From the moment when a child appeared in the house, silence and calmness is a sign of trouble!
When the child stopped frolicking, running, jumping and squealing, and moved on to crying and complaining of feeling unwell, it is obvious that illness had entered the house.
Where to start if the child is sick
When the first symptoms are detected, it is necessary to call a doctor at home, or, in late time, with acute symptoms, an ambulance. Free medicine, of course, is not particularly friendly, but they know their business. And, even despite the fact that by their arrival the child suddenly came to life, the doctors will find the reasons quickly enough, and even criticize the actions of young parents.
But it is better to hear moralizing and criticism than to regret later on the lost time in the illness of a child!
Body temperature is the primary indicator of a child's health. At healthy child with increased activity, body temperature can reach up to about 37 degrees, so at a temperature of 36.6-37 degrees you should not be very worried. But, and relax, too, is not worth it!
Keep your child under observation so as not to miss the moment when the temperature can go from simple overexcitation or fatigue to illness. Therefore, with the advent of a child in your apartment, a thermometer must also appear without fail! The classic mercury one is a must, and, just in case, you should also have a remote-action children's electronic thermometer in reserve, in case it is difficult to keep the child in place.
Stay alert and watch for other symptoms.
The temperature rose - the child fell ill. Let's move on to action!
If the child’s body temperature still rises above normal, this is a sign of the body’s struggle with the disease.
According to doctors, if the body temperature does not reach 38 degrees, it is not necessary to bring it down. But, as with any rule, there are exceptions.
In what cases should antipyretics be used at a temperature of less than 38 degrees?
- if the child is not yet 2 months old;
- if the child suffers from congenital diseases of the nervous or cardiovascular system;
- when seizures occur.
If the child freezes, stretches into a string and rolls his eyes, do not panic and do not try to get him out of this state. Lay the child on his side so that he does not suffocate, and immediately call an ambulance!
What to do if the child has a high temperature
A high temperature is usually accompanied by increased sweating, in which the body quickly loses fluid. Therefore, it is necessary to give the child more often non-carbonated water, slightly sweet tea, compote or fruit drink.
When a child's temperature rises, many young mothers reflexively try to wrap him up as warmly as possible. This is one of the most common mistakes in the fight against a respiratory infection. Warm clothes and blankets negatively affect thermoregulation and provoke overheating of the body. It will be better if you just put cotton pajamas or any other homemade clothes made from natural materials on your child.
No need to clog the windows or heat the heaters red hot. The air in the children's room should be fresh and humid.
No need to close the windows and turn on the heaters at full power. The air in the room of a sick child should always be fresh and moist. Keep track of the temperature and humidity in the room. Beware of drafts and too dry air in the nursery - this can complicate the course of the disease.
A runny nose and cough are treated much easier and faster if a humidifier works in the children's room.
During an illness, any person loses his appetite. So don't force feed your baby. But in order for the body to have the strength to fight the disease, it needs to eat enough calories. Therefore, it is recommended to feed a sick child with light but nutritious broths. They are very well absorbed, which is very important during the period of illness.
How to treat a child?
In no case do not abuse drugs, even if they are available without a prescription. Most fast-acting drugs only temporarily relieve symptoms, but do not help fight the virus and will not be able to protect the child from complications.
Plus, the use of any medication reduces the child's body's ability to independently fight the virus, develop immunity.
Remember that most medicines intended for the treatment of colds cannot be used for a long time, as there is a risk of causing a complication.
In the case of the flu or a cold, it is best to start taking an antiviral drug in the first two days of the disease.
Antiviral agents serve as an assistant to the body in the fight against the virus, facilitate the course of the disease, reduce its duration, and, most importantly, reduce the risk of developing other complications against the background of a viral disease.
Infectious diseases in children
If general malaise, weakness, runny nose and cough are accompanied by diarrhea, rash or vomiting, then the diagnosis may be an infectious disease - rubella, chickenpox, measles or scarlet fever.
In this case, your first step is to call a doctor or an ambulance at home. And before the arrival of the doctor, with vomiting and diarrhea, the child must be soldered with a liquid, preferably ordinary boiled water. In the process of diarrhea and vomiting, the body is very dehydrated and, if you do not drink liquid, you can provoke serious complications. Give your child at least a teaspoon of water every 10-15 minutes, depending on the age of the child.
With these symptoms, you can not give a laxative, do an enema and apply heating pads or compresses to the stomach.
The children's body is prone to frequent colds, the reason for this is a weak and not yet formed immunity. There are four factors that cause a runny nose and cough: allergies, viruses, bacteria, and the common cold. The cause of the development of acute respiratory disease in 99% of cases is an infection. Viruses spread well in a dry and warm environment. And moist and moving air (for example, when a window is open in a room), on the contrary, is an obstacle for them.
The most difficult thing is with babies in the first year of life, since many drugs are contraindicated for them, and you should not buy them based on the recommendations of friends. Any parent is interested in improving the condition of the crumbs as early as possible, without using antibiotics. How to be a mother, if a child and what preventive measures to take? Read about it in the article below.
