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Deciding which symptoms say “Call immediately”, which say “Call some time today”, and which say “Wait and see” isn’t always easy. It is always depend on the situation, and the child himself. One child might need “Call immediately” symptoms, when others just need “Wait and see” one.

Ask your child’s doctor or nurse-practitioner for specific when-to-call recommendation, and make sure that you stick to what they said by making list of the symptoms. This particularly important, especially when your child has a chronic condition (such as heart, kidney, and other chronic disease). Make notes at your list for every symptoms appears, such as “Call immediately”, “Call some time today”, “Wait and see”, “Call within 24 hours”, Call during regular office hours”, etc.

Fever:
over 105°F (40.5°C) ; call immediately

104°F – 105°F (40°C – 40.5°C) ; call within 24 hours

102°F – 103°F (39°C – 39.5°C) ; call during regular office hours

under 102°F (39°C), with mild cold or flu symptoms, that last for more than 3 days ; call during regular office hours

that lasts more than 24 hours when there are no other detectable signs of illness ; call within the next 24 hours

that isn’t brought down at all by a fever-reducing medication within an hour; call within 24 hours; call immediately if 105°F (40.5°C) or above.

that suddenly rises after being low grade (under102°F or 39°C) for a couple days; that suddenly develops in a child who has been sick with a cold or flu (this may indicate a secondary infection, such as an ear infection or strep throat); call within 24 hours, unless the child appears sick or has a history of febrile seizures, in which case, call immediately

with beginning a period of exposure to an external heat source, such as the sun on a hot day or the closed interior of a car in a hot weather; immediate urgent call

that suddenly increase when a child with a moderate fever has been over-dressed or bundled in blankets – it is called heat illness ; call immediately

Fever accompanied by:

Call Immediately for these symptoms: limpness or unresponsive (you can’t interest your child in anything, cant elicit a smile); convulsions (the body stiffens, eyes roll limbs flail); devastated crying that lasts 2 or 3 hours; crying, as if in pain, when your child is touched or moved; whimpering or moaning unrelated to behavior; purple spots anywhere on the skin; difficult breathing; severe headache; drooling and a refusal to swallow liquids; neck stiffness; suspecting burning or pain during urination; severe dehydration; uncharacteristic behavior (excessive crankiness or crying, excessive sleepiness, lethargy, sensitivity to light, loss of appetite, ear pulling or clutching)

Call 911 immediately if the symptom is convulsions that last longer than 5 minutes

Call during regular office hours for : sore throat, a rash, mild dehydration

Call within 24 hours if your child vomit continuously

A Cough:

that last more than 2 weeks; call during regular office hours

that disturbs sleep at night; call during regular office hours

that brings up yellowish or greenish phlegm; call during regular office hours

that brings up blood-tinged phlegm; call immediately

others than above; call immediately

A Cough accompanied by:

Call immediately when he has difficulty breathing

Call during regular office hours for symptoms : chest pain, wheezing, retractions, rapid breathing

Sore throat:

following exposure to someone with diagnose strep infection; call during regular office hours

in a child with a history of chronic lung disease, rheumatic fever, kidney disease; call within 24 hours

Sore throat accompanied by:

Call during regular office hours; fever over 102°F (39°C); discomfort when swallowing; white spots or blisters on reddened throat; swollen, or tender, glands in the neck; a rash

Call immediately; severe difficult swallowing, drooling; hoarseness that lasts 2 weeks

Bleeding:

Call immediately for these symptoms; blood in the urine; in the stool (except for streaks you know are from anal fissures), in sputum or phlegm, blood leaking from ears and nose.

General demeanor:

Call immediately for these symptoms; severe lethargy, with or without fever; crying or moaning as if in pain, when moved or touched; restlessness, your child can not settle down to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time; continuous crying more than 3 hours; refusal to eat at all for an entire day

Other:

Swollen glands that become red, hot, and tender; call within 24 hours

Severe pain anywhere in the body, but especially in the head or chest; call immediately

Abdominal pain that doesn’t appear to be related to constipation or lactose intolerance and that last more than 3 hours, or is accompanied by vomiting, get worse, is intermittent, or stops suddenly; call immediately

Yellowing of the whites of the eyes or of the skin; call during regular office hours