Your child’s sick. A doctor’s visit may speed their recovery | Novant Health
Children’s Health
If they have any of these 4 symptoms, a doctor’s visit may help them feel better faster
Sarah Bonnema
Contributing Writer
No one wants their child to feel sick or miss school longer than necessary — and no parent wants to blow through precious PTO when they don’t have to, either.
For many illnesses, time and rest are the only cures — but sometimes, starting the right medication can help your child get back to health sooner.
Pediatrician Dr. Ryan Aubuchon of Novant Health Forsyth Pediatrics – Summerfield is here to teach you how to spot “the treatable stuff” early.
(Important caveat: some symptoms always need to be checked out — keep reading for more details.)
If your child has any of these symptoms, see your pediatrician to possibly shorten the length of illness:
A sore throat that strikes “hard and fast.”
If your child has a suddenly painful sore throat and doesn’t have other symptoms of an upper respiratory infection (e.g., runny nose, nasal congestion, cough), they might have strep throat. Kids with strep throat often have fever, headache, and/or belly pain as well, but don’t always.
Without treatment, children can get worse — so if your child meets these criteria, don’t wait.
Instead, come on in for an examination and strep test, Aubuchon said, especially if your child has been around someone with strep throat recently.
If strep is confirmed, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics. Once your child has been treated for 24 hours, they can return to school or day care as long as they don’t have a fever.
Severe ear pain — OR in little ones, a cold that hasn’t improved and/or suddenly seems worse, with a fever, fussiness, and/or ear-tugging.
If your older child tells you their ear “really hurts,” chances are good that it’s an ear infection, Aubuchon said.
In smaller children, an ear infection often looks like a runny nose and cough that lingers beyond a week, or an upper respiratory infection that suddenly seems worse with fever, fussiness and ear pulling.
Antibiotics are sometimes appropriate, and often have your child feeling better and back to school or day care the next day or two. Your doctor may also be able to recommend ear drops (if they have ear tubes) or other over-the-counter medication to help with pain.
A cough that is intensifying with fever, or an abruptly worsening cold with a fever.
Two types of pneumonia most commonly affect children.
“Atypical pneumonia” (also called “walking pneumonia”) looks like a cold with a dry cough, congestion or a runny nose, and a fever when it begins. It’s been spiking among U.S. kids in the latter half of 2024.
“Community-acquired pneumonia” starts with a wet cough (often producing mucus) and fever/chills. The cough gets worse, then progresses to other symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, fatigue, lack of appetite, and nausea or vomiting.
With either kind of pneumonia your child will still require rest at home, but getting the right antibiotics can help them feel better more quickly and shorten the time they are home sick. If your child has either of these, bringing them in also allows the doctor to listen to their breathing (and possibly take an X-ray) to make sure they don’t require additional treatments.
Red, itchy, “crusty” eyes with extra tears.
These can all be symptoms of pink eye, which can be caused by bacteria, viruses or allergies. If it’s bacterial, antibiotic eye drops will help; regardless, most schools require that students with these symptoms stay home until they have been treated with antibiotic eye drops for 24 hours.
When do you not need to visit a doctor’s office?
Every Novant Health pediatric office offers same-day appointments for sick kids and a 24-hour guarantee to see a physician or other primary care clinician when you’re sick. If you need to see the doctor and don’t see any appointments available online, call the office. Don’t assume you can’t get in.
At the same time, the following conditions don’t require one.
Fever, days one to three, in an otherwise healthy toddler or older child.
If your toddler or older child* is breathing without difficulty, staying hydrated and behaving normally, you probably don’t need to worry about a fever for the first few days, Aubuchon said. Keep track of your child’s temperatures and how they respond to medication (the Notes app on your phone is a good place for this), and if your child still has a fever on day three or four, call your pediatrician.
By the way: a true fever is considered 100.4°F or above, best measured by a rectal temperature (in babies) and an oral thermometer (in older children). A “‘high” fever alone isn’t necessarily concerning; but if there is a high fever and behavior changes, call your child’s pediatrician immediately.
(*Note: if your child is under care for a serious illness, defer to their specialist’s guidance about fever, and if your child is a newborn or infant, keep reading for specific instructions.)
Cold or flu symptoms.
Supportive care at home can be sufficient for many kids who do not have breathing issues like asthma. If you visit your pediatrician and your child tests positive for flu, your pediatrician can sometimes prescribe Tamiflu which shortens the length of illness by an average of one day. However, Tamiflu can have side effects, so the risks and benefits need to be carefully weighed, Aubuchon said. Resting at home, running a cool-mist humidifier, using a saline spray for their nose, and taking medications like acetaminophen, ibuprofen, honey for a cough (in children over 1), and cough medications (for children 6 years old and older) are often all your child needs.
If you’re reading this and your child hasn’t had this year’s flu shot, go get it, Aubuchon said, noting that it can prevent your child from getting the flu or make it a lot less severe if they do get it.
Confirmed COVID-19.
Supportive care at home is probably all your child needs unless they have a history of breathing issues and/or complex medical problems. However, if you need an accurate test result (for example, because of an immunocompromised family member), then you may want to go to the pediatrician since resistant children can make accurate at-home tests pretty challenging to obtain. COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are recommended for just about everyone, including children.
Hand, foot and mouth rash.
Even though the rash can look “horrible,” Aubuchon said, supportive care at home is sufficient. Make sure your child stays hydrated, give ibuprofen/acetaminophen as needed, and apply hydrocortisone cream if they’re itchy.
A mysterious rash.
If you want to possibly save yourself a visit, take a picture of the rash and send it through MyChart, Aubuchon said. (Though your provider may still want you to be seen in office to get a better exam and find out more details.)
Vomiting.
With a typical gastrointestinal illness, vomiting will usually be most intense in the first 24 hours, Aubuchon said. If your child is able to stay hydrated, just have them rest and focus on fluids. Reach out if they’re getting dehydrated (see below) or if vomiting persists past two to three days.
When in doubt: Call the triage nurse team
Any time you are concerned, call your pediatric office and speak to the triage nurse. You won’t be bugging them, Aubuchon said: they want to hear from you.
“A big part of our job and a responsibility of ours is keeping your kids safe,” Aubuchon said. “Hearing what’s going on and what parents are concerned about is a huge part of that job.”
If your child has these symptoms, they need to see a pediatrician:
- If your child under 4 to 6 weeks old has a fever, notify your child’s pediatrician and go to the emergency room.
- If your child under 3 months old has a fever, see a doctor within 24 hours.
- If your child is having difficulty breathing, notify your child’s pediatrician immediately and be ready to seek emergency treatment, especially if they have asthma.
- If your child is dehydrated (in babies/toddlers, making less than three wet diapers per day; in older children, urinating only one to two times per day), notify your child’s pediatrician immediately.
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