What should I do when my child is sick?

In children who are breastfed, the stool is usually mushy, yellow with white cheesy inclusions and a slightly sour smell. In artificial feeding, the stool is thick, pale in color, with a putrid odor. In children who are given complementary foods and in older children, the stool is formed, brown. Changes in the consistency, color, smell of stool, as well as the addition of pathological impurities (mucus, blood) indicate certain disorders in the body.

Diarrhea

Newborns sometimes experience frequent stools and abdominal colic during feeding. The child sucks the breast, but often burps, kicks his legs, cries out; he has a rumbling sound in his stomach, gases and feces are often released at the same time. The baby is restless, often stops sucking, and later completely refuses the breast. Such sucking in children with manifestations of exudative diathesis and neuropathic children sometimes continues for months before the introduction of complementary foods, but does not affect overall development. To alleviate the condition, it is recommended to put dry heat on the stomach to reduce intestinal peristalsis, give activated charcoal half a tablet a day to reduce flatulence, reduce the frequency of feeding, give chamomile infusion and lay the baby on the stomach more often.

Infants are prone to diarrhea for minor reasons: overheating in the sun, staying in a stuffy room, excessive wrapping. But more often, loose stools appear due to improper feeding: overfeeding, untimely introduction of complementary foods, irregular feeding - all this disrupts digestion.

With any disease (ARI, otitis, etc.) the content of enzymes in the intestines and stomach decreases - as a result, food is not digested, decomposes (putrefies) and causes diarrhea. Therefore, during illness, it is recommended to limit the intake of fats and proteins, but increase the intake of water and carbohydrates. It is necessary to skip one or two feedings, replacing them with sweet tea in the same amount.

Sudden onset of green diarrhea with mucus and blood 5-8 times a day, accompanied by refusal to eat, vomiting, and general lethargy, indicates dyspepsia, most often caused by an intestinal infection (E. coli, staphylococci, Klebsiella, etc.). This can occur due to poor hygiene, contaminated food, dirty hands, and flies.

If the stool is liquid, orange-yellow in color, with a small admixture of mucus, blood, and then turns into pure mucus without feces, accompanied by an increase in temperature, abdominal pain with urge to stool, then this is more like dysentery.

It is even more likely if all this is accompanied by pronounced straining during defecation, weight loss, lethargy, pallor, and sometimes prolapse of the rectum may be observed. Sometimes diarrhea can be caused by helminthic invasions, i.e. ascariasis, enterobiasis (pinworms), etc. In all cases of diarrhea, it is necessary to do a stool test for helminth eggs.

It is important to remember that bacterial diarrhea is extremely contagious to others, so it is necessary to carefully observe personal and general hygiene. If possible, provide the sick child with a separate room, provide him with individual dishes, a towel, and a potty. Hands should be washed thoroughly after caring for the sick child, especially after cleaning the potty and diapers. Diapers, nappies, etc. should be soaked in a 0.5% chloramine solution, diapers should be boiled and carefully ironed.

Feeding for 10-12 hours should be replaced with tea. If diarrhea is accompanied by vomiting, then the tea diet should be continued for 12 hours. Older children can be given apples (Antonovka), peeled and mashed with sugar, in addition to tea. After the tea-apple diet, rice broth should be given half and half with breast milk. Older children can be given kefir and other sour mixtures.

The most important thing that parents should remember is that diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, especially in newborns and infants, are serious illnesses that cannot be treated self-medication.

Don't wait - call a doctor!

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Constipation

Constipation can be considered when the stool occurs less frequently than every other day. With constipation, the stool is hard, like nuts, dark in color, and its excretion is accompanied by significant difficulty. In newborns, the frequency of stool should correspond to the number of feedings. If the frequency of bowel movements decreases, but the children develop well and the stool is mushy, then this indicates complete absorption of food.

Constipation can occur with insufficient nutrition. In small children, it is accompanied by a significant decrease in body weight and the appearance of hungry stools - dark green, sticky, scanty.

Long-term, chronic constipation is more difficult to eliminate, since its cause is determined with great difficulty. Nutrition plays a leading role in the correct regulation of bowel function. Food that is excessively rich in protein, monotonous feeding of infants with cow's milk, and in older children, the predominance of eggs, meat, kefir, and cottage cheese in the diet contribute to the appearance of constipation. With protein-rich food, the stool is thick, gray, dry, and foul-smelling. Regular consumption of vegetables and fruits eliminates constipation if there are no other reasons.

Children with severe rickets and thyroid disease experience constipation due to calcium deficiency in the body, as calcium is involved in muscle contractions of the smooth muscles of the intestine. When the ionic composition is normalized (addition of calcium ions and elimination of the underlying disease), the stool is normalized.

Abuse of enemas or laxatives can contribute to constipation. Shyness, modesty, being in a strange environment, a sedentary lifestyle, etc. lead to suppression of the defecation reflex. These causes are easily eliminated with appropriate education.

If a child suffering from constipation has an enlarged belly, progressive weight loss, dry skin, and anemia, then he or she should consult a doctor as soon as possible.

