Tips on preventing and treating common childhood diseases

90% of common childhood diseases can be avoided through daily care. There is no need to panic if you do get sick. The core principle is to "identify the symptoms before intervening, do not blindly use medication, do not over-medicalize, and take into account the scientific nature of nursing and the comfort of the child."

I also received a call from my best friend at 2 o'clock in the morning last week. Her baby had a fever of 38.5°C for the first time. She was sitting in the living room crying with her baby in her arms. At one moment, I wanted to cover the baby with a thick quilt to make him sweat. At another moment, I wanted to pack my things and go to the emergency room. At the other moment, I was afraid of burning my brain. In fact, there are a lot of controversies about fever care. Elderly people always say that you should cover your sweat to make the fever subside quickly. The guideline of Western medicine is that during the period of rising body temperature, children should cover themselves with a thin quilt to keep them warm when their hands and feet are cold and they are shivering. During the period of high fever, when their hands and feet are hot and their face is red, they should wear less clothing. Use less cover to dissipate heat. Traditional Chinese medicine also distinguishes wind-cold and wind-heat. If you have a fever caused by catching a cold, and you have a runny nose in the early stage and are afraid of the cold, drinking a bowl of warm scallion water and sweating slightly is fine. The first time my child got rash, I panicked. When the fever reached 39 degrees Celsius, my mother was urging him to get some water. I touched his hands and feet to see if they were warm, took off his thick coat, and gave him acetaminophen. After half an hour, he got up and wanted to play with building blocks. I knew it was nothing serious. The rash healed after three days of fever, and I didn’t even take any extra medicine. Oh, by the way, children under 3 months old should go directly to the hospital if their fever exceeds 38℃. Don’t carry it at home. This is a red line. Don’t try it on a baby.

You really don’t need to take cough medicine every time you cough. I met a grandmother in the clinic before. Her baby had been coughing for two days and she was given three kinds of cough medicine. Instead, the phlegm was trapped in the lungs and caused mild pneumonia. Coughing itself is the body's self-protection reaction, which is excreting phlegm. For a slight cough, just drink more warm electrolyte water. If the cough makes you unable to sleep and affects your meals, follow the doctor's instructions and take medication. Don't feed yourself.

Besides fever, what parents fear most is diarrhea. A mother came to me before and asked me if her baby should fast after having diarrhea twice and should she take antidiarrheal medicine immediately? There are actually different opinions on whether to fast for diarrhea. In the early years, the view was to rest the gastrointestinal tract and fast for 12-24 hours. Now the latest guideline is that as long as the baby does not vomit and is willing to eat, there is no need to fast. Light porridge or steamed apples will do. The biggest fear is not diarrhea, but dehydration. Keep some oral rehydration salt III at home. If there is too much diarrhea, mix it up and give it to the baby in proportion. It will be more effective than any amount of antidiarrheal medicine. Oh, by the way, don’t give your baby homemade sugar salt water. Failure to control the proportion will increase the burden on the kidneys. Don’t give your baby antibiotics casually. 90% of children’s diarrhea is caused by viruses. Antibiotics are useless and will disrupt the intestinal flora.

When it comes to prevention, there really aren’t that many bells and whistles. I have seen too many parents wrap up their babies in three layers when the seasons change. When they touch their backs, they are covered in sweat. When the wind blows, they immediately catch a cold. It’s really not necessary. Children’s metabolism is faster than adults, so just wear one more layer than adults. Don’t put cotton-padded jackets on your children when you wear single clothes. There is also the kind of spraying disinfectant on your child's toys and tableware every day. I actually don't recommend it. A child's immune system is like that of a child who just went to school. You have to let him come into contact with normal flora from time to time to slowly build up resistance. Living in a sterile environment every day, he will definitely get sick one after another when he goes to kindergarten. My child's toys are usually rinsed with water and occasionally washed with disinfectant. He has been in kindergarten for half a year and has only caught a slight cold. His health is much better than that of many children who are disinfected every day.

Oh, by the way, many parents ask me whether they should give their children probiotics every day to improve their immunity? There is really no unified conclusion in the academic community. Some studies have said that specific strains, such as Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, have a certain effect in preventing antibiotic-related diarrhea and acute diarrhea in infants and young children. However, there are also large-scale studies showing that daily supplementation of probiotics in healthy children does not significantly improve immunity. On the contrary, it is still unclear whether long-term consumption will cause dependence. I personally do not recommend giving probiotics as health supplements to children every day. When you really need to take them, just follow the doctor's advice.

In fact, after raising a baby for such a long time and seeing so many young patients, my biggest feeling is that there is no need to pursue that the baby will not get sick at all. Occasionally, a small illness will be an upgrade of the immune system. Don’t panic and give medicine as soon as you see your baby having a runny nose or cough. Observe your child’s mental state first. If he can eat, play and sleep, most of them are fine. If you are really unsure, go to the hospital. Don’t force yourself or over-treat. That’s enough.