Should my baby go to the doctor if I have a cold?
If the first symptoms of a cold appear in babies under three months of age, a pediatrician should be consulted directly without waiting, regardless of the type and intensity of the symptoms. For older babies with mild cold symptoms, it is possible to wait until the first symptoms appear and only when certain warning symptoms appear can a pediatrician be called. These typical warning symptoms include, for example, persistent cold symptoms that do not improve over five days, signs of shortness of breath (difficult breathing, nasal wings, skin retractions in the area above the breastbone that are synchronous with breathing), fever above 38°C, coughing up yellowish or greenish mucus, distinct sluggishness or tiredness, altered drinking/eating behaviour and rubbing or pulling the ear as a possible sign of earache. For more information, see below: My baby has a cold – what to do?
When does a child with a cold need to see a doctor?
Starting from when one should go with the cold of the child to the physician, corresponds in principle to the guidelines of babies starting from 3 months of age: In most cases it concerns with children however a harmless viral infection, which does not occur in the infancy anything but rarely, since the child immune system is still in the learning phase.
- Fever above 38°C
- Persistent cold symptoms for five to seven days
- Clearly worsening cold symptoms
- Signs of difficult breathing (increased breathing frequency, breathing sounds)
- Difficulty in breathing, yellowish, greenish or brownish sputum when coughing
- Indications of ear pain as a sign of an accompanying ear infection (middle ear infection)
- Excessive inertia or fatigue
- Changed drinking, eating or playing habits
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