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Urination disorder

In infants, urine is transparent, and when left to stand, no sediment forms, since it contains few salts. Cloudiness of urine may be observed in a feverish state, since the amount of salts increases. In older children, a brick-colored sediment in the urine occurs when eating food rich in proteins, especially meat, liver, kidneys, and when drinking a small amount of liquid. White sediment is observed in children who receive plant foods with insufficient fluid intake. All these conditions are physiological, do not require special treatment, and are eliminated by increasing the amount of liquid drunk.

Cloudy urine may be due to inflammatory processes in the kidneys, urinary tract, from an admixture of bacteria or pus. Urine of an intense yellow color, the color of beer, foaming indicates liver disease. Red urine or the color of "meat slops" occurs with kidney disease.

True, the color of urine can change not only due to illness. When eating beets, when using analgin, phenacetin, rhubarb, the color of urine also changes. However, if the color of urine changes, it is still advisable to consult a doctor.

Pain when urinating, pain in the lumbar region, radiating to the groin, indicate the presence of inflammatory processes in the kidneys or urinary tract. With stones in the bladder, pain occurs suddenly, often at the end of urination. If there is inflammation in the bladder, the pain lasts longer, urine flows in a stream or drops, sometimes involuntarily, sometimes delayed, sometimes stained with blood.

Renal colic occurs with kidney stones and ureters. It is characterized by sharp pain in the lumbar region, radiating to the genitals, nausea, and vomiting. The child cannot find a place for himself, rushing about from pain. Urine is initially retained, then, if it begins to separate, it becomes intensely colored yellow-pink. With kidney stones, the child lags behind in development, anemia increases, and the general condition is disturbed. In case of an attack of pain, it is necessary to call a doctor, put dry heat on the lumbar region. A dairy and plant-based diet is useful for urolithiasis. As a drink: Borjomi, Essentuki No. 4, raspberry, cranberry, lingonberry fruit drinks.

In each case of urinary dysfunction, it is necessary to examine the external genitalia in children. Girls may have reddening of the mucous membrane of the external genitalia after flu and other infectious diseases, with unhygienic care, from irritation by pinworms, trichomonads, when microorganisms enter. Pinworms can crawl into the urethra and cause pain and inflammation. Infection most often occurs from parents, so all family members need to get rid of pathogens after a preliminary examination. In boys, inflammation in the urethra and penis can be due to mechanical irritation: tight pants, playing with the penis. Warm sitz baths with potassium permanganate eliminate pain with minor irritation.

Nocturnal enuresis can occur with constant inflammation of the external genitalia and with insufficiently correct upbringing of the child. The reflex to urination is developed from the age of five to six months, when the child is systematically put on the potty.

Putting the child on the potty should be accompanied by conventional sounds that stimulate the child to urinate. The child is put on the potty after sleep, walks, and meals.

In each case of urinary incontinence, you should seek advice from a doctor, as it can occur as a result of an anomaly in the development of the urinary tract, spinal defects. In some cases, only X-ray and urological examinations can determine the cause of this suffering.

Cramps

Convulsions occur in children more often, the younger the child. The causes of convulsions are varied. They usually occur suddenly, paroxysmally in the form of stretching of the body, involuntary and short-term muscle contractions, often accompanied by loss of consciousness. Partial twitching of the muscles of the face, limbs and trunk may be observed. Newborns, especially premature babies, are prone to convulsions. They can be caused by birth trauma (asphyxia, application of obstetric forceps, prolonged difficult labor). In newborns and infants, with a high temperature during any illness, frequent twitching of the muscles of the face and limbs may occur. A monotonous milk and flour diet can cause convulsions in infants.

The tendency to convulsions may manifest itself initially as a spasm of the larynx, when the child begins to breathe noisily, screams when crying, then respiratory arrest, convulsive contraction of the fingers, toes, general convulsions may occur. Such convulsions are characteristic of spasmophilia in rickets.

Convulsions are typical in epilepsy. The child suddenly screams, loses consciousness and falls to the floor. The body is paralyzed by a tonic convulsion - the muscles are sharply tense, the face turns pale, the pupils are dilated, breathing stops. After 15-20 seconds, the child takes a deep breath, the gluteal muscles begin to twitch, and then convulsions of the whole body occur. During convulsions, involuntary urination and defecation occur. After the attack, sleep occurs. The attack lasts from a few seconds to one or two hours. After the convulsions, the body temperature rises, the child feels tired and does not remember what happened to him before the attack. Convulsions with a preceding rise in temperature, throwing back the head are characteristic of meningitis or encephalitis.

In case of epileptic convulsions, the patient should be laid down so that the head does not fall back and hit the floor, the tongue does not fall back, the head should be turned to the side and something soft should be placed under it, the child should be covered and fresh air should be provided in the room. The child should not be disturbed until the convulsions stop.

If small children have convulsions associated with a rise in temperature or with spasmophilia, they should also be put to bed, and care should be taken to ensure that the child does not bite his tongue: to do this, insert a teaspoon wrapped in gauze between the jaws, in the area of the molars. Cold on the head, a warm bath (36-37 °C) are recommended.

