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Recognize Symptoms of a Sick Baby or Toddler
How do you know if you have a sick baby?
This page will help you recognize symptoms of serious illness in your baby or toddler, so you will know if you have a sick baby or toddler.
There are 2 sections
Symptoms of a Seriously Ill Baby - see your doctor if your baby:
- has poor feeding - feeding less than half normal
- is very lethargic and uninterested in her surroundings
- has difficulty breathing - her ribs are very prominent with each breath and she is struggling to breath
- is cold to touch - press your thumb over her breast-bone for 5 seconds until the skin
goes white. Take your thumb off and count in seconds until the color returns to the skin.
(1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3 etc is equivalent to 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds etc).
If the color has not returned within 3 seconds (1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3), she needs
urgent medical attention
- is very irritable and difficult to settle
- is blue in color around the lips or mouth
- is grey or mottled in color
- has bile-stained vomiting
- has a red rash that does not blanch (go away) when pressed
- has high fever and misery for more than 5 days
If you think you have a sick baby, see your doctor urgently
To use BabyCheck, click here
- this is a scoring system designed by an English doctor to help parents of infants decide how sick their baby is. Back to list
Symptoms of a Seriously Ill Toddler - see your doctor if your toddler:
- is very lethargic and uninterested in her surroundings
- has difficulty breathing - her ribs are very prominent with each breath and she is struggling to breath
- is cold to touch - press your thumb over her breast-bone for 5 seconds until the skin
goes white. Take your thumb off and count in seconds until the color returns to the skin.
(1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3 etc is equivalent to 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds etc).
If the color has not returned within 3 seconds (1000-1, 1000-2, 1000-3), she needs
urgent medical attention
- is very irritable and difficult to settle
- is blue in color around the lips or mouth
- is grey or mottled in color
- has bile-stained vomiting
- is complaining of a headache, particularly if first thing in the morning and associated with vomiting
- has a stiff neck
- has a red rash that does not blanch (go away) when pressed
- has fever and misery for more than 5 days
If you think you have a sick toddler, see your doctor urgently Back to list
To go to the top of the Symptoms of a Sick Baby page, click here
To use BabyCheck for infants under 12 months, click here
To go to the Crying page, click here
To go to the Fever page, click here
To go to the Vomiting page, click here
To go to the Newborn Baby problem page, click here
To return to the Home page, click here
Last reviewed on 9 January 2007
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