42 Sherwood Place
Greenwich, CT 06830
United States
Constipation is never an emergency. In fact most “constipation” is not constipation at all. Some babies have one stool every 6-7 days. This is perfectly normal. If your child does become constipated (hard, dry stools which come infrequently and sometimes cause pain and bleeding) try the following:
If you suspect that your child has ingested a poison, or taken an overdose of a medicine call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
If your child appears critically ill, call 911. Try to determine what he has taken and how much. Please call your doctor for further instructions.
Please keep medicines and poisons out of the reach of children. Use a locked cupboard or metal box.
Fight the urge to panic. The bleeding almost always makes the wound look worse than it actually is, especially on the head. Stop the bleeding by applying firm pressure on the cut for 5 minutes with a clean compress.
LOOK!
If the cut is small and the sides are together, wash it and put on a loose Band-Aid and antibiotic ointment.
If the cut is large, or the sides are gaping, your child may need stitches. Call our office for further advice. Cuts in the mouth almost never need stitches unless they are very deep.
Most cuts will not require a tetanus shot if your child is up to date with the standard immunizations. Call our office to check your child’s status.
Ear Pain is miserable for both children and parents because it often starts at night.
To help relieve the pain:
Children take many spills as they grow and more often than not they seem to land on their heads. Fortunately, a child’s hard skull protects them from injury most of the time. If your child’s fall seemed dangerous, follow the instructions below.
If your child was NOT knocked unconscious:
Remember to always wear a helmet for biking, skateboarding and skiing. If your child was knocked unconscious, or looks critically ill, call 911.
Colds are the most frequent infections of childhood. In fact, the average child has 8 colds per year. Thus, every parent will spend many days and nights trying to quiet coughs and runny noses. When this happens to you, try the following:
Viruses cause most diarrhea and vomiting. This is a common illness and is rarely dangerous, although the smaller the child, the more concerned we are. If you think your child has something more dangerous than the stomach virus or if your child is less than 3 months old, call your doctor. If not, try the following list.
Fever does not cause brain damage.
Few things are so frightening to parents as high fever in their children. This fear is needless since in reality, fever is a friend. It tells us that an infection is present and more importantly, the fever helps the body fight infection.
The temperature should be taken rectally in infants and may be taken orally in older children.
For a fever above 100.4° F, keep the following in mind:
Do not panic when the fever rises. Children with a high fever look and feel terrible, but usually improve when the temperature is reduced. Just follow the above instructions and attempt to determine what illness is causing the fever. This is more important than how high the fever is. A high fever is very common in children, and often indicates a viral infection of no danger. Call if your child is under two months of age and had a temperature of above 100.4°, is difficult to arouse, or does not interact with you.