“Mom, my tummy hurts!”. When children can speak, they are also able to communicate where it pinches and tweaks. Whereas children also often complain about tummy aches, but actually suffer from headaches. Children up to about the age of six can hardly locate pain. They project everything into the stomach. Mostly they indicate pain in the navel area – even if, for example, the neck should hurt because of angina.
How can parents recognize serious illness?
Infants and toddlers are not yet able to communicate precisely. Especially with them, it is therefore often difficult for parents to react correctly to signs of illness and to be able to assess whether there is not “more to it”. In general, it can be assumed that a child who plays despite a fever, for example, is not seriously ill. A loudly screaming child is probably not threateningly ill either.
It only becomes dangerous if the child is lethargic, does not maintain eye contact or whimpers softly. Other signs to take seriously may include: The child plays or laughs less than usual. It is difficult to calm down. He or she clings to the parents in an exaggerated way. At times when he or she is otherwise wide awake, he or she appears very tired.
Elevated temperature – fever – high fever.
Reaching for a fever thermometer is usually the first step in the search for possible illness. For children up to the age of four, the body temperature should not be measured in the mouth, but in the anus. However, fever itself is not a disease, but a sign of illness (symptom). It indicates that the body is dealing with an illness. The normal body temperature of a child is between 36.5 degrees Celsius (°C) and 37.5 °C. Up to 38.5 °C, it is called an elevated temperature.
If the thermometer temperature rises even higher, the child has a fever. Above 39.5 °C, one speaks of high fever. A child who develops a febrile illness may initially be quieter than usual. There may also be a poorer appetite or a greater need for sleep.