Care for a sick child
Correct care for a sick child along with strict compliance with medical regulations helps the timely and full recovery of the patient, prevents the emergence of complications.
First of all, you must carefully observe the rules of hygiene, maintain cleanliness in the room. The temperature of the air in the room where the patient is, should not be above 18-20 ° C.In winter, ventilate the room more often, and in the warmest time keep the windows constantly open. Only for infants, the air temperature can be slightly higher( 21-22 ° C).The higher temperature that parents sometimes get when installing heating appliances in the room, badly affects the baby's condition, hampers his recovery.
The room must be wet cleaned daily. Bed linen and underwear change with the degree of contamination, and if the child sweats strongly, then 2-3 times a day. The clothing of the patient should not constrain his movements. Before going to bed, the day clothes should be replaced with a nightdress made of cotton. Daily in the morning and in the evening it is necessary to wash the child's face, neck, hands, brush his teeth;rinse your mouth after each meal. Except for cases of a serious condition of the patient, you should regularly bathe( at least 1 time in 5 days).
A child in bed rest should arrange a comfortable, clean and warm bed, to give an elevated semi-reclining position. From time to time, change the position of small children in the crib, often take them in your arms, not pressing hard to yourself, so as not to interfere with free breathing. Take care of creating a positive emotional tone in the child, provide with toys, talk to him more often, tell tales, read books, surround with a warm, affectionate, cordial atmosphere.
Treatment procedures and manipulations must be performed carefully, trying to cause the baby as little as possible unpleasant sensations. At the same time, sometimes it is necessary to show some perseverance in the performance of the procedures prescribed by the doctor, despite the negative attitude of the child towards them.
When nursing a sick child, parents are advised to keep a brief diary, record the body temperature, the main complaints, the symptoms of the disease, the prescribed appointments and procedures. This will help the doctor watching the sick baby, better evaluate his condition and outline a treatment plan.
The measurement of body temperature in a sick child should be carried out in the morning after awakening( from 6.00 to 8.00) and in the evening( from 17.00 to 18.00).Sometimes, according to the doctor's prescription, the temperature is measured every 3-4 hours. Usually, children are measured under the armpit, sometimes in the groin or in the rectum( toddlers).Under the arm and in the groin, the thermometer is held for 10 minutes, and the rectum is 5 minutes, while it is usually 0.3-0.5 ° C higher than when measured under the armpit.
Instillation of medication into the nose is often prescribed to children in acute respiratory infections. Before the introduction of drops, the nose must be cleaned. The older children do it themselves, the younger ones cleanse the nose with the help of cotton flagella. Put the baby on his back, turn his head slightly to the right, if the medicine is injected into the right nostril. Then put the palm of the left hand on the child's forehead, fixing the head. With the thumb of the same hand, lift the tip of the nose and, trying not to touch the nose with a pipette, bury a few drops of the medicine so that it gets on the mucosa of the outer wall of the nose. After 1-2 minutes, the medicine is digested into another nostril, following the same rules.
Burying a medicine in the ear is a fairly common medical procedure. The external auditory canal must be cleaned beforehand with dry cotton wool, and the drop heated to body temperature. The child is placed on the opposite side of the patient's ear. To straighten the ear canal, the auricle must be pulled back and forth, after which a few drops of the drug should be administered. The adopted position should be kept for 10-15 minutes. If drops are prescribed in both ears, the procedure is not recommended at the same time. Sometimes after instillation of a medicine on the advice of a doctor, a warming compress is placed on the ear.
The warming compress on the ear is put as follows. A piece of cotton fabric folds four times, in the middle a cut is made according to the size of the child's ear, as well as a waxed paper cut, which should be 2-3 cm wider than the fabric. The tissue should be moistened in warm water, squeezed and applied to the skin around the ear( to pass into the hole the auricle).On top put wax paper, then all cover with a thick layer of cotton wool and tightly fix with a wide bandage, wrapping it around the head. Instead of water, you can use diluted alcohol( 1: 1), camphor or sunflower( olive, corn) oil. The compress should be kept for 3-4 hours. It is undesirable to put it at night.
Mustards are most often used for respiratory diseases. This procedure causes the expansion of blood vessels, which reduces the inflammatory process. To children of early age, mustard plasters are placed through a layer of gauze or linen cloth only on intact skin. Usually drugstore mustards are used. Beforehand, carefully examine the child's skin, then moisten the folded chewing gauze or a wide bandage in warm sunflower oil and attach it to the baby's body, apply the prepared mustard plasters on top, fix them with a bandage or a towel, cover the baby warmly. Mustards are usually kept for 5-10 minutes before the appearance of slight reddening of the skin. After they are removed, the skin of the child should be wiped off with warm water, wipe dry and lubricate with Vaseline or cream. Make sure that the mustard dust does not get on the baby's mucous membranes.
