When To Take Your Child To Urgent Care

As a parent, you want to always do everything you can when your child is sick, but sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly how sick your child is, especially when they’re very young and can’t communicate what is bothering them. Urgent care or a trip to the hospital isn’t always needed for simple problems such as a cold, mild diarrhea, or mild fevers. So, when is it necessary to take your child to urgent care?

Urgent Care

Not all illnesses need an immediate visit with your pediatrician and it’s important for you to know what symptoms to look out for. Some symptoms that may require urgent care are:

• Vomiting and diarrhea that lasts more than a few hours

• Rash, especially with a fever

• High fever

• A cough or cold that lasts several days

• Large cuts or gashes

• Limping or the inability to move an arm or leg

• Ear pain with fever

• Ear drainage

• A severe sore throat or swallowing problems

• Sharp and persistent stomach or abdomen pain

• Blood in urine

• Blood in stool

• Not being able to drink for more than 12 hours

• Rectal temperature of 100.4 F or higher in a baby younger than 2 months old

• Fever and vomiting

• Any pain that gets worse and doesn’t go away after several hours

Is your little one sick? Find out when immediate medical attention is necessary.

It’s natural to worry when your little one gets sick. It’s certainly no fun dealing with an ill child. Of course, it’s easy for worry to turn to panic, but does my child need to see one of their Riverside, CT urgent care doctors at Riverside Pediatrics, LLC-- Dr. Karen Beckman, Dr. Alejandro Mones and Dr. Beth Rosenberg -- or should I take a wait-and-see approach? There are many questions parents ask themselves and questioning how to handle your child’s health shouldn’t be one of them. Here are some guidelines for when to visit us right away and when an ER trip is better suited.

Deciding to go to urgent care vs. the ER can be a confusing decision to make. While there are many medical issues that do not actually warrant a visit to the emergency room, there are certain scenarios in which an ER is a better choice including:

• If your child has a broken bone (displaced bones need to be realigned, often under sedation)
• If your child hit their head and was unconscious for a few seconds
• If your child is experiencing seizures
• If your child has trouble breathing
• If your child is under 2 months old and has a fever

We can see just about anything other than the previously listed. It’s always a good rule of thumb that if your child is able to walk or talk then chances are pretty good that their condition does not require emergency medical care. If your child is dealing with a minor illness or accident, consider heading to Riverside Pediatrics After Hours located in Riverside and convenient to all of Greenwich where our board certified pediatricians are here to assist you and your children. You can avoid the long emergency room wait times. You can also call us ahead of time and talk to us about the symptoms your child is having so we can determine whether the matter requires immediate attention.

Nothing is more important than the health of your child and here at Riverside Pediatrics After Hours in Riverside, CT and serving Greenwich we wholeheartedly believe that, that’s why your little one will always get the best medical care possible whenever they need it most!