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Toddlers: 24 Months+
Take DD to doctor? I say yes, DH says no.
Since last Sunday, so a week and 2 days, Miss Maia has what I think is a cold. I say think it's a cold because at first I thought it was teething related. Last Sunday she got a runny nose and she coughed and sneezed a couple times. The runny nose hasn't really gone away, though sometimes it's just a "yucky" nose. She coughs from time to time and a couple times she's sounded congested, I could hear it in her and when she talked it sounded like she needed to clear her throat. Ya know? I give her Tylenol when I think she needs it, started with Motrin but now I have Tylenol. I know we should be running her humidifier but there isn't a filter - I never got a new one after last year!
Sorry, this is long. Decided to make DD a doctor appt. for today (4:30) but DH doesn't think she needs it and thinks he knows what the doctor will tell us. Keep her hydrated, Tylenol or what you choose as needed, humidifier, elevate crib where her head is. We're doing all that, minus humidifier. It's just that it's been over a week and she's only been "sick" a couple times and not this long. If you made it THIS far, do you think I should just go ahead and keep her appt.?
TIA! 
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Re: Take DD to doctor? I say yes, DH says no.
Hmmm, I kind of agree with your DH on this one. *IF* she isn't running a fever. I would call though, just to give a heads up, and see if there is anything else they suggest, with it just being a cold with no fever, they should tell you. And if it's not better in, say, another week, then call again.
DD has a cold, and I just watch for signs of it turning into a sinus infection, otherwise, they don't do anything for her.
Thanks! She hasn't had a fever. I know, I know, I may just be acting a bit "first time mommy" or something.
That's ok, DD's first couple colds I took her in too (although this is only #3, haha), but that last one I waited until it had been a week, then touched base with them, the next week, it had turned into a sinus infection, so I took her in. She only had about 3 weeks off from that one & has a cold again! I hate this time of year!
Personally, I wouldn't take my child to the doctor with those symptoms, but I am the veteran of many seasonal colds and I have a kid with pretty bad nasal allergies who has a runny nose often.
However, if you have not weathered too many illnesses with your child, on one hand it's a good thing because you have a healthy child. On the other hand, it's not so good, because you -- as Dr. Mom -- haven't had much of a chance to figure out a baseline for determining what "really sick" and "a little sick" look like on your particular child. So in your situation, I'd say it wouldn't hurt to head to the doctor when in doubt.
I would guess that your DD has a viral cold. It's not unusual for viral cold symptoms to last at least 9 days, possibly as many as 20 days from start to finish!! It can seem like an eternity when your kid is sneezing/coughing/waking at night, but there's usually nothing a doctor can do!
Here are my personal guidelines for determining whether to call the doctor:
--fever over 102 for more than 2 days. If the fever is still high in the morning on day 3, I call the doctor.
--fever over 104 anytime, esp in a kid over age 4, although this can vary from kid to kid. Some kids just run high fevers; for others, a fever of 103 IS high!!
--cough or other symptoms that seemed to go away and then returned after a few days (indicates secondary infection like a sinus infection or bronchitis)
--any medical symptom that seems "weird" or "off" that doesn't begin to improve after 48 hours.
HTH!
ETA: Tylenol will not help cold symptoms, so unless your child has a fever or pain, you should probably save the tylenol because it's not doing anything for her. The best remedies for a child under the age of 4 with cold symptoms are: fluids, humidifier, saline nasal spray/drops, vicks vapor rub on the chest at night or Kaz inhalant in the humidifier.
this.
Carson has had a cold for two weeks now. i took him in a few days ago to be sure lungs/chest/ears were clear. the nose still isn't clearing up and i have a call into the doc to see how much long we have to wait it out. she did say to give the cough a good 3 weeks. ugh.
Yep, this is how we determined her last cold had turned into a sinus infection, she started getting better, then a couple days later was a tad worse than before. Plus, green snot, that usually signals an infection!
Thanks so much! When I took her in the past it was viral, I'm almost certain. Basically it was just a wait it out. I have given her the saline spray/drops a few times, too.
I was just going to ask how to tell if it was a sinus infection! I can only remember seeing clear snot... this is such work!
I forgot about the green snot thing!
If a kid has a few yellowish-greenish boogers, no worries. If you're blowing the kids' nose or suctioning with a bulb and it's green and gooey every time -- there are germs in there somewhere!!
When my DD was little, I used to call my own mom EVERY time she was sick. She was pretty healthy too, so it took me a while to get my Dr. Mom game on! DS just gets sicker more often and has pretty bad allergies, so I've come along on my M.D. in the 5 years since he was born!!
It is one of the hardest things about Mom-hood, though!