If the baby is sick
Young children are very susceptible to various viruses. Where an adult body can cope without medication, a child will need serious treatment. Often the parents or relatives of the baby themselves are the source of the infection. Perhaps the child was blown away during a walk or he breathed cold air. Many young parents are trying to figure out what to do? The child began to get sick and at the same time he still cannot tell what worries him. If he is not yet a year old, then first of all it is necessary to see a doctor or, in the presence of fever, call him to the house.
Before the arrival of the pediatrician, it is worth deciding on the symptoms. Nasal congestion, red throat, fever indicate the presence of signs of a cold. During the examination, the doctor can listen to how the child's lungs are working. In the absence of extraneous noise, you can calm down a little, which means that the organs are clean and the disease will not turn into a severe form. If there are signs of SARS, it is important to prevent the development of the disease. The baby may be naughty or cry when pressure is applied to the ear. This symptom indicates the likelihood of developing otitis media. In the case when the child began to fall ill, only an ENT doctor can tell what to do and how to treat a sore ear. A timely appeal to the pediatrician will significantly reduce the period of malaise in the baby.
What should adults do when a child is sick?
Among the questions that concern most parents: when the child starts to get sick, what to do? Sometimes, before the arrival of the doctor, it is urgent to take some measures that will alleviate the suffering of the baby. Firstly, the room where the baby is located is important to ventilate. At this point, it is desirable to be with him in another room. If possible, it is recommended to install a humidifier. It is optimal that the humidity in the room is not lower than 40%.
Secondly, the baby should regularly drink water, a special children's herbal tea. In the absence of appetite, you can replace solid food with liquid, broths (vegetable or chicken). Forcing the baby to eat is not recommended, especially when there is reddening of the throat. Against all odds folk methods, in the presence of diseases of the oral cavity, it is not recommended to give honey to children. It will further increase the redness and worsen the condition.
Thirdly, it is worth regularly cleaning the sinuses. Babies can't blow their own nose, so your doctor may recommend using a special small pear to suck out the mucus. However, it should be understood that its frequent use can injure thin blood vessels. Therefore resort to this method advise only when absolutely necessary.
In the case when a child begins to get sick, what to do, parental intuition will tell. Mom, like no one else, feels the baby, changes in his behavior. Since body temperature often rises in the evening and at night, experienced parents are advised to take the baby to themselves or sleep with him. This will allow you to respond in time to the fever that has appeared at night and give the appropriate medicine (for example, Ibuprofen, Paracetomol Baby, Cyfecon).
Treatment of children from two years
For babies older than a year the number of licensed drugs is increasing significantly. However, knowledgeable parents are trying to enable children's immunity to cope with a viral infection on their own. When a child begins to get sick, what to do will be prompted by either maternal experience or a doctor's consultation. Most children experience colds at least once a year. Therefore, mothers have an idea about the symptoms and methods of treatment. In medical practice, up to 6 episodes of colds in a child per year are considered quite normal.
If a child sneezes and starts to get sick, then the very first thing to do is reduce the swelling of the sinuses. When the first signs of a cold appear, it is recommended to refrain from taking antibiotics and interferons that are not agreed with the doctor.
An important point in self-treatment is drinking plenty of water. It helps to avoid overheating of the body, and in the presence of a high temperature (above 38.5 degrees) will help to avoid dehydration. In the case when a child begins to get sick (2 years or older), parents should support the child's body and introduce vitamins or herbal teas into the diet, which will help strengthen immunity.
The main mistake of many parents is an attempt to cure their baby without consulting a doctor. The rapid effect of taking antibiotics and interferons can harm fragile immunity. And yet the question remains: if a child starts to get sick at the age of 2, what can be done, and then what can not be done? It is necessary to stop all the symptoms, as a rule, it is high fever, runny nose, redness of the throat.
Runny nose and fever
Nasal congestion is always a nuisance. When the child begins to get sick and his health has not yet worsened much, you can use folk recipes. The use of special medications is possible after consultation with a doctor. It must be understood that some components can be addictive, which is undesirable for the child's body.
As long as there is no severe swelling, it is recommended to rinse the nose with sea water several times a day. It is sold in the form of a spray, soft shower (such as Aqualor Baby) or drops. As permitted drugs that are dispensed without a doctor's prescription, children's antipyretics, syrups without sugar and flavors are used. At high temperatures, you can not rub the baby with alcohol solutions, put mustard plasters, wrap in a blanket or dress in warm clothes. It is necessary to give the body the opportunity to cope with the current situation. Therefore, temperatures below 38.5 are not customary to bring down. If it becomes more than 39, suppositories and syrups may not be effective. If it is impossible to contact the pediatrician, it is advisable to call the emergency doctor.
