Tips for Kids Archives - ER Doctors https://www.erdoctors.co.za/category/tips-for-kids/ @ Leipolt Tue, 13 Feb 2018 03:40:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://www.erdoctors.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/favicon-er-doctors.jpg Tips for Kids Archives - ER Doctors https://www.erdoctors.co.za/category/tips-for-kids/ 32 32 My child swallowed a coin……or did she? What to do…. https://www.erdoctors.co.za/my-child-swallowed-a-coin-or-did-she-what-to-do/ Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:40:53 +0000 http://www.erdoctors.co.za/?p=43 We get asked the above question weekly in the ER. Parents arrive with the history that they think their child swallowed a foreign body. We as ER physicians sometimes will get a call from concerned parents, and it is always difficult to know the outcome straight away The reason for their suspicion is normally associated…

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]]> We get asked the above question weekly in the ER. Parents arrive with the history that they think their child swallowed a foreign body. We as ER physicians sometimes will get a call from concerned parents, and it is always difficult to know the outcome straight away
The reason for their suspicion is normally associated with the child stating that they swallowed something, or the parents witnessed the event.
For this common complaint, we luckily end up having to do very little in most of the cases. As this very good article explains…..(see link)
Advice for parents:
1) Make sure the foreign body was not inhaled rather than ingested – this is a much more urgent emergency. The child will have coughing / wheezing / respiratory distress. This should be taken to your nearest ER as soon as possible.
2) Most of the ingested items will pass harmlessly through the gastrointestinal tract. If the child is not in severe discomfort straight away, it is of utmost importance to know what was swallowed. Small batteries are very dangerous, as many articles (see link) of children dying because of this will show.
3) Use common sense to assert of there is drooling / discomfort on swallowing / abdominal pain / coughing or vomiting blood after the event. If any symptoms, rather get it checked out.

As stated before most of these cases will resolve without further issues, but some do not. I recently had friends’ child swallow a coin. My advice was as above. The next day the little one had dysphagia (painful swallowing) and parents quite rightly took her to her doctor, who took an X-Ray and found a coin lodged in the thoracic inlet. This coin caused discomfort and would not pass by itself and thus needed to be removed under general anaesthetic.

There are not hard and fast rules after initial first aid, but a good dose of common-sense. I stick with my belief that if the parents are worried, I should be worried.

I’ll write something soonest about children and swimming pool care, as the season for open pools approaches…..

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]]> My child has got a FEVER…… https://www.erdoctors.co.za/my-child-has-got-a-fever/ Mon, 20 Apr 2015 12:23:56 +0000 http://www.erdoctors.co.za/?p=28 With the seasons changing, we’ve seen an increase of children with fever in the Emergency Room. This fever landscape is sometimes very difficult to navigate and parents should have a plan as to how to react to a fever. Most kids will have a fever illness every year, and parents WILL have to deal with…

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]]> With the seasons changing, we’ve seen an increase of children with fever in the Emergency Room. This fever landscape is sometimes very difficult to navigate and parents should have a plan as to how to react to a fever. Most kids will have a fever illness every year, and parents WILL have to deal with this.
Most of these illnesses will be viral infections and self limiting, but there is also the more dangerous bacterial infections, which is still the biggest killer of children under 5.
So how do you know?
We as doctors don’t always have the correct answer as to what infection a child has got, we are trained to look for the illnesses that can develop into something more dangerous. This is why you sometimes will see that your child’s diagnosis might change once or even twice while in hospital, even under your paediatrician’s care. At Louis Leipoldt we are extremely child friendly and always keep your child’s health first. We try and admit the sicker patients and will probably prescribe home medications for the children that can be managed at home.

So what is fever?

Fever is a recorded temperature higher than 37.5 degrees Celsius (C) in a baby older than one month. We measure fevers with a digital thermometer in the child’s axilla (armpit) in the case of children younger than 5 years old. For children younger than one month (four weeks), temperature is not a good gauge of illness.
In children older than one month and younger than five years, we think about fever as mild (or low grade) which has a temperature between 37.5 and 38.0 C. If their fever is higher than 38.0 C we see it as more serious.

Why fever?

Fever is a normal immune reaction to an infection, be it viral or bacterial. It is an evolutionary response of the body to change the environment for viruses and bacteria to grow in. In this sense not all fevers should be treated, but seen as a normal response to infection.

How to treat fever

If your child is uncomfortable, then fever should be addressed. See this helpful guide as to how to quickly treat a troublesome fever. Remember this guide is American, substitute Tylenol for our Panado and Advil for our Nurofen.

As a rule of thumb I always tell parents that Panado can be given four times per day, and Nurofen/Ponstan three times per day. Remember not to give Nurofen/Ponstan to children under 6 months of age!
If you struggle with getting a fever down, use Panado and Nurofen/Ponstan alternate every four hours. When the fever is under better control, you can think of switching to Panado and Nurofen TOGETHER three times through the day.
With Calpol entering the market, please be mindful that Panado and Calpol is one and the same drug – Paracetamol.  Paracetamol is called Acetaminophen in North America.

REMEMBER, if you’re unsure about a fever, we are open 24/7 and there is always someone to assess your child’s fever and help you try to make sense of the reason for the fever.

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