As a concerned parent or caretaker, there are few things more frightening than when your child has pediatric issues. There are many types of pediatric issues that can happen, and they can all be equally frightening if you don’t know what’s happening.
Therefore, it’s important to have a basic understanding of pediatric issues, such as sudden fever, ear infections, the common cold, and more. By understanding these many issues and knowing how to spot them, you can know what to do when your child has a pediatric issue.
Common Pediatric Issues to Watch Out For
As we said before, there are many pediatric issues that can happen in kids of all ages. Here are some of the most common and how to spot them.
Sudden Fever
Sudden fever is one of the most common and frightening experiences for a young parent to go through with their baby. A sudden fever can stem as a side effect of illness or can appear from out of nowhere. Either way, it’s important to call your pediatrician or an urgent care facility if a baby under three months has a fever over 100.4. For babies from three to six months old, a fever of 101 or higher is cause for concern and immediate medical action.
Diarrhea
A case of recurrent diarrhea is never fun for anyone, but it’s especially bad for toddlers. The good news about pediatric diarrhea is that it typically has a root cause that you may figure out on your own. Most times, for babies, it’s because of a flu bug or because they have a food allergy, or are lactose intolerant.
Toddlers who are eating solid or semisolid food could be eating too much of a certain type of food, such as fruit or fiber. Besides being a health concern, diarrhea also causes a painful diaper rash.
Skin Rashes
While diarrhea is one common cause of skin rash, it can also stem from allergic reactions, eczema, and many other things. You should contact your pediatrician immediately if you notice a worrisome rash that doesn’t resolve within several days.
A Case of the Coughs
Coughing is a common symptom of sudden fever, the cold, or the flu. However, coughing can also happen without other flu-like symptoms, which could be worrisome depending on what’s causing it. Therefore, anytime your little one has a nagging cough that doesn’t go away, seek medical attention.
Nausea and Vomiting
Your toddler’s stomach is the source of many potential issues. From nausea and vomiting to constipation, gassiness, and stomachaches, the potential problems are seemingly endless. While the occasional stomach ache or bout of gassiness or constipation is inevitable and usually nothing to worry about, it’s important to keep your eye on your baby in case the symptoms don’t go away. Excessive nausea and vomiting can be dangerous in a toddler and lead to malnutrition and other issues.
Teething
Teething is a painful and uncomfortable experience that all parents and toddlers need to go through. Teething typically starts around the 6-month mark and is when your baby’s teeth start poking through their gums. In the same way that it can be painful for adults when their wisdom teeth start coming in, teething is a very unpleasant experience for babies.
It’s a good idea to have special teething toys on hand for when this process begins. Cold compresses and a gentle gum massage will also help ease their pain and make the teething process less traumatic.
Ear Infections
Besides being painful and irritating to your infant, an acute case of teething can also lead to ear infections. Ear infections are extremely common among infants and toddlers, and they often cause a great deal of pain and discomfort.
While teething is one cause of ear infections, it can also stem from a cold or the flu or because of a buildup of earwax. Regardless of what causes your little ones’ ear infection, they will probably tug at their ears, be very fussy, may run a fever, and show other signs of discomfort.
How an Urgent Care Facility Can Help
No matter what type of health-related pediatric issues your toddler is having, Anderson Walk-In Medical Clinic can help. Our skilled and experienced healthcare professionals are well-versed in pediatric issues. They can perform a physical examination, run any necessary tests, and come up with a diagnosis of what’s wrong with your child. We can then start them on the treatment plan to get them back to full health as quickly as possible.
