7 Signs that your baby is ill and needs a doctor

How to Identify Health Issues in your Baby at an Early Stage?

Physicians strongly suggest parents keep a watchful eye on their newborn baby for the first 7 days of their life since it is during these crucial 7 days that they can develop several types of infections that can often prove fatal for the baby. Parents should be extra watchful of their newborn babies because infections contracted can develop into serious illnesses quite quickly leaving little to no traces of symptoms. Even if there are visible symptoms of discomfort, these symptoms can be subtle and difficult to identify unless observed keenly. While not being able to wake up, extreme lethargy and weakness, moaning or wheezing with breaths, a bluish tinge to the skin and lips can be deemed as severe life-threatening medical emergencies, there are a few other signs that parents should watch out for to know when their baby is ill and needs a doctor.

• Constant Crying

Babies cry often because they have not learnt to talk yet and crying is thus their only form of communication in their infant months. However, parents soon learn to identify which type of cry means what. For example, your baby might cry due to hunger, loneliness, sleep disorders, or even when they are need of a diaper change. Sometimes a baby may cry in an unusual manner and at odd times of the day. This can be characteristic of some form of pain or other discomfort and parents need to pay close attention to this to understand whether they should seek medical assistance.

• Recurring Fever

Since fever is the body’s natural signalling mechanism that something is wrong, babies can develop a fever from the slightest infections or illnesses. Illnesses of the respiratory system like pneumonia, common cold, and the flu can also cause high fever in babies. Urinary tract infections, stomach worms, or even ear infections can also be the cause of a recurring fever in babies. It is advisable to seek medical counsel in case your baby’s fever is persistent so that an accurate diagnosis is reached.

• Unusual Lethargy

Such a condition of extreme lethargy and drowsiness in babies may not be easy to notice at first. These symptoms develop gradually and take time to reach to such a level that is visibly noticeable by parents. In extreme cases, the baby may not be willing to wake up even for feeding and not respond to stimuli of touch and vision as well. In such a case, the most probable cause in such cases may be low levels of blood sugar or some infection.

• Poor Appetite

Loss of appetite cannot always be linked to loss of weight in newborn babies since it is quite common for babies to lose almost 10% of their body weight after about 10 days of birth. However, parents need to watch out for the sucking power of their babies who are either bottle-fed or breastfed. This can ben an indicator of a stronger or weaker suck that may point towards illness and you should consult a paediatrician using reliable E-consultancy services like those of MediBuddy.

• Intussusception

This is a serious medical condition that can be identified by excruciating crying due to excessive pain similar to that of colic, and the baby should be rushed to pediatric care immediately to remove the intestinal blockage that has caused the intussusception.

• Diarrhoea and Vomiting

These two symptoms can be either individual or comorbid and are generally indicative of either a viral or bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract of your baby. In many cases, these symptoms resolve on their own but if they don’t, parents should consult a paediatrician.

• Strongly coloured Urine

Amber or salmon-coloured stains on the baby’s diaper is not usually a sign for major concern since it could simply be the result of highly concentrated urine. In normal cases, such staining does not continue but if it does, then it is time to consult a paediatrician for your baby.

Conclusion

Therefore, not all symptoms of babies can lead to serious illnesses but parents should nevertheless be vigilant to be able to identify illnesses at an early stage so that effective lines of treatment can be pursued. [av_promobox button='yes' label='Consult Now ' link='https://www.medibuddy.in/?utm_source=blog_cta&utm_medium=blog' link_target='' color='blue' custom_bg='#f00' custom_font='#ffffff' size='large' icon_select='no' icon='ue800' font='entypo-fontello']However, if parents find the need to quickly consult with experienced paediatricians, then MediBuddy come in handy.[/av_promobox]