Colds
It is important to take action as soon as a child starts to get a cold. What to do in the very first days is a must - so drink it with water or dried fruit compote. You can not allow the deterioration of the health of the crumbs. Drinking is the main rule during the detection of signs of a cold in a baby. It is important to know that milk is not a drink, it is food. Therefore, it cannot be considered that when a mother gives it to a child, he thereby receives the fluid necessary for the body. There is no clear criterion for how much water a child should be given per day. You can determine the rate by the number of urination during the day. Usually this is at least 1 time per hour. The ideal temperature of the liquid used should be the same as in the body, then it is absorbed immediately.
Are antibiotics needed?
Many doctors rush to prescribe antibiotics when a child starts to get a cold. What to do in this case? Whether to listen to the doctor and immediately proceed to radical methods? The answer here is at odds with the opinion of those experts who give the child's body time to cope on its own. As a rule, during the first three days, either an increase in the disease is observed, or it passes without complications. If the treatment is chosen correctly, the child is in a room where there is a humidifier, it is sufficiently ventilated, the baby receives the amount of fluid necessary for the child's body, then most likely the disease will recede.
But it happens that a viral infection is complicated, the reason for this is harmful bacteria. They are treated with antibiotics. If we talk about complications, then it can be pneumonia, and bronchitis. To overcome the lesion, the child's immunity produces sputum, mucus. The substances that it contains kill disease-causing cells. Therefore, it is important to understand that the presence of liquid mucus in the nasal cavities is good. This means that the immune system works correctly, especially if the child begins to get sick. What to do? Komarovsky, in one of his speeches, focuses on the fact that in no case is it recommended to close the windows in the room and create a dry and warm environment.
Does the child need immunomodulators
Since the child's body is only being formed during the first years of life, it is undesirable to include drugs containing interferons in the treatment regimen. Many doctors and experienced mothers believe that in this way the immune system will completely cease to cope with the virus itself and in the future will be vulnerable to infections.
To date, pediatricians who want to quickly achieve recovery prescribe immunomodulators. Parents themselves are the culprits. They do not want to wait until the child's body copes with the disease itself. And very often during a pediatrician's home visit, they begin, for example, to say: "The child is a year old, he starts to get sick, what should I do in such a situation?" So they motivate the fact that they may have given the baby a drug on their own. Age is taken as an example here, but the bottom line is that parents do not know how to do the right thing. Therefore, drugs such as Viferon, Genferon and others have become popular on sale. You can resort to their use, but only as a last resort.
Are folk remedies appropriate
In childhood, when the child is under three years old, many drugs are banned. Among grandmother's recipes, it turns out that onions are very effective. It should be cut into slices, divided into feathers and placed on a plate. Place it next to your child. Despite the unpleasant smell, onion juice, when evaporated, allows you to clear the sinuses. It is noted that after a short time the breath becomes clear. It is advisable to leave the plate overnight.
A similar recipe is the use of garlic cloves. This is especially true when the child begins to get sick, and how to treat, the mother does not know. Garlic is also used as a prevention of the development of SARS in the kindergarten. To do this, an egg is taken from under the Kinder Surprise, holes are pierced in it with a needle, several cloves of garlic are placed inside. Thus, the aroma from it is not very pronounced, but it is possible to achieve an antimicrobial effect.
Do not forget about herbal teas, for example, chamomile has anti-inflammatory properties, it tastes good. Compotes and fruit drinks can easily replace sweet packaged juices. No need to force the baby to eat complex, heavy food (meat, fatty cottage cheese). The easier the food is digested, the better for the body. Therefore, many mothers try to use the well-known old recipe - during an illness they prepare chicken or vegetable broth. It is light and quite nutritious, just what is needed for a weakened body.
Use of inhalers
Sometimes the condition of the baby confuses the parents, and they really do not understand what to do - the child sneezes, starts to get sick and seems to have completely stopped breathing. First of all, you should pay attention to the nature of the discharge from the nose. If they are viscous, liquid, then this is a normal immune reaction. If there are crusts, dry particles in the nose, we can say that the nasal mucosa has ceased to fulfill its protective functions and nothing resists the penetration of the virus into the body. The inhaler turns the liquid medicine into an aerosol, which allows its particles to penetrate deep into the respiratory tract and reach the infected area. The effect is achieved almost instantly.
To moisturize the mucous membrane and facilitate sputum discharge, it is good to have an assistant in the house in the form of a special children's inhaler. He quickly copes where viscous mucus is deeply "settled" in the airways, alveoli and bronchioles. There are many different recipes that are easy to make at home. A popular method of conducting inhalation using mineral water, for example, "Borjomi", "Narzan".
For babies who are not yet five years old, manufacturers offer parents to purchase a special nebulizer. Treatment with such a device avoids exposure to the liver and kidneys of the child. The drug that came during inhalation does not penetrate into the blood. Up to eight procedures are allowed per day.
If there is no inhaler, and the child's health begins to deteriorate, to help him, doctors recommend filling the bathroom with boiling water until persistent steam forms in the room. A well-moisturized room allows you to achieve the desired effect. The baby can breathe through his mouth or, if possible, through his nose, it is enough to stand among such warm and humid steam for 5-10 minutes to get the effect, like using a special nebulizer.