Girls (more often than boys) have hysterical convulsions during puberty. They are usually preceded by experiences, fear, joy, anger, etc. Convulsions affect mainly the muscles of the trunk. Compared to epilepsy, the patient's appearance is almost unchanged, except for the paleness of the skin. The pupils are uniform, with a good reaction to light, the patient does not fall into a drowsy state and remembers everything that happened before the attack. The attack lasts for several minutes. It is necessary to put the sick child to bed, free him from tight clothing, give him ammonia to smell, and after the attack give him tincture of valerian to drink.

It is strictly forbidden to shake children during convulsions, bring them to consciousness, pour water into their mouth or give them tablets, as water or tablets can get into the trachea. The sooner the child is sent to the hospital, the shorter the path to recovery. In children with an excitable nervous system, it is necessary to prevent seizures by creating the right regime and a healthy environment, regular and systematic physical education. It is necessary to promptly prevent (and treat) rickets.

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Bleeding

Nosebleed. Children often have nosebleeds. There can be many different causes, the most common being mechanical damage. A child may hit their nose or head while playing, causing a nosebleed. In some cases, the integrity of the nasal mucosa is damaged due to the bad habit of picking their nose. Even with a minor nosebleed, parents often get scared and thus pass on their fear to their children. You need to act calmly. If the bleeding is severe and is the result of a head or facial injury, you need to call a doctor. Before the doctor arrives, put the child in a semi-sitting or sitting position. Put something cold on the bridge of the nose (an ice pack or just cold water), a warm heating pad at the feet, and put the hands in a basin of cold water. If all these measures do not stop the bleeding, insert a cotton swab soaked in a 2% hydrogen peroxide solution into the nose and press the wing of the nose to the nasal septum. All this can be done without calling a doctor if the bleeding is not severe. But if all the measures taken do not stop the bleeding, you must urgently call a doctor. Nosebleeds can occur without injury, with diseases accompanied by high fever (flu, measles, etc.), with heavy physical exertion. In such cases, first aid comes down to the same measures, but if the bleeding is repeated or profuse, you must be examined by a doctor.

Hemoptysis. In some cases, scarlet blood may be seen coming out of the respiratory tract, usually when coughing up phlegm. Such bleeding may occur with pulmonary tuberculosis, but may also occur as a result of a ruptured vessel. These bleedings are certainly always very dangerous and serious. In each case, it is necessary to call a doctor immediately, and until he arrives, ensure complete rest for the child, place him in a semi-sitting position, and prohibit talking. Put an ice pack on the sternum. It is good to give him a solution of table salt to drink in small portions (a dessert spoon per glass of water). You can give him small pieces of ice to swallow.

Hemorrhages into the skin and mucous membranes may occur in diseases in which in one case there is damage to the walls of blood vessels, and in another - a change in the duration of blood clotting. For example, in Schonlein-Henoch disease, under the influence of the most minor injuries, an increase in the permeability of the vascular wall occurs. Small-point hemorrhages appear on the skin, which are most often located on the inner extremities symmetrically on both sides of the body. Sometimes hemorrhages on the skin are combined with swelling and soreness. This is a serious disease, and home treatment is usually ineffective.

If such a disease occurs, you need to call a doctor. Before his arrival, you can give products containing a large amount of vitamin C, which strengthens the vascular wall. Vitamin C is found in large quantities in lemon and black currant. If you have a calcium chloride solution at home, you can give it from a teaspoon to a tablespoon, depending on age.

Very often nosebleeds and skin hemorrhages are observed in Werlhof's disease. The essence of the disease is a sharp decrease in the number of blood platelets (thrombocytes), which participate in the blood clotting process. The main signs of this disease are spontaneous hemorrhages in the skin and mucous membranes of the oral cavity. Nosebleeds are often observed, which are difficult to stop. The temperature in this disease is usually normal; sometimes profuse bleeding from other organs is observed. A patient with Werlhof's disease should be treated in a hospital. Before the doctor arrives, if there is a nosebleed, a cotton swab soaked in a 2% solution of hydrogen peroxide can be inserted into the nose.

And finally, the third disease that can cause prolonged and difficult-to-stop bleeding is hemophilia. This disease is inherited by women, but men get sick. In the case of hemophilia, a minor cut, bruise, bitten tongue, tooth extraction causes difficult-to-stop bleeding, which can last from several hours to several days and, if help is not provided in time, can lead to death. Among the preventive measures for this disease, it is recommended to eat peanuts (groundnuts) approximately 200-300 g per day every day. In hospital conditions, 15-30 ml of blood is injected intramuscularly 1-2 times a month. If bleeding occurs, it is necessary to put the child to bed and provide him with peace. If there is a nosebleed, you can try to tamponade the nasal passages with cotton wool soaked in a 2% solution of hydrogen peroxide.

In families where children suffer from the listed diseases (bleeding), it is necessary to have a preparation called a hemostatic sponge. The sponge can be diluted with boiled water to a mushy state and, having soaked a cotton or gauze swab with it, inserted into the nose or applied to another bleeding place. However, such measures do not always manage to stop the bleeding. In all these cases, the child needs treatment in a hospital.

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