How do YOU decide when your child needs to see a doctor?

[peachesandpickles]

I am starting to realise I have no basis for normal reaction to sickness. My dd1 is 7. She has asthma, eczema, allergies since a tiny baby.

With the asthma she tends to get very ill, very quickly. She has been hospitalised many times and has seen the inside of an ambulance more than once.
She is a silent wheezer and is triggered by colds so I have always had to be vigilant.

She always went through a period of getting very bad tonsilitis with dangerously high temperatures.

On top of that she has sensory issues that means she is insensitive to pain/temperature.

Right now she is ill. Started with a bit of a cold but now has cough and slightly raised temp, comes down with medication.

The cough isn't asthmatic/wheezy and tonsils look fine but she is achy and miserable.

What would you do if you child (without a history like dd's) had these symptoms?

My default previously was to call OOH but I think that might not be necessary.

Thanks

I think NHS direct is brilliant for 'do I call the Dr or not' dilemmas.

Always call when you are worried.
No other criteria required.

Thanks for the replies.

Part of the problem is that when it comes to her health I am always worried.

Not in the UK so no Nhs. We have OOH GP service. Dd has been such a frequent visitor there that with her history they always tell us to come in.

Costs €60 a visit. I wouldn't hesitate to spend it when necessary but have been told a few times that her chest is clear, give her cal pol.

I think I need to learn how to decide myself. She is bigger and stronger now and asthma is well controlled.

I call if a) I don't have a clue what the problem is or b) I reckon I know what it is, and it would benefit from prescription medication (eg antibios).

I wouldn't call a doctor if DD had those symptoms no, but then she's not your DD.

You see I am now an expert in what to do when she is really sick but I flounder with the kind of ill thousands of kids get every day.

Are you able to look at 'the whole package'? By which I mean don't worry too much about cough/runny nose etc if she is otherwise lively/eating/playing/generally interested in live.
OTOH, always seek medical help when she is lethargic/less resposive than usual/'hingy'?
At 7 is she able to tell you when she feels unwell??

life, sorry, interested in life

She ate well, bit quieter than usual. Definitely cranky.

She is unreliable about how she feels. Told me she was fine while having tonsils that caused a doctor to recoil in horror and a temp of 104.5.

DS has a lot of history of chest problems (severe asthma and recurrent pnumonia)

I tend to sit things out at home as long as things are stable on the chest front as much as possible, first signs of possible asthma/pneumonia problems then he gets checked over

Try www.whenshouldiworry.com

I have ds who is 6 and dd who is 3. Ds has asthma.

I go to the docs if:

Very high temp consistently and especially if not responding to meds
Any signs if breathing problems - in ds this is usually constant coughing, in dd it's usually severe croup but it could be tracheal rig and other normal signs I'm sure your familiar with.
Listlessness
Temp above 38 for 48-72 hrs with no obvious cause
With ds if he has a high temp and tummy ache it's 90% certain to be an ear infection requiring antibiotics
Any signs of dehydration
Any severe pain (difficult if your dd has issues)
Any unblanching rash
Any unexplained leg pain

I think that's it?

Dd1 if she asks. Actually slightly before she asks as she'll be really bad if I wait until then.

Dd2 when she definitely has a worrying symptom. That usually involves making sure she's missed an activity she enjoys because of it, or observing her playing with friends. If she can play happily, and eat well, and go to all her activities, but apparently be in agony at other times-she's hamming it.

Ds about 10 minutes after he's said his ear hurts (the drum will burst unless he gets antibiotics quickly).

Thanks for all the replies. We went to the GP today - antibiotics for chest infection. She also has conjunctivitis and an inflamed throat.
I'm glad I took her in because if it got worse it would be more than likely to trigger an asthma attack.

Interesting link bunnybunyip It challenges a lot of the advice I would get from my mother and MIL.

I did notice it does say it doesn't apply to children with asthma and this reassures me that due to dd's medical history it is better to seek medical advice when she has a cough.

If its any consolation dd is 3 doesn't have asthma we don't think and I'm going through the exact same dilemma right now. She's been coughing for 10 out of the last 13 weeks and its only getting worse but she's still eating and playing. I think regardless of medical history we all doubt ourselves about when to take our kids to the GP.

I only go with colds if I think it has turned into a chest infection, so maybe 3 times in 8 years.

I am a little bit unfazed by temps as if ds has anything at all his temp shoots up to 39 + and he vomits. This happens with everything from a cold to chicken pox and is just normal for him so I don't panic, I just strip him off and calpol if nescessary.

I admit though that he is fit and well with only food allergies and eczema as ongoing. Aside from.consultant visits re allergies he has probably only been drs in single visits so I accept that he is one of the lucky kids .

I use this website a lot. It says things like "if your child's temp is over xx degrees you should seek medical attention."

www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx

Apart from the usual signs and symptoms, I'm a form believer in instinct; DD had a tummy bug last weekend and Sunday night took a turn for the worse and it just didn't feel right. I called 111 and they triaged her over the phone and we ended up in hospital with her. I can't quite explain what it was in her presentation, but I knew this wouldn't wait a few hours until the GP opened

Pretty much what Sirzy said, our DD1 is also a bit of a frequent traveller in the fast bus with blue lights - a few times she had the paramedics worried and nothing usually phases them.

I also consider the day of the week - if she has been unwell towards the end of the week I will take her to be seen by the GP on a Friday because I know her ability to go downhill fast over a weekend!

I will also take her to GP if she has had a high temp only managed by ibuprofen for longer than 48 hours - this is so we can track the source of infection, throat infections trigger severe seizures, once she went into full status because of tonsillitis.

If she shows any signs of being floppy or dehydrated we bypass GP and use our open access to childrens ward. GP would only send us there anyway.