Pediatric Care

When to call your pediatrician

When your little one is sick, how do you know when it's time to call a doctor? Below is a list of common complaints—and any accompanying symptoms that necessitate a call to your child's Prevea pediatrician.

Abdominal Pain

• Continuous pain for three hours or longer.
• Pain along with swelling in the groin or testicles.
• Pain three hours after vomiting or diarrhea.
• Blood in the stool, urine or vomit.
• Severe vomiting with abdominal pain.
• Decreased appetite and weight loss.
• Pain that awakens your child from sleep.
• Severe, unrelenting pain.

Bleeding and Bruising

• Unexplained bruising, or bruising in unusual sites.
• Blood in the stool or urine.
• Prolonged bleeding from trivial cuts.
• Unusual paleness, fatigue, and other symptoms along with easy bruising.

Constipation

• Complains of painful bowel movements.
• Passes hard, dry stools.
• Has abdominal pain that is relieved by bowel movements.
• Has blood in or on stools.
• Is leaking fluid between bowel movements.

Cough

• Noisy, rapid, difficult breathing.
• For ages 2 months or under, has fever higher than 100.4°F (rectal temperature). For ages over 2 months, has a rectal temperature higher than 101°F.
• Is sluggish or drowsy.
• Bluish coloration around the lips, mouth, fingernails.
• Refusal to drink.

Diarrhea

• Infrequent urination.
• Dark urine.
• Sunken eyes.
• Refusal to drink.
• Dry, sticky lips and mouth.
• Lethargy, decreased activity.

Ear-Ache

• Swelling around the ear.
• Headache.
• Fever of 102°F.
• Dizziness.

Fever

• Age 2 months or under has a rectal temperature higher than 100.4°F or is over 2 months and has a fever higher than 102.5°F.
• Ill appearance, unusual drowsiness, or severe headache regardless of age.
• Persistently ill appearance after temperature has been brought down.
• Delirium, hallucinations.
• Refusal to drink.

Headache

• Unusual drowsiness.
• Reluctance to bend the neck forward.
• Repeated awakening with a headache, but without other signs of illness.
• Irritability.
• Refusal to drink.
• Temperature higher than 102°F.
• Vomiting, but no diarrhea.
• Muscular weakness or loss of coordination.

Skin Problems

• Ring-shaped, red or scaly patches on the body or scalp.
• Spreading blisters that turn crusty and scaly.
• A rash while taking a prescribed medication.
• Many small, itchy, red lumps and track marks in the skin.

Sore Throat

• A temperature of 102°F.
• Ear pain.
• A rapid onset of new symptoms such as nausea, swollen glands, rash, severe headache, breathing difficulty, or red, tender joints.
• Dark urine up to three or four weeks after the sore throat.
• A rash.
• Pus on the tonsils.

Vomiting

• Swelling and sharp pain in the abdomen.
• Blood or bile (green material) in the vomit.
• Confusion, lethargy or irritability.
• Diarrhea for more than 12 hours.
• Signs of dehydration such as dry lips and scant urine.

^{Source: American Academy of Pediatrics}