Symptoms of Childhood Illnesses

Eating ice and other non-food items, like dirt and paper, is usually thought to be associated with kids who have iron deficiency anemia. These kids might compulsively eat almost anything, even the carpet or couch cushions.

Swollen glands or lymph nodes worry many parents, even though they are common and often normal, which makes it important to understand the causes and signs when they might be serious.

Learn how to recognize diabetes symptoms, both so that you can recognize early symptoms if your child actually develops diabetes and so that you don't worry about symptoms, like craving sugar, that don't actually have anything to do with diabetes.

Bronchitis is a common diagnosis for kids with lingering coughs, which leads to many unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. That makes it important to learn to recognize bronchitis symptoms when your kids get them.

Heat stroke is a serious condition; even if treated, many people with heat stroke will die. This makes it important to learn to avoid heat stroke and just as importantly, learn to recognize heat stroke symptoms.

Learn about classic Lyme disease symptoms, including how to identify erythema migrans, so that you can recognize if your child has Lyme disease following a tick bite.

Hair loss is a scary and frustrating symptom for parents, especially since you don't really expect kids to lose their hair. Learn about common causes and treatments of hair loss, including ringworm, telogen effluvium, trichotillomania, and alopecia areata.

The term 'stomach flu' can be confusing, since it has nothing to do with the influenza virus or flu shots. Learn more about the stomach flu and stomach flu symptoms, which often includes vomiting and watery diarrhea.

Learn about classic appendicitis symptoms, which can include abdominal pain that moves to the right lower quadrant of the belly, vomiting, loss of appetite, and a low grade fever.

Food poisoning is common, and when people experience diarrhea and vomiting, they often think it is food poisoning. Learn the classic symptoms of food poisoning, so that you will know when to suspect when your kids may be sick from eating contaminated food or when they may have a simple stomach virus.

Learn about the common symptoms of pinworm infections, including rectal itching and restless sleep.

Although once thought to be rare, celiac disease is now known to be fairly common, affecting up to 1% of people in the United States. Learn the classic symptoms of celiac disease, including diarrhea, abdominal pain, gas and irritability, so that you can recognize them in your child.

Review common mysterious symptoms, such as a linger fever, skin rashes, fatigue, weight loss, swollen glands, muscle aches, and joint aches, and what can cause them.

Review what to do if your child has chronic or persistent symptoms or has symptoms that keep coming back, such as a cough, runny nose, fever, diarrhea, or vomiting.

There are many symptoms that are very distinctive for specific childhood illnesses and should make it easy for you and your pediatrician to recognize when your child is sick with one of them, including the seal bark cough of croup and the pattern of a fever followed by a rash of roseola.

Use our parenting problem solver to help you find medical and parenting advice and information.

Parents and pediatricians are becoming much more aware these days of the possible side effects of the medicines that kids are being prescribed. Learn how to recognize medicine side effects and what you can do to try and limit drug side effects.

A medical symptom checker to help you figure out what is wrong with your child. Common symptoms that you can review include ear pain, fever, diarrhea, cough, wheezing, etc.

Starting a daily symptom diary or journal can be a good way to figure out what triggers common childhood problems, like headaches, stomachaches, diarrhea, etc.

Understanding what typical flu symptoms are in children can help you figure out if your child is sick with the flu and they can include a sudden onset of high fever, muscle aches, tiredness, headache, cough, sore throat, and runny nose.

Food allergies are common; but not as common as some parents believe. That makes it important to learn the symptoms of food allergies, so that you don't mistake a food intolerance for a more serious food allergy.

In addition to having symptoms that always occur in a certain time of the year (seasonal allergies), you can suspect allergies if your child has symptoms after being around a specific indoor allergy trigger. These allergy symptoms usually include a runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, and red eyes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were four large outbreaks of Salmonella infections in the United States during 2007. Learn about common Salmonella symptoms so that you can recognize if your children get a Salmonella infection.

Although bruising is often normal in active children, if your child has excessive bruising or easy bruising and other signs of a bleeding disorder, then be sure to see your pediatrician right away. Learn some of the reasons why children may have easy bruising and bleeding.