Prevention measures
To stop the disease at the initial stage, it is recommended to prepare the child's body in advance for the upcoming season of colds. Everyone knows that their number is especially large in the autumn-spring period. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid keeping the child in greenhouse conditions. You need to teach him to sleep in a cool room. If the heating radiators work strongly, it is necessary to reduce the heat to 18-20 degrees. This temperature is sufficient to prevent the risk of infection spreading.
Timely vaccination helps to avoid the development of the disease during an epidemic. It is useful to remember the need to include vitamins and dietary supplements in the child's diet. They contribute to the growth and development of the baby, strengthening his immunity. So, echinacea is best given at the most early signs manifestations of the disease. Moreover, it should be noted that it can not be used as a drug for more than a week. You can achieve the opposite effect. Remember that if the baby is sick, you should always show it to the doctor.
No matter how hard the parents try to protect the baby, it is impossible to completely eliminate viral or bacterial infections. Moreover, the child sometimes needs to be sick in order to familiarize the immune system with viruses and bacteria, train it and develop an adequate immune response. But it is important that the disease proceed quickly and without complications. Parents are especially anxious in the first three years of a baby's life, when the immune system has not yet fully formed, and the body does not have much experience in fighting infections. To try to shorten the duration of the disease and prevent possible complications as soon as the child began to get sick, you need to actively act.
Child 1 year old: how to treat?
The greatest concerns of parents are caused by any illnesses of babies who are barely a year old. At this age, children begin to walk, actively explore the world around, their social circle expands significantly. They spend a lot of time outdoors, playing in the sandbox and communicating with their peers, some of them start attending a nursery in their second year of life. Naturally, the chance of catching a cold or other infections increases. Toddlers do not yet have personal hygiene skills, sneeze or cough without closing their mouths, and thus spread viruses or germs around them. Many children put in their mouths the hands they used to touch the toys of cold babies. In addition, a child can become infected from sick adults who come to visit, or during a trip to public transport, staying in crowded places.
If a child at the age of 1 falls ill, what should parents do? First of all, don't be nervous. If the temperature is high or the baby is very ill, call a doctor! Regardless of the severity of the disease, you need to provide the baby with peace and sufficient sleep. If the child does not want to eat, you need to adjust his diet according to his appetite and be sure to give him plenty to drink. It is important to ventilate and humidify the air in the room where the child is located, and to clean regularly. All medicines that you are going to give a child without a doctor's prescription, you must definitely check whether they are allowed at this age.
Child 2 years old
Older children, starting from 2-3 years old, actively contact with people, so the risk of a cold becomes even higher. Most children at this age start going to kindergarten. Long stay indoors, presence of sick peers, hypothermia during walks, stress from early rises and changes in routine associated with the start of the visit kindergarten, - all these factors weaken the immune defense and contribute to frequent colds. If a child begins to get sick at 2 years old, you need to leave him at home, give him more to drink. In a word, the child's body needs to be helped to actively fight the cold.
First aid for a child at the beginning of a cold
The first natural question for parents who understand that the child is starting to get sick is sneezing: “What should I do?”. You should not immediately run to the pharmacy with the intention of buying as many drugs as possible that will eliminate all symptoms and ensure a quick recovery. Self-medication is not only not useful, but in many cases can be harmful. Indigestion, drug poisoning, allergies, and other side effects are possible. But in anticipation of a doctor who will make the right appointments, of course, you need to take some measures:
regularly ventilate the room in which the sick child is located, humidify the air;
use essential oils;
make sure the child is properly dressed;
keep drinking regimen,
clean and moisturize the mucous membranes of the nose and throat of the child.
Any medications used at the first sign of a cold should be age appropriate and safe.
All actions of parents should be aimed at alleviating the condition of the baby and speeding up his recovery.
Airing
If a child began to sneeze, how can parents prevent him from getting sicker by stopping a cold in the initial stages? You need regular access to the room for fresh air, frequent ventilation (every 1-2 hours) and humidification of the air using special devices or towels moistened with water. Be sure to thoroughly ventilate the room before going to bed, if the weather permits - leave the window open at night. Diffuse essential oils in the room. They will help in the disinfection of the air and the destruction of bacteria and viruses.
Dyshi® Oil
Also with essential oils, so-called passive inhalations can be carried out. When a child starts getting sick, they should definitely be on the list of things to do. Good for passive inhalation. It contains essential oils with antiviral and antibacterial properties. Dyshi® oil can be dropped on paper napkins and spread them out in the children's room and at the head of the bed, you can also apply it on Stuffed Toys and baby clothes. The use of passive inhalations helps in the fight against the onset of a cold, facilitates breathing and improves mood.
