A Practical, Up-to-Date Guide for Parents — Common Problems and Worries -- Part 2

By, Jeff Beaumont

Crossed Eyes

When awake and alert, your baby's eyes should look straight at you. One may turn in or out slightly when your baby is particularly tired, but both eyes should work together almost all of the time. If not, seek medical advice at your baby's next checkup. Don't be fooled by a wide nose which may make the eyes look as if they are turning in.

Very Frequent Urination

Most babies urinate nearly every hour until they are 2 or 3 months old, every 2 or 3 hours for the rest of the first year, and will sometimes urinate 2 or 3 times in a very short period. However, you should tell the doctor at the next checkup:

• If your young baby never seems to go more than one-half hour without urinating;
• If your older baby seldom goes more than an hour without urinating;
• If your baby strains hard to urinate; or
• If urine always comes out in a weak trickle or very fine tight stream.

Colds

Many babies have a slightly stuffy, rattly noise in their noses nearly all the time. This is not a cold; it just seems to be the way they are made. It will become less and less noisy and noticeable as your baby gets older and the air passages of the nose get larger. Your baby will also learn to clear the nose by sniffling. Don't use cold remedies for such a baby. You may be able to reduce the noise by sucking out the nose several times a day with a small rubber bulb called a nasal syringe.

Most babies will have 2 or 3 real colds in the first year and a perfectly normal baby may have 8 or 9. During colds, most babies become a little fussy and lose part of their normal appetite. Their noses run with clear watery material, which becomes thick and sticky in a few days. Their eyes may get red; they may cough and make a lot of noise when they breathe. They may have fever. The whole thing may last only 4 or 5 days or as long as 2 or 3 weeks, and a cough may take 4 or 5 weeks to disappear completely.

Neither you nor your doctor can do much about it except keep your baby as comfortable as possible. If your baby seems uncomfortable with aches and pains, give half a baby aspirin 3 or 4 times a day. Use the nasal syringe to clear the nose when stuffiness causes discomfort.

When You Should Worry—If your baby seems very weak and sick, has no energy to even cry loudly, nurses poorly, doesn't want over half of the usual bottle, doesn't wake up to be playful for even a short time—then you should seek medical care quickly.

How sick your baby acts tells much more about how serious the illness might be than anything else. If your baby has a high fever and a cough, but takes some of the bottle eagerly and wants to play, you don't have to worry. But if your baby is listless; weak; uninterested in attention, play or the bottle; you should get medical advice.

If your baby has labored breathing, you should get medical care promptly—day or night. Labored breathing means working so hard at breathing—getting the air in and out—that there is no energy left for anything else, even for nursing or for playing. Making a lot of noise breathing is not important, but having to work very hard to breathe is!

If your infant cries or moans as if in pain for several hours during a cold, you should get this checked by a doctor. If he or she is just fussy and goes to sleep after you give comfort and/or half a baby aspirin, you need not worry. But painful cries should not be ignored.

You will probably want to check with a doctor the first few times your baby has a bad cold, but you will soon learn what to expect with colds and how to treat them.

You really can't do much to prevent colds. Colds are most contagious—most easily passed from one person to another—during the few days before the signs of a cold appear. Once you have had a cold for a day or two, you are unlikely to give it to someone else. So keeping your baby away from people with signs of a cold will not help much.

Fever

Fever is the body's natural response to many infections. If your baby has a fever, there is something wrong. But how high the fever is doesn't tell you anything about how serious the sickness is. If an infant with a high fever is playful and cheerful, the sickness is not likely to be serious and you need not worry. A child with only a slight fever or no fever who appears to be sick and weak needs medical attention. Fever should warn you to watch carefully, but it doesn't tell you how sick your child may be.

Many babies will have a fever with every cold. Many have a fever for a day or two with no other signs of illness except tiredness and fussiness.

Most of the time an infant with a fever needs no special treatment. Give plenty to drink and take off any extra sweaters or blankets. If your baby seems uncomfortable or particularly jittery, give one-half a baby aspirin every 6 hours if your child is 3 to 8 months old. Give one-half a baby aspirin every 4 hours if your baby is 9 to 18 months old. Aspirin will reduce the fever, but fever itself does no harm. Use aspirin for pain and discomfort. Leave the fever untreated unless the baby seems uncomfortable.

If your child has a fever you can't explain for 4 or 5 days in a row, you should seek medical advice even if he or she doesn't seem very sick.

Vomiting

Your baby may vomit during a cold or fever—or have an illness which may have vomiting, or vomiting and diarrhea, as its only signs.

When your baby vomits, don't give anything to eat or drink for one hour. Then give one-half ounce of cold sweet juice, tea with sugar or soft drink. Repeat this half-ounce feeding every 10 or 15 minutes for an hour. Give 1-ounce feedings every 10 or 15 minutes for the next hour, and 2-ounce feedings as often as your baby wants them for the following hour. If there is no more vomiting, it is now safe to give small amounts of cereal, formula, crackers or toast. But don't give more than 2 ounces to drink at one time until there has been no vomiting for 6 hours.

If vomiting occurs after you start this routine, wait one hour and start again at the beginning with half-ounce feedings.

If your infant continues to vomit for more than one day or seems very sick and weak, you should get medical advice.

Care of a Sick Child

Don't worry if a sick child doesn't want to eat, but be sure to give plenty to drink. If there is a fever or diarrhea, your baby may be particularly thirsty. Give only the usual amount of milk and offer water, juice or soft drinks in between.

Let your baby decide how much exercise and sleep are needed. Babies who want to be up and playing can be allowed to do so. Babies who are sick enough to need extra rest will soon lie down and fall asleep by themselves. Better a happy child playing quietly than a child screaming in the crib because someone said, "Your baby's sick and should be kept in bed."

Try to keep your baby comfortable. This often means fewer blankets and clothes rather than more, especially for a child with a fever. There is nothing wrong with outdoor air or with automobile trips—provided your baby is comfortably dressed and allowed to rest when necessary.

Source: Health Guidance -- A Practical, Up-to-Date Guide for Parents — Common Problems and Worries

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