Fever
Fever is the body fighting an infection. It is a sign, not the illness. How your child looks and behaves between fever spikes tells you more than the thermometer reading.
- Keep fluids going. Dehydration causes more trouble than the fever itself.
- Use paracetamol in the dose advised for your child's weight, not their age.
- Do not use aspirin. Do not combine fever medicines without advice.
- Any fever in a baby under three months needs to be seen the same day.
Cough and cold
Most coughs and colds are viral and get better in seven to ten days without antibiotics. Antibiotics do not work on viruses, and using them when they are not needed makes them less useful later, when your child really needs them.
Saline nose drops, steam, fluids and rest do more than most syrups. Cough syrups are not advised for young children.
Loose motions and vomiting
The treatment is fluid, not medicine to stop the motions. ORS and zinc, given properly, are what prevent a child from becoming seriously ill.
- Give ORS after every loose stool, in small frequent sips.
- Keep breastfeeding or normal feeding going. Do not starve a child with diarrhoea.
- Zinc for fourteen days shortens the illness and reduces the next episode.
Ear pain, throat pain and rashes
Ear pain with fever, a sore throat that makes swallowing difficult, or a rash with fever should be examined rather than treated at home. Some of these need antibiotics and some do not, and the difference is not something you can judge from outside.