Cloth
If the baby is naughty, feels lethargic, unwell, his temperature rises, often the parents wrap the child warmer, put him in bed under a warm blanket so that he sweats. But such actions are not always necessary. If the baby is cold, he has chills and the temperature rises, the hands and feet are cold and dry, it will indeed be useful to dress the baby in a warm suit or wrap him in a warm blanket to keep him warm. Against the background of an increase in temperature, peripheral vessels narrow, heat is concentrated inside the body, actively fighting viruses or microbes. As the fever reaches its peak, the child becomes pink, hot to the touch, begins to sweat. At this time, the baby becomes hot, he tries to open up, and caring parents wrap him up even more. It is not impossible to do this so that the body temperature decreases, it is necessary to create conditions for heat transfer. sweat and Lightweight clothing, cool room air allow the body to cool down faster. Therefore, during the period of illness, when the baby sweats, he needs light cotton clothes, which should be changed often as they get wet.
What to drink?
During the onset of the disease, the body needs more fluid to speed up metabolism and activate the immune system. Babies up to three years old can be given to drink warm boiled water, dried fruit decoctions, compotes, berry fruit drinks and juices diluted with water in a ratio of 1:3.
From 2-3 years old, you can give non-carbonated mineral table water, milk, herbal teas with honey (if there is no allergy) or sugar, lemon or ginger. Children from 7 years old can be prepared with linden and chamomile extracts, as well as vitamin C. It is important that the drinks are warm, but not scalding, drinking very hot drinks increases body temperature, may worsen the condition, there is a risk of burns.
Do you need an antipyretic?
At the first sign of illness, if a fever occurs, many parents immediately try to give the child antipyretic drugs to reduce the temperature. But this is the wrong tactic. An increase in temperature is a protective mechanism that allows you to activate the immune system and create an unfavorable environment for viruses and bacteria to reproduce. Therefore, pediatricians recommend that if the temperature does not exceed 38.0–38.5 ℃, do not knock it down with drugs, but let the child fight the pathogens on their own. However, this rule does not apply to everyone. It is necessary to reduce the temperature at any of its values if the baby has previously had febrile convulsions, he has problems with the nervous system, especially the brain, the child does not respond well to temperature, has chronic diseases.
In all other cases, you need to drink plenty of water, light clothing. Antipyretic drugs should be taken only on the basis of paracetamol or ibuprofen, strictly in the age dosage and in compliance with the intervals between doses. The goal is not to bring the temperature down to the coveted 36.6 ℃, but to reduce it to safe values, enabling the immune system to fight the infection. If the temperature has returned to normal, it is not necessary to take antipyretic courses, they will only harm.
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Children's diseases in most cases are inevitable. However, each parent would like to reduce their number or at least prevent the development of complications. How can you help if a child gets sick? How to treat a cold or SARS?
Colds are very common in childhood. Usually, this term also means ordinary SARS. How do these diseases differ, and what can be done as first aid?
SARS is caused by viruses. They can be very different:
- rhinovirus;
- adenovirus;
- parvovirus;
- influenza and parainfluenza;
- respiratory syncytial virus;
- enterovirus and others.
To get sick with SARS, contact with a sick person is necessary. Usually infection occurs by airborne droplets.
A cold is always preceded by hypothermia. It can develop due to being in a draft, walking in too light clothes.
Sometimes, on the contrary, parents dress the child warmly, and he sweats quickly, after which he freezes in wet clothes. Overheating is no less dangerous than hypothermia.
The result is a decrease in the body's defenses and the activation of conditionally pathogenic microflora. Most often, a cold is an exacerbation of chronic diseases, such as pharyngitis, tonsillitis, adenoiditis, otitis, bronchitis.
But sometimes hypothermia facilitates the penetration of the virus into the body, and the usual SARS develops. What can be done if the child starts to get sick?
First aid
Every parent wants their baby to get well as soon as possible. And often they are ready to give the child the most expensive and most effective, in their opinion, drugs. From the pediatrician, many are also waiting for appropriate appointments - medicines for each symptom.
However, polypharmacy (excessive use of drugs) is not only not useful, but most often harmful to the child's body.
When children have the first symptoms of a cold, you need to remember about simple but effective measures and start with them.
First of all, you need to take care of the following points:
- ventilation.
- Humidification of the air in the apartment.
- Proper clothing.
- Moisturizing mucous membranes.
- Plentiful drink.
- Decrease in body temperature.
Airing
From temperature environment and its humidity depends on the course of the disease and its duration. You should always be more careful with children than with adults. Too warm and dry air contributes to overheating of their body.
This is especially dangerous when the temperature rises. It is also an excellent habitat for pathogenic viruses and bacteria. It is in dry air that they can live for a long time and retain the ability to reproduce.
In central heating conditions, it is not easy to influence the ambient temperature. The only way to achieve cooling and air circulation is through ventilation. It is this method that can quickly and effectively reduce the concentration of microbes in the apartment. Airing will not only facilitate the course of the disease, but also protect other family members from infection.
Many parents, and especially the older generation, are afraid to ventilate the room, because being in a draft is dangerous even for a healthy child. It certainly is. And therefore, when the windows open, the sick baby must be transferred to another room.
How often should you ventilate? The more often this happens, the faster the concentration of pathogenic microbes decreases, and the less likely it is that the disease will proceed with complications.
The optimal temperature in the room when a child is ill ranges from 18 to 20 ° C. And it is better to let it be 17 ° C than 22 ° C.