Hip pain is surprisingly common in kids and although often caused by simple sprains and strains, usually warrants a trip to your pediatrician to make sure that the hip pain isn't caused by a more serious condition, such as septic arthritis, that could quickly get worse without prompt treatment.

Parents often think that they can easily recognize cold symptoms, which are typically mild, but may linger for a few weeks. Surprisingly, they often mistake common cold symptoms for allergies, sinus infections, or even the flu.

Although gas can lead to gas pain, it is important to remember that gas can be a normal, especially in newborns and infants. Review common causes and treatments for excessive gas and gas pain.

Review common meningitis symptoms, which can include a fever, stiff neck, headache, vomiting, and irritability, so that you can recognize if your child has meningitis.

Although we usually think of motion sickness as something that happens when riding on a boat or getting seasick, children can get motion sickness in a car, bus, horse, airplane, rollercoaster, etc. Learn how to prevent and treat your child's motion sickness before your next family vacation.

Review the symptoms of chicken pox, a viral infection that is becoming less common because most children now receive the chicken pox vaccine.

Review the symptoms of poison ivy, which typically includes an intensely itchy rash with red bumps and blisters that forms after exposure to poison ivy, poison sumac, or poison oak.

Submit your parenting tips for coping with common issues and problems related to parenting a child with common symptoms, like a fever, diarrhea, or vomiting. What works for you?

Review common asthma symptoms so that you can recognize if your child has asthma when he has a cough or wheezing.

Review the symptoms of pneumonia in children, which often includes a cough, fever, and increased respiratory rate.

Review the symptoms of glaucoma in infants and children, including having a cloudy cornea, excessive tearing, blinking, and light sensitivity.

Thyroid disorders are not rare in children, but they are not as common as parents usually believe. Reviewing some of the common signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can help you to know when to get thyroid function tests ordered for your child and when to look for another cause for your child's symptoms.

Review the symptoms of a concussion, a type of brain injury that is not uncommonly caused during many high school sports and may cause athletes to appear dazed, stunned, and confused.

While not always caused by a serious problem, like diabetes or a urinary tract infection, a visit to your Pediatrician to get a urinalysis is a good idea if your child develops frequent urination.

Review the symptoms of strep throat and when you should see your Pediatrician if your child has a sore throat.

Review the signs and symptoms of dehydyration in children.

Review the symptoms of muscular dystrophy in children, plus information about testing and treatments.

Review the problem of having sugar or glucose in your urine, or glucosuria, which is one of the signs of diabetes. And learn about other diabetes symptoms.

My son has had a stomach ache for a few days. It was mild and I wasn't too worried about it, but this morning he woke up with a black tongue. He otherwise seems fine, but I have never seen anything like it. What could be wrong with him?

Review the common symptoms of a strained muscle or tendon, including pain, limited motion, muscle spasms, muscle weakness, localized swelling, cramping, inflammation, and some loss of muscle function.

Review the common symptoms of a sprained ligament, including pain, swelling, bruising, instability, and the loss of the ability to move and use the joint.

Review the symptoms of childhood cancer, including persistent vomiting, bone pain, coughing, weight loss, fever, and an enlarging mass.

Review the symptoms of hypothyroidism in children.

Does your child have any symptoms of diabetes? Try our symptoms of diabetes screening quiz.

Does your child have any symptoms of a brain tumor? Try our symptoms of brain tumors screening quiz.

An obstructive sleep apnea screening quiz to see if your kids have symptoms of OSA, such as loud snoring, headaches, and behavior problems.

Review the symptoms of a urinary tract infection and what might cause a child to urinate frequently.

Learn more about hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating, which can cause teens to have sweaty palms, sweaty feet, facial sweating, or excessive underarm sweating and what you can do to help control it.

Since pertussis and pertussis outbreaks are not uncommon, even though it is a vaccine preventable infection, it is important to recognize pertussis symptoms in case your child gets sick.

Clostridium difficile is a bacteria that can cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, especially in children who have recently been on antibiotics.