Babies are tiny, fragile, helpless beings who totally depend on parents, other caregivers, and doctors for their wellbeing. If they’re not feeling well, they may fuss or cry, but they can’t tell anyone what’s bothering them. We all know the classic signs of a sick baby: fever, diarrhea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and listlessness, among others. But not all babies with medical problems display obvious signs. In fact, many medical conditions manifest themselves with signs that can be easily overlooked or deemed too insignificant for a doctor’s attention. Some subtle signs may signify something serious while signs that look scary may be benign and nothing to worry about.
Most babies are carefully examined from head to toe by a doctor immediately after birth and at each checkup. But between those exams, it’s the people who spend the most time with them—parents, grandparents, and babysitters—who are more likely to notice something out of the ordinary. Using your five senses, you too can check a baby for signs of health or illness. Here’s how:
Look at a baby’s head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, torso, genitals, and body wastes. For example, you may notice that a baby or toddler has recently developed freckles. Medically known as ephelides, freckles are usually an inherited trait in families with blond or red hair and fair skin. But they can appear in children with dark hair and skin as well. Freckles are not present at birth. Rather, they’re the result of excess exposure to the sun and found on sun-exposed areas of the body. Therefore, lots of freckles are an important warning sign that a child has been out in the sun too much and needs to be covered up. Indeed, a child with freckles is at increased risk for skin cancer, which is on the rise in children.
Freckles shouldn’t be confused with the much larger café au lait spots, which often appear on non-sun exposed skin. More common in babies of African and Hispanic descent than in white babies, these spots are present at birth and are the color of coffee with milk, hence the name. They’re usually not noticeable until age two or three, and are usually benign. However, if a child had more than six large café au lait spots (over a half-inch in diameter), it can be a warning sign of several very rare, but serious, genetic disorders.
