“When to take toddler to Urgent Care? ”
When should I take my son to ER or urgent care? Health care provider is closed.
My son is 3yrs old, currently showing symptoms of dry persistent cough. 3-4 coughs in a row every hr. Trouble sleeping at night due to persistent cough.
He’s been sick for 5 days. First 2 days had a low grade fever of 100.8. After fever stopped after 2 day a cough started to form with phlegm. As well as an eye infection On his right eye with a mucus discharge where he couldn’t open his eye. After the 4th day He now has a dry cough. No fever anymore. No signs of eye infection. Treated his fever with childrens motrin and helped soothe cough with zarbees cough and immune system medicine.
He’s currently more alert , but still has not want to leave his bed. Only to use restroom. He’s frequently using the restroom 4xs a day , drinking at least 8oz of fluids a day. Maybe 1-2 spoon foods of food that I’ve provided. Also signs of diarrhea yesterday afternoon. But not severely , has had it twice since the first time going yesterday and last time went as of 9:00am this morning.
My son is 3yrs old, currently showing symptoms of dry persistent cough. 3-4 coughs in a row every hr. Trouble sleeping at night due to persistent cough.
He’s been sick for 5 days. First 2 days had a low grade fever of 100.8. After fever stopped after 2 day a cough started to form with phlegm. As well as an eye infection On his right eye with a mucus discharge where he couldn’t open his eye. After the 4th day He now has a dry cough. No fever anymore. No signs of eye infection. Treated his fever with childrens motrin and helped soothe cough with zarbees cough and immune system medicine.
He’s currently more alert , but still has not want to leave his bed. Only to use restroom. He’s frequently using the restroom 4xs a day , drinking at least 8oz of fluids a day. Maybe 1-2 spoon foods of food that I’ve provided. Also signs of diarrhea yesterday afternoon. But not severely , has had it twice since the first time going yesterday and last time went as of 9:00am this morning.
Male | 3 years old
Complaint duration: 5 days
Medications: None
Conditions: None
2 Answers
It can be tough for a parent to know when a child should be seen in Urgent Care or the Emergency Department. Most pediatric practices have a 24 hour nurse advice line that can be called and this is often a good idea as the person on call has access to your child’s specific medical history. In general, your child has some findings that are reassuring and some that might warrant a visit to Urgent Care. He no longer has a fever and that is reassuring at this point in his illness. It sounds like he is also urinating enough which is also reassuring. However, he sounds very lethargic. Kids are often weak and tired during an illness, but given that it has been 5 days and he continues to be so lethargic, it would be good to have him evaluated by a medical provider in person soon. I hope this helps and hope he feels better quickly!
He can wait till tomorrow with the ongoing symptomatic treatments you’re doing but there is a better option; a telemedicine visit (video call) with doctors who do that today.
