Experience on prevention and treatment of common childhood diseases

The priority of prevention is much higher than the subsequent treatment. The core of the treatment is not to pursue "quick cure" but to accurately avoid risks. All plans must be adjusted according to the child's individual constitution. There is no standard answer that is universally applicable.

Speaking of which, I was really panicked when I first took care of my baby. My baby's fever reached 38.2 degrees Celsius for the first time. I rushed to the emergency room wrapped in a thick blanket in the middle of the night. After waiting in line for two hours, it was our turn. The doctor lifted the baby's collar and looked at her throat. He turned around and smiled: "She is in such good spirits that she doesn't even need to take antipyretics. Just drink more warm water when she goes back and wipe her neck and armpits with a warm towel." ”At that time, I was still muttering to myself that the doctor was irresponsible, for fear that the fever would burn out my brain. So I went back and gave my baby half a cup of warm pear water. The next day, when I took my temperature, it dropped to 36.8 degrees. Looking back now, I was completely bound by the old ideas at that time, forgetting that fever itself is the body's immune response. Only ultra-high fever that lasts over 41 degrees can damage the nervous system. There is no need to be overly nervous with ordinary low-to-medium fever.

There is still a lot of controversy about the use of antipyretics. Traditional pediatricians generally advocate "use antipyretics when the body temperature exceeds 38.5 degrees." The evidence-based medicine school pays more attention to the comfort of the child and believes that there is no need to impose a hard temperature threshold. As long as the child is in low spirits and feels uncomfortable, the drug can be administered even if the temperature is 38 degrees. I have two children of my own, and I feel that both arguments are reasonable, and there is absolutely no need to take one side: my eldest has a fever of 39 degrees and can still run around building blocks, and his appetite is not affected, so I won’t rush to give the medicine, just give him more water and observe him. ； As soon as the temperature reached 38 degrees, my second child was so wilted that he couldn't move in my arms and refused to eat. So I gave him some ibuprofen in advance, and there was no harm in it. Raising a baby is inherently flexible, and there is no need to stick to numbers.

Compared with the false alarm of having a fever, it was the time when my second son got rotavirus that really engraved the phrase "don't over-intervene" into my mind. At that time, the old man at home said that if you had diarrhea, you should go hungry and not eat, otherwise the diarrhea would get worse, so I fed the baby white porridge for half a day. The baby was so hungry that he cried and refused to give him anything else to eat. Later, I asked a friend who works as a child care provider and found out that fasting is no longer recommended for diarrhea. As long as there is no severe vomiting, eating light and easy-to-digest food can replenish nutrients and help the patient recover faster. Blindly starving the baby can lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. I gave my baby warm formula milk that day, and added some steamed soft apples. As expected, the number of bowel movements became less the next day, and there was no worsening of the condition. As for the use of anti-diarrheal drugs, there are even more divergent opinions. Some parents hurriedly feed Wala montmorillonite powder as soon as they saw her. In fact, if the diarrhea is caused by a viral infection, defecation itself is expelling the virus. Forcibly stopping the diarrhea will keep the virus in the body and aggravate the symptoms. As long as oral rehydration salts are replenished in time to avoid dehydration, I only gave my second child rehydration salts without using any anti-diarrheal drugs. It was completely cured in three days.

After going through many pitfalls, I slowly discovered that instead of waiting for my baby to get sick and worrying about how to deal with it, it is better to take precautions in advance. I have also gone through many detours in this regard. I always thought that raising a baby should be sterile. I sprayed 84 disinfectant at home every day. I wiped the toys with disinfectant wipes immediately after playing with them. When I went out and touched a public handrail, I sprayed no-rinse disinfectant gel. As a result, my eldest child was prone to allergies at that time and even caught a cold once a month. Later, I asked a doctor who specializes in pediatric immunization and found out that an environment that is too clean will destroy the establishment of intestinal flora in children and prevent their immunity from improving. The flora in the environment at normal contact points can actually help the child to strengthen his immune system. I later put away all the disinfectants at home, and only washed my hands with soap before meals, after using the toilet, and after going out. Toys were only rinsed with clean water regularly and no longer disinfected every day. Later, my second child started crawling around on the ground and picked up pebbles to play with. Instead, he only caught one or two colds throughout the year, and he recovered quickly.

As for whether to take health supplements to improve immunity, it is also the most noisy topic in the group of mothers. Some people say that vitamin C and lactoferrin are IQ taxes, while others say that their children do get less sick if they take them. My own experience is that it doesn’t have to be black and white. As long as the baby eats a balanced diet and eats enough meat, eggs, milk and vegetables, there is really no need to take extra supplements. However, if the baby is as picky as my eldest son before and refuses to eat a bite of vegetables, there is no harm in supplementing with some vitamin C. Later, when his eating habits adjusted, I stopped directly and I didn’t see any decrease in resistance. Just take it as needed. There is no need to follow the trend and stock up on a bunch of health supplements.

Of course, not being anxious does not mean that you have to bear it. As long as there are a few signs, you should go to the doctor immediately no matter what the situation. This is the bottom line that I have repeatedly confirmed with several doctors: such as a fever that does not go away for more than 3 days, or a body temperature that continues to exceed 40 degrees.； For example, if your energy level is particularly low, you won’t respond to calls, or you may be falling asleep all the time. ； For example, shortness of breath, sunken chest, or a cough that sounds like a barking dog (also known as a barking cough, so be wary of acute laryngitis) ； For example, if you have persistent vomiting or have diarrhea for more than 6 hours without urinating, don't hesitate to go to the hospital immediately. Don't delay things.

My biggest feeling in the past few years of raising children is that raising children is really not a math problem. There are no standard formulas. The methods that others use well may not work for your child. Learn more basic nursing knowledge and be less anxious about "the baby will panic and take medication randomly when he gets sick". Allowing the baby to develop immunity with minor illnesses is better than anything else. Speaking of which, I don’t have a bunch of messy medicines in my drawer now. I just put a bottle of ibuprofen, a box of oral rehydration salts, and a few bottles of saline nebulizer, which are enough to deal with 80% of common diseases. On the contrary, I am much more at ease than when I stocked up on medicines before.