Do you take your child to the Dr for everything or try a more natural approach?
By goodhappens
@goodhappens (671)
United States
March 11, 2008 3:32pm CST
I like to take a more natural approach to medicine most of the time, but I know my kids. My 16yr old complained of a stomach ache, he said gas all sunday, didn't even eat till 6pm. He said he felt better on Monday morning, so he went to school for about 2 hours and I got a call. My boys dont hardly ever come home from school, not that they like school, but they know they dont get to go anywhere or watch tv or play games when they miss school. He came home and said his gas had moved to one spot and it hurt really bad. I usually let try to let the body heal itself but I had one of those mom feelings, called my sister the nurse and she said get him in. If my boy says something hurts, it would be killing the normal kid. To make a long story short, after a ct scan the Dr said he needs emergency surgery. We did it thankfully since when it was done the Dr showed me and my sister pics of the appendix that was ready to rupture. I'm glad I know my kids pain tolerance and listened to his body or it could have been much worse, but my question is, I knew he was in bad pain but if I hadnt called my sister I may not have taken him to the Dr. Do you take your kids to the Dr for every little thing, or do you try to do a more natural approach to medicine for your children.
2 people like this
11 responses
@tinkerick (1257)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about common medical conditons and so usually treat my kids at home. I also use the web to help determine whether symptoms warrant a doctors appointment. However, I do trust my children's opinion when it comes to how much they hurt. I have a pretty good idea of their tolerance and know if they are hurting too much to go to the doctor. My son is the trickiest, as he is the youngest. A couple of times I've taken him in for pain and it turns out to be ok.
1 person likes this
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I think your son has to do with the fact he's the youngest :)
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@steffyhoney (706)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I try to take a natural approach. I realized when you take them for every little thing they just tell you to let them rest and stuff. So basically what you already know. So I will let it go for a day or 2 depending on how bad it is or what it is and go from there. Usually my daughter does ok. Only a few times I had to take her to the ER. Once was because her arm just stopped working. I let it go for a day thinking maybe she just hurt it but she wouldnt move it at all. So I took her in and they said it was something to do with her muscles. It later happened again and still same thing. Anyways then a year later she fell down playing outside. She couldnt walk. I thought she was hurt again and didnt think nothing of it. But after about a day or so I realized she couldnt move her leg. So I took her to the doctor and they told me she had transient synovitis, its where the tissue in her legs enflames and it hurts to move. It took her over a month to start walking again. But thankfully I didnt wait to long and have something serious happen. And other times when she was sick was usually just a 24 hour bug.
1 person likes this
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
11 Mar 08
wow bless yours and her heart, that would be a hard one to watch your child go thru.
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@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I kind of play it by ear. I'll try to fix it myself and read up on what I think it might be on the internet. If I'm really not sure or if I think it could be threatening then I will take them to the doctor. Like my daughter kept complaining of ear pain. They say most ear infections go away on their own, but hers didn't seem to be. So I took her in. We ended up having to go to a specialist and get tubes put in her ears because medicine wasn't making the fluid go away completely and she had a little bit of hearing loss from it. After the tubes were in her hearing came back in the normal range. So I'm glad I went. Boy what a scary thing you went through. Good thing you called your sister.
1 person likes this
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I agree I think as mom's we kind of know when to play by ear and take care of it, or get em in. I am so glad I called my sis too :)
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@vicki2876 (5636)
• Canada
12 Mar 08
Even though I am Canadian with "universal health care" HAHA But anyways. I don't go to the doctor for me or the three children unless it was totally unfixable by natural home remedies. I don't want to pump them up with meds to the point when they really do need them there is little effect. We do pretty good. We go to a doctor maybe once every couple years. The only drag from being healthy or doing home remedies is when I finally need to get to a doctor there isn't a "family doctor" for us.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I am lucky that I have had the same Dr for 12 yrs now, she moved to another town, I still took my kids to her and now she is back, she did have to ask about my youngest because she hasn't seen him for 4 years now, she see's the others due to sports physicals the school requires.
