How to spot flu symptoms in babies
Flu season might be associated with winter, but it actually runs much longer than many people may realize. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu season typically begins in October and lasts all the way to May.
The CDC estimates that the flu results in 14 to 24 million medical visits over the course of a typical flu season, with as many as 780,000 hospitalizations occurring due to flu in a given year. Such estimates underscore how serious a threat the flu can be, and it’s one reason why the CDC recommends annual flu vaccinations for everyone six months and older. But what about children younger than six months old? Parents of babies younger than six months old can learn to spot the signs of flu and report those symptoms to their child’s pediatrician immediately.
Signs and symptoms of the flu in babies
The March of Dimes urges parents to contact their child’s health care provider immediately if a baby exhibits any of these signs and symptoms of the flu:
- Being very tired or sleepy
- Cough
- A fever of 100 F or above, chills or body shakes: While fever is widely recognized as a hallmark of the flu, the March of Dimes notes not everyone who gets the flu develops a fever.
- Headache, or muscle or body aches: Babies cannot tell their parents when they have a headache, but Kinsa Health notes that babies may hold their head while crying, withdraw from regular playing, feed poorly, or sleep more when they have a headache. The pediatric health system Children’s Minnesota notes that babies experiencing pain may cry more robustly, exhibit a quivering chin or a deeply wrinkled brow with eyes squeezed shut, and may tense up their muscles. Some babies also refuse to eat or have difficulty sleeping when experiencing pain.
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Sore throat
- Vomiting or diarrhea
Signs a baby needs emergency medical care
The March of Dimes notes that some signs indicate a baby needs care at a hospital emergency room. Such signs include:
- Being so fussy that the baby does not want to be held
- Lips or face exhibit a bluish color
- Fast breathing, trouble breathing, chest pain, or ribs pulling in with each breath
- Severe muscle pain
- Fever above 104 F, or fever with a rash: A baby younger than 12 weeks with a fever above 100 F requires emergency medical care.
- Seizures
- Not drinking enough fluids or not producing as much urine as the child normally does: A baby that does not make urine for 8 hours, has a dry mouth or fails to produce tears when crying could be dehydrated.
- Not waking up or lack of alertness when the baby is awake
• Vomiting that is severe or does not stop
Flu season is longer than many people recognize, and parents of babies must be aware that their children can develop the flu at any time. Learning to recognize signs of the flu in babies is vital to helping children combat this common but potentially harmful illness.
