With holidays upon us, new parents may question when to take babies to the doctor

FOX 2 - With so many viruses circulating, like Covid, RSV and the flu, it’s sure to cause concern for new parents out there with the holidays coming.

We know kids are going to get sick, but when it comes to the little ones, the babies, it's hard to know when you need to actually go to the hospital, so we asked Dr. Kimberly Giuliano from Cleveland Clinic Children's.

"A lot of parents wonder when their child gets sick when the most appropriate time to go to the emergency department is. And it depends on what's making a child ill," she said. "Usually the best advice is to contact your child's pediatrician's office first.

"Most offices will have an on-call doctor or nurse line that's available 24 /7."

However, Giuliano says there are situations where you shouldn’t hesitate to go to the hospital. For example, if your
child is seriously hurt, has uncontrollable bleeding, or an altered mental state meaning they’re not acting like themselves.

She says that if they have a fever, that could also impact their behavior, so you may want to try giving them medication first.
Of course, be sure to double check you’re using the right kind.

Breathing issues could also merit a trip to the hospital. But, again, Giuliano says it depends on the circumstances.

If your baby has a clogged nose, you may just need to get the mucus out.

"Even kids with breathing issues like asthma," she said. "Sometimes we can prescribe treatments over the phone or recommend use of certain inhalers that asthma patients may already have at home, that would prevent the need for an emergency department."

For kids or adults, severe beathing difficulites, high fever that lasts more than three days, chest pain, any worrisome symptoms that don't seem to be improving, you probably want to get to a doctor.