- Bloody stool accompanied by high fever; The occurrence of watery stool and severe vomiting is extremely frequent. Diarrhea for more than 2 weeks; It is best to take the children’s excrement before seeing a doctor.
What about constipation?
Drugs such as Kaiselu are not the first choice to relieve constipation. Repeated constipation needs attention!
Constipation refers to not only the reduction of defecation frequency, but also dry stool, laborious stool, reduced stool frequency but still soft stool, which is not necessarily constipation.
You can do this first:
- Massage the abdomen; Eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables; Drink plenty of water and juice such as prune juice, apple juice or pear juice (more than 4 months); Avoid dairy products for the time being, but if constipation does not improve, you can resume drinking milk. Encourage children to form the habit of regular defecation.
When should what see a doctor?
- Constipation of babies less than 4 months old should be treated as soon as possible. Not defecating within 24 hours after adopting the above method; Poor appetite and weight loss; Blood and pain in stool; Recurrent constipation.
What about colds?
Don’t always feed cold medicine!
Common cold, commonly known as [cold], is a disease caused by virus and can recover by itself. Usually, the symptoms are mild, including sneezing, nasal obstruction, runny nose, etc. Influenza refers to a disease caused by a specific influenza virus, with severe systemic symptoms and obvious cough and sore throat.
- If you have fever and cough, you can refer to the above treatment methods. Drink enough water, but don’t drink too much. Lying down will aggravate nasal congestion symptoms, and the baby can be temporarily picked up to relieve the symptoms. You can use a nasal aspirator to remove nasal mucus, drop nose or spray nasal saline. Older children can use nasal saline to wash their noses. Maintaining indoor humidity at 40% ~ 60% (which can be maintained by using humidifiers) is conducive to relieving nasal congestion and cough.
What about vomiting?
There are many reasons for vomiting. If parents are not sure, it is recommended to see a doctor as soon as possible.
You can do this first:
- Neonatal vomiting, Most of them are physiological, May be fed too much, eat too much air or after feeding the child’s activities are too intense. As long as it is not too frequent, you can feed a small amount of multiple times, after feeding, stand up to pat the back, usually can relieve. Older children vomit, the most common reason is gastroenteritis, often accompanied by diarrhea, attention should be paid to prevent dehydration, timely fluid replacement.
When should what see a doctor?
- Frequent foam spitting at birth and choking cough at breast-feeding; Vomitus is brown or bloody; Accompanied by stomachache, swelling or bloody stool; Vomiting after head trauma should go to the hospital as soon as possible to eliminate concussion, intracranial injury, hemorrhage, etc. Accompanied by fever symptoms or not improved for a long time.
What about chickenpox?
After going to the hospital to diagnose varicella, we need to realize that varicella is a self-limited disease. If no measures are taken, it can be recovered in about 10 days.
You can do this first:
- Take diphenhydramine orally and apply it with cold towel or calamine lotion to relieve pruritus. Cut the child’s nails short or put on long clothes and trousers to prevent bacterial infection caused by scratching the skin; If the temperature exceeds 38.5 ℃, the fever will be reduced. Acetaminophen can be selected for more than 3 months and ibuprofen can be selected for more than 6 months. After 24 hours without fever and all blisters scabbed, you can return to normal life.