Moisturizing
Microbes thrive in dry air, but high humidity prevents their normal movement. In addition, humidified air is good for breathing and mucous membranes even outside of illness. It is desirable that the humidity in the child's room be at least 70%. Even figures of 75–80% are preferable to 40–50%.
How to quickly and effectively increase the humidity of the air if the baby starts to get sick? Previously, pediatricians advised hanging wet diapers or towels on batteries. However, with the advent of indoor humidity meters - hygrometers - it became clear that these measures were ineffective. Humidity, if increased, was insignificant.
The most effective were devices called "humidifiers". Today's market offers parents a wide variety of these devices. They come from different manufacturers and sometimes differ significantly in price. However, even the cheapest humidifier normalizes air humidity faster than wet laundry. These instruments must be used in conjunction with hygrometers.
Also, if the child suddenly fell ill with a cold, it is advisable to wash the floors more often. On the one hand, this helps to humidify the air, and on the other hand, it effectively rids the room of dust in which microbes live.
Proper clothing
Previously, there was an opinion that if a child caught a cold, he should sweat. To do this, they put on warm pajamas and woolen socks, covered him with a thick blanket and gave him tea with raspberries. And the air in the room was warmed with the help of improvised means.
However, in case of illness, these measures are dangerous, especially if the baby has a fever. Warm tight clothing prevents the body from cooling and increases the fever.
But even if a sick child does not have hyperthermia, it is not worth overheating it. The air temperature in the room should be no higher than 20 ° C, and the clothes should correspond to it. Usually this is a home suit or long-sleeved pajamas made of natural fabric. At a temperature of 20 ° C, it can be thin, cotton, and at 17–18 ° C, it can be denser, for example, from a baize. It is better to dress the baby warmer at a lower temperature than to undress at 25-30 ° C.
Moisturizing mucous
Often from modern doctors you can hear recommendations for moisturizing mucous membranes with a cold. The well-known pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky speaks about this especially often in his programs and books.
Why is this measure so important? In addition to general immunity, which acts throughout the body, there is also a local one. Saliva and mucous secretions contain special antibodies that prevent pathogenic bacteria and viruses from penetrating deep into the body. They are the first line of defense.
But the less fluid in the mouth and nose, the lower the effectiveness of local immunity. With dry mucous membranes, it practically does not work.
First of all, parents need to prevent the drying of these zones. The child must receive enough liquid. In addition, attention should be paid to toothpaste. Sometimes the wrong remedy contributes to the development of dry mouth.
However, the most effective measure is to moisten the mucous membranes with saline solutions.
Saline solutions
When a child gets a cold, what is the first thing to do? You need to go to the pharmacy for saline solution. In the future, they should always be at hand.
Ready saline solutions are very convenient to use. They often come in spray form. Some - for example, Salin - are sold in vials as a solution.
The main disadvantage of such drugs is their price. Often it is quite high. However, this does not mean that during the period of illness it is necessary to abandon the moistening of the mucous membranes.
In a pharmacy, you can buy a 0.9% sodium chloride solution, which is saline, and its price is quite affordable for most people.
If there is no opportunity to buy medicines, you can prepare the solution yourself. To do this, in one liter of warm boiled water dissolve a teaspoon of ordinary table salt. Then the liquid is poured into a vial, you can use a thoroughly washed container from vasoconstrictor drops for this.
The drier the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose, the more often they need to be irrigated. It is almost impossible to overdose saline solution.
The most famous ready-made preparations for moisturizing are:
- Humer.
- Lamisol.
- Salin.
- Aquamarine.
Plentiful drink
Drinking plenty of fluids when you have a cold is an excellent detoxifier. In addition, a large amount of warm liquid softens a dry cough and makes it easier to expectorate.
- Warm sweet tea.
- Fruit drinks and compotes at room temperature.
- Table or alkaline water without gas.
- Herbal teas such as chamomile.
Drinking should be just warm, not hot, otherwise it will burn and irritate the inflamed mucous membranes.
It is very important to drink a child during an illness, even if he does not want it too much. Parents should be offered a variety of drinks to choose from. In addition, the drink should be sweetened. For this purpose, you can use sugar or honey.
In case of illness, the energy consumption in the baby's body increases significantly, and its universal source is just glucose.
In conditions of sugar deficiency, the metabolism starts in a different way, and ketone bodies begin to accumulate in the blood. Then they are excreted in the urine, as a result of which it acquires the characteristic smell of acetone.
Acetonemia worsens the condition of the child and causes the following symptoms:
- nausea and vomiting;
- weakness, severe lethargy;
- lack of appetite.
Prevention and treatment of acetonemia is a plentiful sweet drink.
Temperature drop
The first symptom of an onset of the disease is often fever. Many parents are wary of hyperthermia and seek to rid the baby of fever as soon as possible. However, this is not always necessary.
An increase in temperature is referred to as a protective reaction. At the same time, interferon is actively produced in the body, which destroys viruses. As soon as hyperthermia stops, the production of this natural protector stops.
