The cold season has begun, and the most vulnerable are children whose immune systems are not yet sufficiently formed. Dr. Sandra Alexiou, family doctor and president of the Association of Family Doctors from Bucharest-Ilfov, explained the most common mistakes parents make when their child has a cold, as well as the signs that the situation is getting worse.

Fever, cough, nasal congestion. The most common signs that a child is infected with a virus. What shall I do?

What parents need to know

Many parents panic when they discover that their child has a cold. Runs from the nose when sneezing, also coughs. A parent who knows what to do before the baby gets sick will avoid these inconveniences. “Parents need to learn what to do before these kids catch a cold. That is, they must somehow adjust to the main symptoms, know what the alarm signals are. To know when it is necessary to go to the doctor, urgently, even when to go to the trauma center. And they need to know what they need to have at home. And how to act,” explains Dr. Sandra Alexiou.

1. I ask for antibiotics when the child has a fever

The first mistake parents make is that they tend to push for certain medications, especially antibiotics: “Because they equate fever with antibiotics, and that’s a mistake. An antibiotic is not a drug that lowers the temperature. An antibiotic is a drug that kills a microbe. This germ could cause a fever, it could also cause other symptoms. But the fever is caused not only by the microbe that can be killed by antibiotics, but also by others that are not affected by antibiotics,” warns the doctor. Over time, antibiotics that are taken without medical indications lead to the development of antibiotic resistance, leaving the body defenseless.

2. I come to the doctor too quickly

The second mistake parents make is the speed with which they come to the doctor without first doing any maneuver to help the child. “For example, if your child has a very high temperature – up to 40 degrees Celsius – the first thing you should do as a parent is to lower the temperature and then see a doctor. Do not put the child in the car and go to the doctor. Because in the meantime, due to a fever, the child may have a seizure in the car, you are in the front, he is in the back, and then a problem arises,” Dr. Alexiou points out.

And the child’s temperature can be reduced with medicines against this symptom, which every parent should have at home. The best-known anti-fever drug is paracetamol, says Dr. Alexiou: “There are also anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen or diclofenac. Some also use metamizole, with certain restrictions. They may also apply cold compresses to a very hot area. They can do wraps if the child is over 1 year old.”

When a child has a fever, he sweats a lot and loses a lot of water. Therefore, the lost water must be replaced. “So children need hydration. They cannot be stuffed with food. Because at some point, due to fever, they feel nauseous and may vomit, which increases dehydration. So you need to make sure to hydrate it because it can help bring the temperature down.”

The best liquid for hydration is water. “First, we give the child water. If the child does not want water, he does not want it because he was not used to drinking little water as a child. If he really wants a sweet liquid, then we can use tea, we can use syrups or fruit juices, but the best thing is for him to drink water. Because water moisturizes the fastest and most effectively.”

3. I give antipyretic too quickly

Another mistake parents make is to give the child anti-thermic drugs at the slightest sign of a fever.

“We must understand that fever is a defense mechanism. A fever is a signal that calls an army to battle. Therefore, we do not reduce immediately. We let her do her job. So, if the fever is below 38 degrees Celsius, we don’t rush the fever medicine, but let the immune system make its own antibodies. 38 degrees Celsius is the limit before 3 months of age, and by the end of life it is above 38.5 degrees Celsius. Up to 38-38.5 degrees Celsius, we should let the fever do its job, because the human body is extremely complex, it has its own army and it needs to be given the opportunity to mobilize,” recommends the doctor.

And in order to correctly measure body temperature, a special thermometer is needed in the house for this.

Therefore, we reduce the temperature with antipyretics such as paracetamol if the temperature exceeds 38.5 degrees Celsius and hydrate the child. The doctor must also be called and informed about the child’s health condition and give recommendations to the parents: “If the doctor thinks that the child is in an urgent situation, he will examine him immediately, if it is not an urgent situation, he can wait until he thinks that he is needed see. Therefore, it is possible that in many cases of colds, a doctor is not needed,” says Dr. Sandra Alexiou.

4. He is afraid that the cough will not go away

Another symptom of a cold that scares parents is a child’s cough. Unfortunately, the cough comes on quickly and is very difficult to pass. But even if it disappears with difficulty, the cough does not necessarily indicate lung damage. “Very often a cough is caused by mucus in the nose. They slide down the back of the nose, into the throat, and children get irritated and cough more to clear their throat than because they have something in their lungs. Cough is a symptom that scares, but not always. Here, an adult smoker is not afraid that he is coughing, although something worse may be hiding behind this cough. On the other hand, when he sees that the child’s cough does not go away, after 2-3 days the father gets scared,” the doctor notes.

Or a child with a cold may have a cough for 2-3 weeks. “If a child coughs because of a nasal discharge that does not stop because he has, for example, polyps, he will cough for two years, not a week, two, three. We need to go to the cause of the cough and check it,” the doctor adds.

Parents are advised not to rush to give children cough syrups. “There are a lot of things that go wrong with cough syrups. Expectorant syrups are given only after 2-3 years, when the child knows how to cough, knows how to cough, learns to cough. Otherwise, they fill with discharge, sink, and something else can happen.”

Instead of cough syrups, parents are encouraged to have a pump at home to clear their babies’ noses. “The child does not need syrups, pills, or other miracles, except that the parents have something at home for fever and pumping. But it’s really hard to tell parents, you know, you don’t have to take anything except a pump, saline, or seawater. They always want much more, prescriptions with many medicines, injections,” the doctor notes. And what else you should not forget is that with or without a doctor, a cold does not go away faster than 7 days.

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