When To Take Your Child To The Doctor

Most parents often question themselves about whether or not their child is actually sick enough to warrant either a call to their doctor or to schedule a visit. The best advice is evaluate their illness. All parents know that a high fever, rash, fainting, etc. are all reasons to be concerned. If it is a common cold, and everyone in your home has had it, chances are good that your child will work his way through it. Should your child have any sort of health condition, then this would not apply to him. When a child has a ongoing health condition, always seek the advice of his doctor.

A fever that will not subside is always a cause for alarm. As the parent, you must do everything you can to bring that fever down quickly. Do not just allow it to go away on its own. Your assistance is needed to bring it down. If after all of your efforts, it simply will not budge, then call your doctor for his advice. A rash happens a lot in children. Is it from an allergy, something different the child may have eaten or something else. Watch it and put lotion on it if itchy. Call the doctor if it grows or becomes raised and shows up under the arm pit area and definitely if a fever is also involved.

Should you child get injured, always take them to the emergency room for treatment and/or contact your doctor for further instructions. Head injuries are becoming more important than in past years as far as seeking medical attention sooner. Always err on the side of caution with any lump on a child’s head. A doctor will talk you through possible head injury symptoms on the phone and then, most probably determine if you should take the child in to the emergency room. In the event that blood is involved and stitches necessary, take the child immediately to the emergency room.

Some other occurrences may be a slip, fall, bruise or stomach ache. Slip or falls will happen, sometimes even daily when dealing with more than one child in the home. Do not alarm the whole neighborhood that your child has fallen, simply brush them off and evaluate the situation. If there is a deep cut or they appear to have broken something, rush them to seek medical attention as quickly as possible. A tummy ache can mean lots of different things, it may be something simple and it could also be something as severe as needing their appendix out, just go with your gut feeling and take them if necessary. Do not panic, as this will set their emotions off and then you will be drying tears among some other scrapes and even blood. Stay relaxed and get your child the care they need fast. Care for the child properly when you do arrive home and always ensure that you are following the doctor’s orders just as directed to avoid any additional trips to the emergency room with your child.