It is necessary to reduce the temperature when it worsens the child's condition. This usually happens when the thermometer reads 38.5–39 °C. Some babies do not tolerate fever even at 37.8-38.0 ° C. In this case, the fight against hyperthermia must begin earlier.
Regular airing and cooling of the air contributes to the normalization of body temperature. Warm water baths can also be used. It is important that it is not cool or cold, as this will cause vasospasm and increase hyperthermia.
Do not rub babies with alcohol or vodka - alcohol will easily penetrate the skin and begin to poison the body. Water-vinegar wipes in children are also not welcome.
However, even with a common cold, the temperature can rise very quickly. And in this case, antipyretic drugs can not be dispensed with.
Antipyretic drugs
In childhood, two main drugs are allowed to reduce temperature. These are ibuprofen (Nurofen) and paracetamol (Efferalgan).
Analgin in children is not recommended for use due to the toxic effect on the blood system. But, despite this, it continues to be used in hospitals and ambulance teams when a quick antipyretic effect is required. And yet, this medicine has no place in the home medicine cabinet.
Previously, a drug containing nimesulide was widely used in children. The children's suspension was called "Nise". Nimesulide has established itself as a highly effective antipyretic, however, kidney toxicity observed in some studies during treatment has led to a ban on this medicine in children.
The most dangerous is the previously popular Aspirin. It has been proven that the treatment of colds, SARS and influenza with this remedy for children under 12 years of age is fraught with the development of Reye's syndrome, a formidable and extremely dangerous liver damage. Currently, pediatricians do not use Aspirin at all in their practice.
There are a number of other medicines that should not be used at the onset of a cold in babies.
What other drugs are undesirable when the baby is just starting to get sick? First of all, these are antiviral agents. Currently, there are no etiotropic drugs in the world that would effectively fight SARS. Perhaps the only effective remedy is only oseltamivir (Tamiflu), but the indications for its appointment are quite narrow, and self-medication is unacceptable to them.
Anti-allergic medicines for the common cold are also meaningless, although they can often be seen in the prescriptions of some pediatricians.
Often, pharmacists recommend that parents purchase immunostimulants or immunomodulators that will help the child quickly cope with the infection. However, there are currently no really effective drugs of this direction, as well as antiviral ones. Most often, they have only a psychotherapeutic and calming effect on parents.
It should also be remembered that drug intervention in the normal immunity of a child is unacceptable, and the harm from it is much more than good.
At the beginning of a cold, you do not need tablets and cough syrups. It is possible to suppress the cough reflex only with whooping cough, in all other cases it is dangerous.
If you prescribe funds to thin the sputum and its better discharge, this will most likely increase the cough.
Antibiotics
Do you need antibiotics for a cold? These drugs do not act on viruses and such treatment is meaningless. In addition, the uncontrolled prescription of antibiotics in a sick child more than once leads to the development of drug resistance of microbes and suppression of immunity.
The doctor thinks about these medicines if on the fourth day of illness the condition of a small patient only worsens. But even this is not an indication for starting antibiotic therapy. Only the data of an objective examination and laboratory tests or radiography are important.
When the baby gets sick, you can and should help him overcome the infection. However, in most cases, this does not require the appointment of medications.
Ekaterina Rakitina
Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Klinikum, Germany
Reading time: 4 minutes
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Last update articles: 07.05.2019
In the cold season, children often have colds. At the same time, many mothers begin, without waiting for the arrival of the doctor, to give medicines to the baby. Thus, they make a grave mistake. You must first understand the causes of the disease, establish a diagnosis, and then decide how to treat the baby.
What is a cold?
A cold is called the cooling of the whole body or its parts (“a cold throat”, “a cold foot”, etc.). Against this background, the body's sensitivity to the action of pathogens of viral infections increases. In everyday life, colds are called all acute respiratory viral infections, including influenza; herpetic infection; rhinitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, etc.
Young children have an imperfect immune system. For this reason, the child's susceptibility to SARS is high. Often, viral infections in children are accompanied by bacterial complications: otitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, tonsillitis.
The best protection for a small organism is natural feeding. It is in women's milk that the whole spectrum of useful antibodies is contained that protects the baby during the cold season. But it is worth remembering: if one of the family members falls ill, the child must be protected from communicating with him. The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets, as well as through household items.
If the nursing mother herself falls ill, her communication with the child should also be limited, but feeding during this period is not forbidden. Only in cases of severe infections, possibly taking various medications, breast-feeding stops. But the decision about this is made only by the doctor.
Signs of a cold
The onset of colds is accompanied by the child's anxiety, loss of appetite and sleep. Most often, a runny nose, fever, coughing will not take long. These signs can appear both in combination and separately. It all depends on the type of virus that the baby “caught”.
At first, nasal discharge is clear and runny. After a couple of days, their color and texture change. Often, thick and green mucus indicates the development of a bacterial infection. After a few more days, crusts begin to appear in the nose, which, together with thick mucus, interfere with the normal breathing of the baby.