@Chey1970 (1186)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I perfer trying home remedies before taking my kids to the doctor. If after a day or two they aren't feeling better, or the symptoms get worst, then I will take them to the doctor. I don't believe in going to the doctor for every little thing. If I did, I would always be in the doctor's office.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
11 Mar 08
I know that feeling I would have been at the Dr's nonstop :)also.
1 person likes this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
12 Mar 08
I am the same, and I wont take my children to the doctor unless I get that feeling that they really need something more than I can give them. It is a mum feeling and you know without a shadow of a doubt that they are really ill.No, you would have taken him, if you hadnt been able to speak to your sister your instincts would have just made you phone the doctor anyway. When I had my firstborn and I used to take him to the doctors they would always always give me antibiotics for him and I used to think surely he doesnt need these for a cold or whatever. I stopped taking him so often because I thought that he would become immune to antibiotics with having them so often and then when he was really ill they wouldnt work. So I started trying remedies myself and they only go to the doctors when they really need to.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
13 Mar 08
I always phone my husband first too and just run it past him to make sure I am not going to be wasting mine or the doctors time.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
You are very right, that mom thing does always kick in and tell us, hey this is not good, I think I always just call her to reassure myself that I'm not overreacting.
@addysmum (1225)
• Canada
12 Mar 08
My family likes to get really sick with really weird things so my kids go to the doctor. Not for the common cold but for pains and other things we do. My 4 year old has had 3 rounds with RSV, hoof and mouth, some kind of strange infection that started in his finger. My 8 month old is following his brothers example and likes to get weird things.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
RSV is going around really bad nowadays I'm so happy my children are older and that wasnt as much of a threat then as it is now.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
12 Mar 08
My son was born with a heart defect so I am very cautious when it comes to him being sick. It really depends though on what the illness is. Lately he has been on a few antibiotics when he caught bronchitis twice this winter and only just recently. he picked up the flu again. I decided this time round to rest him at home, give him plenty of liquids and let the flu take its course. It took a few days but he rested well and was able to get over it.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
There is definately a difference when a child is born w/ something that is beyond our normal control as parents, that makes it alot harder and I too would be very cautious, I wish you the best :)
1 person likes this
@2btrueinu (700)
• Philippines
12 Mar 08
Well it depends what they feel if it's only fever or head ache I observe them for a few hour or days I give them paracetamol to relieve the pain for awhile but when I see them in more pain than the usual I rush them to the nearest clinic or hospital. As a mother you know your children's tolerance to pain. I don't want to see them in pain my heart is melting in awe for them. Sometime sickness is very traitor you cannot tell what will going to happen in just a second. We must always ready to what will going to happen next. We must always prepared.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
That is very true, being prepared for anything is a must with children, and I agree it is so hard to watch our children in pain.
@Samanthavv (1380)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I have a six month old little girl, and I don't take her to the doctor for every little thing. Usually I go with my gut feeling on it. She had a cold for four or five days but it was a mild cold and she was just fine. But she had been sick a different time and was crying constantly and fussing, and it turned out she had RSV and she was going through respiratory distress and her breathing rate was really high when it shouldn't have been. They gave us a nebulizer and it helped her breathing mellow out and she calmed down quite a bit, thank god! You really have to look at what is wrong with the child and how bad it's affecting them. Especially with the price of medical care, even when you have insurance! You just have to play it by ear!
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
That is no lie about the price of medical care, and it goes to show we need to know our childrens body, and pain tolerance to know what is serious and what can just be taken care of
@bluebutterfly1234 (92)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I try to not go to the doctor. Lots of times I may call the doctor and tell them of the kids symptoms if it is really bothering me and they will let me know if it warrents a visit. Well that was with there old doctor the new one wants to see them any time I call. I really wish I still had my old doctor to bad she moved away.
@goodhappens (671)
• United States
12 Mar 08
I followed my dr 45 miles when she moved, I was so happy when she came back to my town so I dont have to travel that far to see her if needed anymore. I know the feeling.