The mustard can be prepared at home from dry mustard. To do this, take 1 tablespoon of mustard and flour( wheat, potato), stir well, add a little water and vegetable oil until a mushy mass. The resulting mixture is applied to the fabric, the edges are wrapped 1 cm, covered with the same cloth on top, so that the mustard is between the fabric pads. These mustard plasters also hold 5-10 minutes.
Foot mustard baths usually make children older than 1.5 years old. Pour warm water( 37-40 ° C) and a filtered mustard solution( at the rate of 100 g of mustard per 10 liters of water) into a bucket or other deep container, lower the child's legs and cover with a blanket. Periodically, you need to pour hot water, maintaining the temperature at 38-40 ° C.After 10-15 minutes, the feet are rinsed, wiped dry, the baby is put on stockings, put him in bed, warms the shelter.
Mustard wrap is recommended for children of an earlier age. Dense( preferably paper) diaper is moistened in a warm solution of mustard( 2-3 tablespoons per liter of water), well stirred and filtered, then squeezed. The baby is wrapped with a diaper and covered with heat. After 7-10 minutes it is unfolded, the baby is carefully wiped with warm water, wiped dry and dressed in warm clothes.
A healing mustard bath is administered to children of any age as directed by the doctor. For this, mustard is used at the rate of 100 g per 10 l( bucket) of water. The water temperature in the bath must be constant - 38.5-39 ° C, for this you must periodically add hot water. The bath lasts 5-7 minutes. The child of the first year of life is preliminarily wrapped in a warm diaper, earthen balls are placed in the ears, moistened with vaseline or any vegetable oil, gently lowered on the diaper into the water, holding his head above the water. At the end of the bath it should be washed( especially skin folds) with clean water at a temperature of 38 ° C, carefully dried, dressed in warm clothes, laid in a bed, warmly covered.
Cleansing enema for children of the first 3 years of life is done with a rubber can with a soft tip. Beforehand, the enema bottle must be boiled. Water for enema is taken boiled, its temperature is not higher than 25-28 ° C.The amount of water depends on the child's age: 1-3 months - 60 ml, from 3 months to 1 year - 90-150 ml, 1-2 years - 200 ml, 2-3 years - 250-300 ml. Water is collected in a balloon, the tip is smeared with petroleum jelly, then lifting it upward, air is released. The child is laid on the left side on an oilcloth covered with a diaper, the legs are pulled to the stomach, then, without using any violence, gently inject the tip into the rectum by 3-5 cm. Slowly squeezing the balloon, inject liquid and, without opening the balloon, remove the tip fromanus. To hold the liquid in the intestine, keep the buttocks of the baby closed for 3-5 minutes, and then plant it on the pot. Infants are given an enema in the position on their backs with their legs raised. After use, the balloon must be thoroughly washed with hot water and boiled.
Therapeutic enema is usually recommended by a doctor. The medicine is introduced after the cleansing enema and bowel movement. For better absorption of the medicinal substance to be injected, it must be heated to body temperature( 35-36 ° C).
Oral care for stomatitis and thrush in young children is carried out with a rubber balloon or cotton swab. When stomatitis is used a weak solution of potassium permanganate and 2% solution of hydrogen peroxide, conducting irrigation with solutions of the oral cavity or gently wiping it with a cotton swab. Children older than 1.5-2 years can rinse their mouths themselves with these solutions. After the procedure, it is necessary to lubricate the mucous membrane of the mouth with 1% aqueous solution of methylene blue.
With thrush it is important to maintain an alkaline environment in the oral cavity, for this, it is irrigated with 2% baking soda solution( 2 teaspoons per glass of water).You can lubricate the oral mucosa with a 20% borax solution in glycerin, 1% aqueous solution of methylene blue, 100% sugar syrup.
Skin care for exudative diathesis. When cutaneous manifestations of allergies are often prescribed lotions that are applied to the affected area of the skin every 15-20 minutes until the inflammatory phenomena and wetness decrease. Then the affected area is covered with ointment. On the face sometimes it is necessary to impose a mask of gauze with cut out holes for the eyes, nose and mouth, moistened by one of the solutions indicated by the doctor.
Children with exudative diathesis often suffer from itching of the skin. In this case, the doctor usually prescribes ointments or talkers containing soothing and pain medications. Boltushki put on the skin of the child with a cotton swab.
To protect the skin from scratching, the child is put on his mittens on his hands, sew up the sleeves of his blouse.
Suffering exudative diathesis is often prescribed therapeutic baths with bran, starch, infusion of herbs( chamomile, string, etc.).Baths are done daily or every other day. The water temperature in the bath is maintained at 36-37 ° C.The bath lasts 5-7 minutes. After the bath, rinse the child with a cold water( 2 ° C below).