Treating a cold in a child
To help the baby, you need to use a nozzle pump (nasal aspirator). The procedure should be done in conjunction with washing the nose.
First, 2-3 drops of saline or a weak solution of table salt are instilled into each nostril of the baby. This is necessary to make thick mucus more liquid. After 1 minute, they start suctioning the mucus with the help of an aspirator from each nostril in turn, acting according to the instructions attached to the device.
After that, you can bury funds to destroy harmful bacteria (Pinosol, Vibrocil, etc.). But it should be remembered that the frequency of instillation cannot be more than 4 - 5 times a day, and such treatment can continue for no more than 5 days. If the symptoms have not improved after 5 days, be sure to show the baby to your doctor. He will prescribe additional treatment, perhaps some research.
If at first breathing becomes difficult and the child's nose is blocked, the doctor prescribes vasoconstrictor drops. They do an excellent job of facilitating breathing, but they should not be dripped more than 3 times a day. The use of more than 5 days is also unacceptable, since prolonged use of such drops causes vascular fragility and dries the nasal mucosa.
When the baby has a stuffy nose, you can use inhalation stickers on clothes. They contain essential oils (most often eucalyptus oil). Stickers are convenient for use at night: the child will inhale the healing fumes even in a dream. But stickers have age restrictions, most often they are allowed to use from 2 years.
When a child gets sick, a cold in most cases is accompanied by sore throat, pharyngitis. Mucus flows from the nose into the throat, which causes irritation and inflammation of the mucosa. This causes a reflex cough or cough.
An increase in temperature during a cold is a protective mechanism, creating unfavorable conditions for the reproduction of viruses. Therefore, it is not necessary to “knock down” a low temperature in a child. You can give an antipyretic only after the thermometer rises above 38.5 degrees. Extremely high values can cause seizures. This is absolutely unacceptable. If the temperature starts to creep up, immediately call a doctor. A fever in a baby is always manifested by lethargy, reddening of the cheeks, tearfulness.
Many parents attribute such symptoms to teething, believing that nothing needs to be done. However, teething causes a weakening of the body, a decrease in immunity. And this makes the child more vulnerable to pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Therefore, eruption can be added, for example, SARS. In this case, the first help from adults will be to call a doctor at home.
The course of the disease and possible complications
As a rule, after 3 - 4 days the child's condition is on the mend. He begins to eat, a good mood and cheerfulness return. If this does not happen, you need to see a doctor. Probably a bacterial infection. And this is a different course of the disease, more serious medicines are needed, perhaps antibiotics.
The most common complications of SARS are:
- Otitis (inflammation of the middle ear). If the child has anxiety when sucking milk - the baby cries, turns his head, throws his breast or bottle - these may be signs of otitis media.
- Pneumonia. This disease is signaled by cough, pallor of the skin, anxiety, rise in temperature to high numbers. Be sure to inform the doctor about this, you will have to resort to hospitalization.
To prevent all this from happening, it is necessary to start treating the child at the first sign of a cold. Procrastination can lead to unexpected and unpleasant consequences.
Help before the doctor arrives
A child under one year old needs to call an ambulance already when the temperature rises to 38 degrees. This is especially true for children under 3 months old. Giving medication on your own at this age should not be, as this can lead to an undesirable effect.
- You can not rub the crumbs with vinegar or vodka if the fever has begun. This is not necessary due to the fact that the skin is very permeable, and this will only harm the immature body. In addition, it is possible to burn the skin.
- It is permissible to wipe the child with warm water (36 degrees) without any impurities. The baby should be stripped naked and his skin wiped with a piece of soft cotton cloth soaked in water. Please note: the movements should be light, without pressure on the patient's body. You just need to moisten the legs and arms with water first, and then the whole body of the child. After that, you do not need to dress the baby, you just need to cover it with a light sheet. Water, evaporating from the surface of hot skin, will reduce the heat and bring relief to the baby. Of course, this is a temporary measure, until the doctor arrives.
- It is recommended to ventilate the room more often and do wet cleaning, this will prevent the spread of harmful microorganisms.
- Drinking plenty of water is a must in the diet of a small patient. You can give water in small portions, but often. It is better to limit yourself to ordinary children's water without any additions.
- It is better to give up walking and swimming for a while if the temperature has reached high values.
- It is forbidden to wrap a child, this will only increase the heat. It is necessary to dress the child easily, in accordance with the air temperature in the apartment.
For small children, a cold can lead to nervous exhaustion. It is necessary to provide a friendly and calm environment, turn off the TV, ensure silence.
Prevention of colds
The first three months of a child's life are the most critical. The body of the crumbs has not yet had time to get used to aggressive environmental factors. Limit your baby's contact with strangers, especially during periods of seasonal epidemics.
The closest person to a child is the mother. If a cold happened to her, in no case should you stop breastfeeding. However, during this procedure, hygiene measures must be observed: wash hands, wear a medical mask. If possible, between feedings shift the care of the baby to loved one. When this is not possible, simply change the mask every 3 hours.
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