Common health signs in a newborn baby

What are the health signs for an infant that you should pay attention to, what do they mean and how can you treat them?

Common health signs in a newborn baby

Normal growth of the child:

weight:

The average weight of the child at birth is 3250 g, and this weight doubles until the fifth month of the child’s life and becomes three times when the child reaches the age of one year and four times at the age of two years.

height:

At birth, it is about 50 cm, becomes 70 cm at the age of one year and 80 cm at the age of two years.

In general, there is some difference between one child and another according to genetic factors, as well as a difference between male and female, and the doctor is the one who can assess the child’s normal or abnormal growth in some cases, based on special tables that show the average rate of the child’s growth according to age.

Baby sleeping and crying

baby sleep:

We should know that a child spends a long period of his day sleeping, as his body is in a state of constant growth and needs to sleep for a longer period of time than an adult sleeps. There are also some differences between one child and another. There are some children who sleep more than the average, and others sleep according to the rate or moderately. We must put the child in his bed in a comfortable and appropriate position where he is neither completely covered nor without a cover (but moderately), and the preferred position for sleeping is lateral lying by placing the child on his right and left side, and the tummy position (sleeping on the stomach), which was common In the past, it has been found to have some complications, and we do not recommend it except in some special cases and according to specific medical guidelines.

baby crying:

It is the way of expression and speech of the child. The main reason for crying in a child is hunger and thirst, so he must be offered food and water even during the night (in the first months). If the crying does not stop, we look for other reasons for him without stressing or worrying:

He may suffer from indigestion after feeding, especially if we do not remove the swallowed air with the feed properly (carrying in a standing position and patting on the back).

The reason for crying maybe, he is disturbed by the position in which he is placed in the bed, so we change it, or because of the excessive room temperature, or the covers or clothes that are excessive and cause heat.

Or because his seat is dirty and ragged and he needs to change the sanitary pads.

Or because of a toothache.

The reason may be that he was suddenly awakened by a noise.

If the child continues to cry, he should think about internal pain, which is often caused by digestive disorders and may sometimes be caused by another pathological lesion.

The mother can assess this particular case of pain by looking for the following signs:

High temperature in the child.

vomiting.

Diarrhea.

High fever in a baby and ways to treat it:

The occasional rise in temperature is often not dangerous for a baby, and we must know that there is a difference between morning and evening temperature, where the latter is slightly higher than the morning temperature. We can consider that a child’s temperature is high if it exceeds 37.5 ° C.

We must know that the heat itself may be more dangerous than the disease that causes it in the first years of a child’s life, as it may lead to serious convulsions sometimes (hands and feet movements similar to epilepsy) and dehydration, which poses a great danger to the child’s life. We conclude that heat is a symptom of a disease, but it is in itself more dangerous than the disease that showed it, and therefore treatment must be started even before the detection of the disease-causing it.

Causes of high temperature:

In normal cases, the temperature is stable at its normal rate (37°-37.5°) thanks to the balance between its two systems:

Heat release system.

Heat gain system.

Hyperthermia caused by an increase in thermal intake:

In this case, the thermal imbalance is in the height of the incoming section of the (heat gain system).

Here are the most common cases:

When the child is covered too much (too many covers or too much clothing).

When the temperature of the child’s room (or the room in which he is located) exceeds 20 ° C.

When the child is exposed to very hot weather (especially with a lot of clothes that hinder his sweating).

When a child is left in a parked car and exposed to bright sunlight (heatstroke).

The increase in temperature caused by the inability to subtract it:

The imbalance, in this case, is caused by heat retention and disruption (heat excretory system).

Its common causes are:

The child does not drink enough, which reduces his sweating, and we have previously mentioned that sweating is a cooling system in humans.

When the child cannot sweat and excrete heat due to dense covers placed on him or impermeable clothing that prevents heat exchange between the child’s skin and the air around it.

When there is inflammation or infection, it raises the temperature in a way that exceeds the excretory system of the child.

When do we take a child’s temperature?

We must point out that manual temperature measurement by placing the hand on the forehead of the child is often a wrong measurement, and it is better and safer to measure it with a medical thermometer.

As for the cases and signs that alert us to the necessity of measuring the temperature of the child, they are:

When the baby is red and the skin is warm.

When his eyes are tired and shiny, or when his general condition is clearly poor.

When he has chills (cold tremors) even though the room temperature is normal and not cold.

When the child cries and screams and moves abnormally or, conversely, when he sleeps abnormally.

When he has digestive disturbances such as vomiting or diarrhea (or constipation).

When he refuses food and drink.

When we notice that he has a cough or a runny nose.

When red spots appear on his body (red rashes or bumps).

After receiving a vaccination.

As for the other signs that require the maturity of the child and his ability to express and speak, they are:

When a child complains of abdominal pain.

When he complains of burning and pain when urinating and cries every time he urinates.

when the complaints of pain in the pharynx and tonsils (throat) or he complains of pain in his ears.

How to take a child’s temperature:

We measure the temperature of the child with a mercury rectal thermometer, where we sterilize him with alcohol, then we insert his silver section with a little Vaseline (used as a lubricant) into the anal ring. We must not forget to shake the scale well before use until we return the mercury to its storage.

It is preferable to measure the temperature of the child in a resting position, that is, when he is lying down, calm and relaxed because crying or muscle movements for a long time raise the temperature slightly.

In the infant:

Insert the thermometer by placing the child on his back with his legs raised.

When the baby is over nine months old:

Insert the thermometer by placing the child on his side with the legs bent at the thighs.

It is preferable for another person to fix the position of the child, especially if he moves and resists inserting the thermometer, provided that we enter the scale gently and gently and also carefully, and do not exceed the part inside the anal ring (2 cm), which is equivalent to the silver section of the scale, and keep the scale in this position for a minute At least one, by holding the other end between the two fingers of the examiner, then we record the temperature, and if it exceeds 37.5°, we consider that the child’s temperature is high.

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